Published by the government of Zimbabwe
6 October 2008
Harare — The Government should devise methods of monitoring farmers that it allocated agricultural equipment to ensure they are utilising and taking care of it, a senior farming official said on Friday.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union vice president Edward Raradza said instead of sending officials to monitor farmers physically, the Government should organise competitions to promote production and recognise the farmers.
"Government is doing its best in distributing equipment but there is no monitoring," he said.
Raradza said the Government should consult farmers unions when identifying people to allocate agricultural equipment as many of the beneficiaries did not have track records of farming while deserving farmers were left out.
He said farmers unions had structures at the grassroots that could identify the most productive farmers as well as those that delivered the most to the Grain Marketing Board.
"If unions are useless then there is no need for the Parliamentary Act that recognises their existence," he said.
Raradza also urged the Government to include farmers' representatives in the Inputs Mobilisation and Utilisation Committee that the Government recently established to spearhead increased food production this year and avoid imports.
He said while members of the committee had impeccable records of leadership in their different areas of specialty, they did not have the farming background to guide them in their new roles.
The committee will work with officials from the Agricultural and Technical Extension Services department, traditional leaders and district administrators to identify farmers to be provided with inputs and tasked with producing for the nation.
Raradza noted that in some cases seed suitable for particular agricultural regions was being sent to wrong regions due to ignorance.
In the past, some unscrupulous individuals have been diverting inputs that the Government allocated to the black market where they earned more and faster without the hassle of working on the land.
New Ziana.
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