EDITORIAL COMMENT: Small, important steps in the right direction

21 Sep, 2014 - 06:09 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

When something bad happens, some sections of our society have been known to shamelessly rejoice; but when something marvellous occurs, there is silence.

This culture is certainly destructive and does nothing to build our nation — let’s give credit where it is due.

This time around, credit goes to the successful Land Reform Programme.

Since 2000, the Land Reform Programme has seen the transfer of about 10 million hectares of land to over 175 000 indigenous households. This is land previously held by just 6 000 white commercial farmers.

And if information coming from The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) 2014 Rural Livelihoods Assessment report is anything to go by, then the farmers have not wasted any time in improving their livelihoods from the precious resource that they acquired.

According to that report, Zimbabwe’s rural population now enjoys an improved state of livelihoods owing to Government’s poverty eradication interventions in the areas of food and nutrition security over the last 12 months.

The monthly average rural household income now stands at US$111, up from US$95 in April 2013. Yes, it is a small gain, but a gain nonetheless and shows we are moving in the right direction.

Furthermore, rural households now enjoy an average of three meals a day of an acceptable dietary standard.

Trivial as it may seem when people prefer to debate and bicker about politics, poverty eradication and food security are the core business of any government in a developing country.

These are the main ingredients in nation-building because a hungry people are not as productive as a well-fed populace.

The number of Zimbabweans requiring food aid will decline from 2,2 million to 565 000 next year, we are informed.

The religious among us are free to conclude that this is a miracle because naysayers have claimed for far too long that the Land Reform Programme has been a failure.

The National Food Security and Nutrition Policy and the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) make it clear that ensuring everyone has enough to eat is the bedrock from which we will grow as a nation.

Let us assess the Land Reform Programme, and indeed Zim-Asset and all other Government policies on the bases of the actual deliverables on the ground: what is being produced, what incomes are being earned, is the economy on the whole benefiting in terms of moving upward?

Last season, farmers produced 1,4 million tonnes of maize, up from 758 000 tonnes the previous year. In a nutshell, food security is more or less guaranteed. So on that score the policies are largely on track.

It is reported that household incomes are improving. So again, the policies are moving us in the right direction.

And increased agricultural output should — theoretically at least — result in affordable food for the vast majority of the population. Once again, that means the policies are broadly on point.

Government and its development partners are playing their part in enabling smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and should continue to do just that so we continue to see development and transformation at a national level.

Last year alone, President Mugabe assisted 1,6 million households with agricultural inputs through his Presidential Well-Wishers Inputs Scheme. Such support for smallholders is vital to ensuring household food security and improved rural livelihoods.

The processes of guaranteeing food security take time and patience and perseverance are in order.

However, one thing is sure — Zimbabwe is taking steps in the right direction.

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