Nqobile Tshili — The Land Reform Programme embarked upon by Government is one of the major milestones achieved when the country attained independence as it resulted in more blacks having access to land which culminated in improved agricultural production and national food security.
When the settlers colonised Zimbabwe, the indigenous people were dispossessed of their land and resettled in dry areas which became known as reserves.
The year 2000 marked a turning point for the country's agricultural sector as the Government embarked on the land distribution programme to reverse the colonial injustices.
The exercise mainstreamed indigenous Zimbabweans into the agriculture sector.
For the past two successive farming seasons, Zimbabwe became wheat self-sufficient for the first time since the introduction of the crop in the early 1960s owing to the involvement of more black farmers in the sector.
The country is now investing in climate-proofed agriculture popularly known as Intwasa/Pfumvudza to withstand the effects of climate change such as the El Nino-induced drought.
A beneficiary of the land reform programme, Mr Donald Khumalo, said following the land redistribution programme, black farmers have acquired farming skills, which has seen them contributing to national food security.
"Blacks have acquired a lot of skill in terms of managing and utilising farms. We now have some black farmers producing huge tonnes of tobacco, maize and wheat," he said.
"They are doing very well in the pig industry and are leading in the beef industry. So black farmers can feed the nation notwithstanding climate change."
Mr Khumalo said some indigenous farmers are now exporting flowers and citrus fruits after benefiting from the land reform programme.
Agricultural Rural Development and Advisory Service provincial director for Matabeleland North, Mr Dumisani Nyoni, said the Land Reform Programme mainstreamed blacks into the agriculture sector.
"One of the milestones of independence is the land reform programme which resulted in the redistribution of land to the black majority. Thereafter, the Government initiated programmes to capacitate more indigenous people to participate in farming," he said.
"We now have black cotton farmers in what used to be a closed sector, and there are more young people involved in tobacco farming which was not the case before independence. The Government has also conducted capacity building for indigenous farmers through deploying extension officers to Communities to educate them on taking farming as a business."
Mr Nyoni said the Government has also constructed more dip tanks, which are located closer to communities while communal farmers are being equipped with knowledge on how to grow their livestock.
Mr Nyoni said unlike during the colonial era, farmers are now able to realise the true value of their livestock.
"In pre-independence, most livestock farmers were limited to just selling their animals at the cattle sales. They could not negotiate the price of their cattle resulting in their animals being sold for a song," he said.
"They were not allowed to take their cattle to abattoirs where their animals would fetch a higher price because of the grading system.
"Through independence, farmers are now even doing pen fattening which is value addition, increasing the value for livestock."
Mr Nyoni said under the Second Republic, the Government introduced several initiatives to ensure that previously marginalised rural communities participate in economic productivity through rural industrialisation.
He said the Government has invested in irrigation infrastructure which has seen the country increasing wheat production.
Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) chief executive officer Mr Tinotenda Mhiko hailed the land reform programme for addressing colonial injustices.
"The majority of the black people were alienated from the most fertile soils as they were squashed in mostly sandy and arid regions, which left them as mere spectators in the economic activities of the country," he said.
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"However, with the advent of independence and the Second Republic, there has been a revolutionary transformation of this inequality with many blacks benefiting from deliberate policies of our post-independence dispensations regarding land reform and redistribution."
Mr Mhiko said the participation of blacks in the agricultural sphere continues to grow in leaps and bounds.
"We are now able to define our course as far as national food security is concerned as we are now in control of the most critical means of production, which is land," he said.
Mr Mhiko said the agricultural sector has also adopted innovative technological interventions to increase productivity while harnessing precision farming and climate-smart agriculture.
"For example, as ARDA we have managed to turn the hitherto dry Kalahari Desert sands of the Matabeleland region into thriving green belts, a case in point being the Bubi Lupane Irrigation scheme and the Mangwe horticulture garden," he said.
"These programmes have proven to be successful in terms of boosting food and nutrition security, both at household and national levels."
