admin
Emmanuel Ndlovu
MOST Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) estates are dilapidated. On a number of properties, not much work is taking place; others have totally collapsed. The demise of agricultural activities at the schemes tends to have negative effects on not only the local communities but also the national economy as a whole.
There are many reasons for this, but major ones include poor or antiquated infrastructure on the farms, lack of support from communities and poor access to markets. Infrastructure has been vandalised by irresponsible members of the community.
A recent visit to Arda Antelope Estate in Kezi, Matabeleland South Province last week revealed this scenario.
Villagers from areas such as Matankeni, Kusile, Mahetshe and Mabonyane are crying foul over the sorry state of affairs at the farm which has been lying idle since the beginning of this year.
For many years, Antelope Estate was their sole source of food as communities consistently realised low yields from their fields, which lack irrigation facilities. The estate provided them with grain crops such as maize, wheat and barley at affordable prices. Vegetables such as cabbages, carrots, butternuts, onions and sugar beans, from the estate also added vital nutrients to their diet. Furthermore, the estate also provided employment to about 500 villagers from the locality.
However, all this has become a thing of the past to people in Maphisa. They now feel the pinch of a dysfunctional farming estate which has been turned into a grazing area.
With Antelope Estate in comatose, villagers now live under appalling conditions of hunger as they struggle to make ends meet. They cannot have normal meals as their source of food has dried up.
Mr Eli Sibanda, from Mahetshe Village used to work at the estate. He lost his job because of the decline in farming activities on the farm, a development that has made life unbearable for him.
“Arda was the employer for most villagers in Maphisa. I was also employed as a farm worker on the estate. However, this year no activity has been taking place at the estate and this has greatly affected many of us who are breadwinners. When I was employed, I could pay school fees for my children and buy other necessities but life is now difficult since I am jobless,” said Mr Sibanda.
Ward 19 councillor, Henry Ncube, said that the acute problem of hunger bedevilling most homesteads has been worsened by the closure of the estate.
“Previously the estate used to sell local people grain crops such as wheat and maize at cheaper prices. This indeed benefited many homesteads as they had an alternative source of food. The current scenario is worrying as the estate has shut down and this has affected most families that relied on it for survival. As leaders we tried to find out from the estate management on what could have crippled its operations. They told us that they no longer have the working capital,” said Clr Ncube.
He appealed to the Government to help resuscitate the estate and to NGOs to chip in for the estate to be brought back to life.
Last year Antelope Estate planted 87 hectares under barley and 64 hectares under wheat during the winter season using flood irrigation. It also had12ha of maize. Other crops planted included sorghum, rapoko and butternuts.
This year, there is completely no activity taking place. The farm is only serving as pastureland for livestock.
Antelope Estate Manager Mr Aleck Chinyayi said debts the farm owed to Zinwa and Zesa that accrued over the years brought the operations of the estate to its knees. He added that salaries and other operating costs for last year took a huge chunk of profits which left the farm without any working capital.
“After selling our wheat and barley which we harvested last year, we paid off debts to Zinwa and Zesa. This crippled our operations this year as we failed to continue with farming activities. We also feared that since we have not yet finished paying Zesa, they were going to switch us off if we start farming,” said Mr Chinyayi.
He said late payments from some of their major buyers of maize such as the Grain Marketing Board also affected the operations at the estate.
Mr Chinyayi acknowledged that collapse of operations at the estate has affected the local community
“Local people used to survive through Arda considering that areas such as Kezi are always hit by drought,” he said.
“We used to sell five percent of our crop harvest to the community and this benefited them as it helped ease the problem of hunger.”
As a strategy to bring the estate back to normal activity, Mr Chinyayi said they are looking for prospective contract farmers willing to partner with them. He also appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development for financial support in order to revamp the agricultural operation.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter