Help farmers like Rhodesia did with white farmers

Chegutu West Member of Parliament Dextor Nduna says the government can turn Chegutu area into a bread basket if it gives farmers the same support that the Rhodesian government gave to white farmers.

He outlined this in his contribution to the national assembly during debate on the presidential speech. Here are excerpts of what he said:

Mr. Speaker Sir, Chegutu has a population of more than 40 000 people and a voting population of 26 000 to 29 000 people. It is composed of 12 urban wards and three rural wards, namely ward 24, ward 25 and ward 28. In all of these wards there are nine districts in total for both urban and rural communities.

Mr. Speaker Sir, His Excellency the President mentioned that agriculture is the backbone of the economy in this country, therefore the people of Chegutu West Constituency will forever be indebted to him for the timely provision of agricultural inputs this season to about 1.6 million households nationwide.

The constituency I represent has already started planting the seed in order to realise maximum yields using the early rains. Chegutu boasts of a number of big water bodies, like Mupfure River. Chegutu boasts of a number of big water bodies like the Mupfure River and Pool Dam, hence can realise agricultural output if the water sources are optimally utilized.

Long back, Pool Dam water was used to supply the agricultural green belt that ran across ward 28 from the source through Grange Creamer up to Chegutu town, but ever since the pump station broke down and was vandalized, the usage of this water body came to naught.

Mr. Speaker Sir, Mupfure River is the source of water for Chegutu Town community and over the years has been the source of our agricultural and citrus irrigation for our farms in and around Chegutu, hence the re-establishment of this viable source should not be a mammoth task. The journey to making Chegutu an agricultural zone can only be anchored by these existing water bodies, which other constituencies do not have.

Due to the distribution of land to formally marginalised indigenous people of this nation, we have seen urban to rural migration to engage in agricultural production in both large and small scale farms. Mr. Speaker Sir, I would want these people to be treated in the same manner the former white farmers were treated in terms of agricultural support schemes.

The former white farmers had no money of their own when they took to farming. We had banks, Agritex, Dulys, Farmec and Government, who acted in unison to empower these farmers with agricultural support as follows:

1. The bank would, under the farmer’s name, buy inputs and equipment for agricultural input from providers such as Farmec, Dulys, Windmill and other places.
2. The Government would provide agricultural extension officers to help the farmer in his farming using the aforesaid inputs.
3. The farmer would not handle cash except delivery of produce to buyers such as the GMB, using vehicles and equipment bought for him from Dulys and implements from Farmec. Under the watchful eye of the extension officers they would make sure the proceeds would be channeled to the farmers account at Barclays Bank or any other agricultural bank at that time. The bank would then reinvest this money in the same operation.
4. What I want you to know, Mr. Speaker Sir, is that the farmer would only be required to pay back this facility after four to six seasons. Meaning that the farmer was assured of money for himself, the bank and other support services. The advantages were that the equipment suppliers would sell their equipment in bulk over a short period of time and customers would always be assured of spares for their equipment because of the existence of Farmec and other supporting organizations.

Mr. Speaker Sir, the farmer now, should be given the same support using the Private Public Partnership (PPP), as this proves a winner for the nation, the farmer and the support services.
Mr. Speaker Sir, please allow me to also thank Hon. Kuruneri for his encouraging speech, when he presented his debate on the Presidential Speech, when he spoke about the water for irrigation being drawn from 1500 miles away and turning the Arizona Desert into a green belt.

This then presents me with a very small challenge of convincing the Ministry of Agriculture to arm Chegutu, whose water bodies lie only a stone’s throw away, with irrigation equipment. This can transform the nation’s food security situation overnight, if managed well and if seriously addressed.

Mr. Speaker Sir, I am going to propose that proceeds from Zimplats Community Share Ownership Scheme be directed among other developments in revamping the community’s irrigation system and water reticulation system in Chegutu West. The proceeds should also be used to purchase a drilling machine for boreholes in my constituency, so that at least we can have nothing less than 11 boreholes per district. I will also endeavour to revamp and promote the robust irrigation system in my constituency. This will also uphold the views of my electorate in both farm and city.

The following is what some of the cadres gave as their concerns, so I could share with the law makers of the land. Mr. Speaker Sir, they mentioned that in Ward 25, which is a rural ward, there is Master Piece Irrigation Programme which is failing to take off because members are failing to produce collateral security in order to financially boost the project. This was presented to me by Cde Tavengwa Chidhakwa, the District Secretary in Ward 25. This ward, Mr. Speaker Sir, is less than 40 km from the Pool Dam, which I have touched on.

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