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Obert Chifamba, Agriculture Editor
COMING just two months before Christmas, the pronouncement that all land held by beneficiaries of the land reform under 99-year leases, offer letters and permits will now be held under a bankable, registrable and transferrable document of tenure issued by Government rings out as sweet music to farmers’ ears and effortlessly qualifies for the proverbial ‘early Christmas present’ cliché.
Simply put, the announcement means farmers who benefited from the land redistribution more than two decades ago will have their 99-year leases converted to tenure, which can now allow them to use them as security when seeking loans or sell the property.
Previously, farmers were unable to sell the land or use it as collateral.
On the one hand, the new development will bring enhanced security of tenure to the land that farmers legitimately hold and this naturally has a positive bearing on the production pattern that is most likely to show some change in the next few seasons.
There is that group of farmers who were hesitant to make big investments on their land amid fears of possible removals or any other problems that may make it less sensible to develop the land.
Farmers who were resettled under the land reform will now have their ownership documented in a way that is recognised by banks and can be officially registered.
This makes land ownership transferable to others too. Essentially, the move will provide security and legitimacy to land ownership making it easier for beneficiaries to leverage their land for financial purposes while ensuring that their ownership rights are protected.
The onus is now on Government to expedite the adoption of a statutory instrument making it legal for land reform beneficiaries to have the title to their land.
This will also require the document to have security features that will help weed out unscrupulous elements from hijacking the cause for their criminal intentions.
Without security features, it may not be surprising to see counterfeit documents flooding or banks refusing to accept even authentic ones for security to protect their investments.
It is a fact we must all appreciate that this Government decision must not come in vain.
There has to be notable changes in production trends and investment levels on the farms, which will translate to higher contributions to the growth of the national economy. Zimbabwe’s economy is predominantly agro-based, hence the need to always make sure there is serious agricultural production taking place.
These measures by Government must have a huge impact on the country’s economic growth and unlock the full value of the land.
I guess this is the opportune moment for Government to also enforce that policy requiring farmers to submit production reports every season to ensure total utilisation of the land resource.
This latest development must also translate into accelerated investments in agriculture and associated value chains that include irrigation infrastructure, dam construction, power supply and rural road construction to enable farmers to access markets easily when they sell produce.
It should also relieve Government of the pressure it has been taking in recent times by rolling out numerous input schemes to help finance farmers.
The issue of banks demanding collateral, which farmers have been failing to avail must also recede to the dustbins of history given that farmers can easily produce their leases or offer letters to serve as surety in the event that they fail to pay back.
Farmers must, however, understand that this is not a ‘go-ahead’ to sell land randomly and eventually disempower themselves to the point of defeating the purpose of the land reform programme that sought to empower them through agriculture.
We do not expect beneficiaries from Government’s noble decision to abuse it for selfish ends given that the land should also be passed on to the next generation.
It would be helpful if Government was to ensure that those making decisions to sell land have valid reasons to do so lest land selling becomes the latest money-spinning venture for some people.
If it was possible, all land sales should be sanctioned by Government after the seller provides plausible reasons for doing so.
The idea is to avoid creating a scenario in which land ownership ends up concentrated in a few well-resourced individuals some of whom might not have national interests at heart.
In most cases, it is easy for the majority of people to serve the Government’s agenda and help develop the country’s economy, after all, Zimbabwe earned itself the name ‘Bread basket of Africa’ thanks to the efforts of smallholder farmers who produced most of the food crops, while the minority white farmers focused on crops for export markets mostly.
Additionally, the beauty about this latest move by Government is that it will help unlock private sector funding that can influence growth and development for the benefit of all.
Naturally, some private sector players were reluctant to fund farmers because there was no guarantee they would recoup their finances since the bulk of the farmers did not have valuable fixed properties to serve as security.
There will be ripple effects once the new policy is operationalised with production expected to rise, which will churn out raw materials for agro-processing and this also means more jobs for the generality of Zimbabweans.
There will be many direct and indirect jobs that will come as spin-offs from the new development with banks and other investors poised to gain interest income earned from financing farmers.
Effectively, this will positively impact the national gross domestic product’s (GDP) growth rate, which incidentally wields the potential to create further upstream and downstream benefits through fresh investments and job opportunities.
For now, the powers that be may need to move in and facilitate the holding of wholesale land valuations to enable financiers and farmers to know the value of the land they may be putting up as collateral at some point in time.
One exciting observation is that once a farmer puts up her land as collateral, there will be a serious drive to make sure she produces enough to off-set the debt and remain in business.
This will act as an incentive to farmers to produce competitively, which will benefit the nation, as it moves to attain an upper middle income economy by the year 2030.
For now, the stage is set for our farmers to demonstrate what they are capable of achieving in an environment devoid of the uncertainties that had been caused by their lack of security of tenure.
Online Reporter