Chronicle Editor
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has upped its efforts to have its two farms, Aisleby and Good Hope leased out or given over to interested businesspeople or organisations after failing to run them profitably.
The local authority had previously raised concern about the state of its two farms with various initiatives being embarked on so as to improve yields but with little success. The situation was further exacerbated last year when ten tonnes of sorghum and a variety of farm properties including goat pens were destroyed by a veld fire at Good Hope Farm.
According to a council confidential report, the local authority is now inclined to ensure that the two farms are either leased out or given over by private entities or institutions so as to drive them to profitability.
“Members will recall that from April 2014 to June 2018 when the farms were handed over to City of Kings Business Ventures there were under care and maintenance. The farms during this period were in a devastated state, and operations were almost at a standstill The farms had liabilities while their irrigation system and other farm machinery were dilapidated and dysfunctional.
“Furthermore, the farms had only one running tractor and had no vehicle. In this regard, the council resolved to fund the farms’ operations to a point of reaching a break-even position. This involved providing monthly grants to meet operational costs, such as salaries and other running costs,” reads the report.
However, according to the report, the local authority only managed to provide the support for a few months, and thereafter it failed to meet its monthly obligation to the farms, which therefore led to the farms using meagre resources meant for capital projects to fund operational costs. In order to ensure that the farms continued operating, they opted to sell livestock so as to supplement operational costs.
“The Management Committee resuscitated the cropping business which had been abandoned for more than ten years. The committee started by repairing and also buying new equipment for use in farming activities. In the 2019 to 2020 farming season, only 38 hectares of land was utilised for sorghum cropping while the other 266 hectares of arable land was utilised for grazing and harvesting of hay bales.
“In 2020 to 2021 farming season cropping hectarage increased and an additional 13 hectares was utilised for sugar beans leaving 224 hectares for grazing and harvesting of hay bales. However, after harvesting about 3 739 bales the farm was gutted by veld fires which destroyed the hay bales and the grazing area. In order to save the herd, the management decision was taken to buy supplementary feed for animals until the next rainy season,” reads the report.
The local authority revealed that in the proposed partnership or lease arrangements, the farms had 100 hectares of arable land that could be leased on a short to medium-term basis.
“After consulting with the acting farms’ manager. Aisleby and Good Hope farms had 100 hectares of arable land for use in partnership with interested investors on the short to medium term.
“If this proposal to enter into a partnership arrangement with interested investors on the utilisation of the 100 hectares of arable land was approved, this means that the farm would be left with 150 hectares for cropping activities and 44 hectares would be used for harvesting hay bales to supplement livestock feed.
“The situation at the farms since 2018 had stimulated interest from various investors who wanted to lease or partner with City of Kings in the development of the farms. The investors included both local and foreign investors who wanted to start projects such as dairy farming, waste energy, cropping, and cattle fattening,” reads the report.
Online Reporter