A verification exercise to identify the number of farms
earmarked for downsizing following the completion of the land audit has started
in Mashonaland East.
The land audit is aimed at identifying land utilisation
patterns and optimal farming activities, which will influence appropriate
policies for increased agricultural productivity, poverty alleviation and
sustainable utilisation of the land.
Youths and women will get the excess land identified in the
land audit to empower them so that they participate in the mainstream economy.
Mashonaland East became the first province to work on
modalities to embark on the land redistribution exercise soon after the land
audit.
Over 37 000 prospective farmers are on the waiting list in
Mashonaland East Province.
Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs Minister Aplonia
Munzverengwi said they identified farms for downsizing in Macheke, Hwedza,
Beatrice and Goromonzi.
In Goromonzi, 10 farms have been identified, and they are
at verification stage. After completing the exercise in Goromonzi, the provincial
lands committee will visit Beatrice.
Minister Munzverengwi said the provincial lands committee
was verifying the size of farm and production levels.
The farms will be pegged without compromising operations. “The
motive is to identify underutilised farms and allocate it to landless people,
especially the youths, who did not benefit from the first phase of the land
reform programme,” she said.
Fuel shortages have caused delays in the programme. Farm
owners have been asked to cooperate with the Government’s directive as the
exercise is not a witch-hunt, but an attempt to ensure everyone has access to
land. Herald
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