The Sunday Mail
Government has begun repossessing underutilised land from unproductive farmers amid indications that several top Government and Zanu-PF officials have had their farm sizes cut in Midlands province.
Already, 5 000 hectares of underutilised land have been unlocked in Midlands and sources say at least 30 000ha will be available in that province alone at the end of the programme.
Provincial lands committees across are setting up task forces to spearhead the process of ascertaining the amount of land that is being underutilised as directed by Government recently.
This land will be redistributed to thousands of landless Zimbabweans to chisel at the 500 000 household-strong waiting list.
In Masvingo, around 160 farms in Victoria East have been identified for possible downsizing after an audit highlighted that some individuals were holding as much 3 000ha.
Though the names of the farms and farm owners could not be ascertained last week, The Sunday Mail understands that the local PLC has submitted recommendations to the Lands and Rural Resettlement Ministry.
In Mashonaland Central, authorities say 52 farmers voluntarily requested downsizing.
Further, authorities have recommended compulsory acquisition of eight large-scale farms held by 13 white commercial farmers in Centenary. Mashonaland Central Minister of State Advocate Martin Dinha said they would unlock “thousands of hectares” of underutilised land.
He said authorities had instituted the Command Agriculture Strategy, which compels farm owners to produce a preset amount of staple grain. Those who fail to meet the targets will be asked to cede excess land for redistribution.
Lands Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora recently told this publication that provinces would front the re-sizing individually, before the ministry made final determinations.
“The process is not one that you expect to be completed overnight because it requires a lot of work.”
Midlands Minister of State Jason Machaya said they had been conducting the programme for over a month.
“The requisite recommendations have already been forwarded to the Ministry of Lands for the work we have since completed and we await the go ahead to slash the farms. The first phase of the programme in Midlands has unlocked around 5 000 hectares of land that were being underutilised which we intend to redistribute to those who are on our waiting list in the next few weeks.
“Upon completion of the exercise, we expect to have unlocked not less than 30 000 hectares of land for redistribution.”
Mashonaland Central’s Command Agriculture Strategy has seen thousands of hectares being ceded.
Said Minister Dinha: “As per Government regulation the maximum farm size in this province is supposed to be 450 hectares.
“We have witnessed farmers coming out and voluntarily surrendering excess land but as you can expect we have those who are stubborn and are unwilling to heed our calls.
“On Thursday, the Provincial Lands Committee sat and constituted a provincial task force to look into the matter as per the recent directive.
“The provincial taskforce will direct the work of district task forces that will also be set up in the coming weeks.
“The only challenge we have is that of greed among some of our farmers who own up to 1 000 hectares but are unwilling to go down to the 450 hectares threshold set by Government.”
He said the Command Agriculture Strategy had seen the province recording a bumper harvest of 204 906 tonnes, representing a surplus of over 76 000 tonnes, last season — even as much of the rest of the country recorded deficits.
Masvingo Minister of State Shuvai Mahofa said they would enforce Government’s 500ha maximum farm size for the province.
“Already, we have identified around 160 farms in the Victoria East area where we have farms as large as 2 000 and 3 000 hectares. We made recommendations to the Ministry of Lands over the farms in Victoria East and now await their resolution.”
Her Manicaland counterpart Minister Mandi Chimene said the programme was ongoing but would not give further details.
Mashonaland East chief lands officer Mr Wilfred Motsi said: “The Provincial Lands Committee will sit (this week) to draw up a plan for the exercise. Government regulation stipulates that maximum farm size in this province should stand at 400 hectares. We stand guided by the directive.”
Over 14 million hectares of land has been redistributed since 1980, benefiting over 300 000 households. There have been concerns that influential people have taken large swathes of land but are not fully utilising it.
Our sister paper The Herald recently reported that bigwigs set to be affected by farm size cuts included Cdes Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Joram Gumbo and suspended party member Flora Bhuka in Midlands.
An audit revealed that 70 farms in the province far exceeded the maximum recommended size of 500ha.
The downsizing is being done to ensure maximum utilisation of land to meet food security requirements under Zim-Asset.
