‘Take farming as a business’

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
GOVERNMENT says there is a need for a mindset shift in the agriculture sector so that farmers take farming as a business.

Agricultural Rural Development Authority (Arda) board chairperson Mr Ivan Craig said this yesterday while officiating during a Bulawayo province agriculture projects awards ceremony.

He said farming was a serious business which could result in urban to rural migration as the economy is centred on agriculture.

“This is why Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga has said the Ministry of Agriculture needs to change from Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement. He made special mention of the aspect of rural resettlement saying we cannot continue talking about rural settlement but should instead be progressing towards rural industrialisation. We can create industries in rural areas through farming and we should start positioning ourselves for this change,” he said.

Mr Craig commended farmers in Bulawayo for embracing farming as an economic enabler.

Speaking during the same event, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube said while the output for some of the peri-urban farmers might seem insignificant, it also contributes to food security.

Minister Ncube said recently she was visited by an underprivileged resident who used to depend on handouts who managed to harvest about 10 bags of maize.

“This might seem very little but for her it is a lot. She will be food sufficient for a very long time and this is the same for so many people in the city. So, in our small way we have contributed towards the country’s development and the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme has made this possible for some of the local farmers,” Minister Ncube.

She noted with concern that while peri-urban farming is contributing to food sufficiency, some of the people involved in the programme are not following the city’s by-laws.

“They are damaging the city’s pipes and also contributing to pipe blockages hence the need to educate each other on the need to follow the laws,” she said

Farmers involved in Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme, horticulture, mushrooms, poultry (broilers), poultry (road runners), rabbits, aquaculture and apiculture walked away with various awards.

Minister Ncube commended the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement for carefully selecting the winners who were a mixture of both the old and young farmers.

One of the winners, Mrs Catharine Nzima who came first in the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme said she has been using the same farming method since 2007.

She walked away with a heifer, fertiliser, seed maize and small grains seed.
Mrs Nzima said she no longer buys mealie-meal since she adopted the Pfumvudza/Intwasa farming techniques. — @nqotshili