Let us not be ‘axe happy’

redistribution exercise has seen a great leap forward in the economic status of Zimbabweans.
It is commendable that every year more Zimbabweans are improving their status through agro-industrial performance.
Many farmers have entered growing of tobacco, and have seen their status improve for the better.
However, making Zimbabweans wealthy by growing tobacco has turned to be a death to the environment. In other words, as long as tobacco curing continues to on the forest then Zimbabweans are predators to their own environment.
The farmers are committing suicide-our as the environment is our life. Tobacco wealth should not mean environmental destruction.
Its regrettable that increases in tobacco growing has meant desertification. This is a sure case.
There is no way desertification can be avoided at the rate at which trees are being cut down not only indiscriminately, but deliberately and intentionally because people want to cure the tobacco and go for the floors.
Has the love for money blinkered the need to preserve the environment? Surely, a few years to come they will look at the veld for more wood and there will be nothing.
When a woman is heavily pregnant, people start thinking of a name even before delivery. I wonder what we are going to call our desert?
I am inclined to believe that a desert is in the making, it is only a matter of time. So I propose we call our desert Zimbahari desert — desert between Limpopo and Zambezi, a desert across Zimbabwe. I don’t know what central Africa will do in their contribution to environmental destruction and degradation to connect us to the Sahara Desert.
The Kalahari might be heading east and threatens to run across Southern Africa.
I propose tips for the prevention of desertification or environmental destruction.
l Making reasonably price coal available to all tobacco farmers. The coal should be stocked in all tobacco farming districts for easy access.
l Farmers should be encouraged to enter into coal buying units so that they have enough energy for tobacco curing.
l Once the coal is readily available Government should put in place stiffer punishment for people who use wood to cure tobacco.
l Farmers need to desist from their current carefree attitude were they cut down trees without replacing them. It should be mandatory that all farmers whether doing tobacco or not establish woodlots on their land to replace those either cut down or ageing.
l Increase awareness campaigns that promote the preservation of the environment. Farmers should be made to see the advantages of preserving the environment. Government should come up with an educational programme or environmental awareness campaign.
l There is need for reforestation. While large forests are being destroyed every year there is nothing being done to replace them. There is need to strengthen the wood for tobacco programme where farmers were encouraged to grow fast growing gum trees to be used for tobacco curing.
Zimbabweans, let us not rend our garments and leave the country naked. We should not be “axe happy”. Let us not be too friendly with the axe.
Research shows that indigenous tree take long to mature, yet it takes on average less than 10 minutes to fell it with that axe.
As we enter the tobacco season let put the ideas into action and see what we can achieve.