daniel chigunweDr ‘Charlie’, Charles Dahwa
Zimbabwe is on the right trajectory towards regaining its historic “bread basket of Africa” status and to all Zimbabwean youths, the clarion call is: “Mune basa gurusa chaizvo izvo”.
By the time Zimbabwe fulfills its national vision: Zimbabwe towards a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030, much evidence shall reflect this projected trajectory. Yet, for the Zimbabwean youths to serve as the lynchpin in guiding the nation to regain its ‘‘bread basket’’ status, patriotism among several other factors is vital. Here are the details.
Zimbabwe is well known in history for being the bread basket of Africa, but alas, all this has been marred. Following protracted land reform negotiations, for example, the unfruitful willing buyer willing seller, with its erstwhile former coloniser (Britain), Zimbabwe in 1999 eventually embarked on the fast-track land reform programme. Doing this resulted in for the first time in the history of a colonised country to get back its land; hence, Zimbabwe commenced reuniting her indigenous black people with her land.
To this date, not much is known about former colonised countries in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas that managed to resolutely reclaim ownership of their land in the vigour and tenacity Zimbabwe did.
This should have been in the Guinness World Records! Of course Zimbabwe loses no sleep about this omission because the situation on the ground records an increasing population of the indigenous black people of Zimbabwe and many others getting their land back and for good!
In retaliation, and this was expected of course, Britain and her collective western nations led by the United States of America imposed illegal economic sanctions (ZIDERA) on Zimbabwe, USA Congress, (2001). Progressive nations and commentators have long condemned ZIDERA with Southern African Development Community (SADC) declaring every October 25 as the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Day.
Consequently, Zimbabwe’s economy severely haemorrhaged and this was quite severe especially for the first decade and half (2000-2015). Agriculture was not spared and this was further worsened by climate change.
Therefore, ravaged by the deadly impact of the illegal Western nations’ economic sanctions, Zimbabwe’s coveted global brand, ‘‘the bread basket of Africa’’ got eroded. As Zimbabwe went down the drain its erstwhile detractors leveraged on their global media might and joyfully caricatured Zimbabwe as the ‘‘empty basket case of Africa’’. This unbefitting tag name has for quite some time become an albatross against Zimbabwe’s agricultural performance record.
However, the good news is that although to this date Zimbabwe is yet to regain its bread basket status, quite encouraging is how the nation’s strategic plans for agriculture is largely being successfully executed. Exemplars are identifiable for example in the Agricultural Rural Development Authority strategic plan (ARDA, 2021-2025), The National Agriculture Policy Framework, 2018-30, (Gov Zim, 2018b), and RBZ, (2022).
Expeditious execution of national development strategies is being witnessed and driven under the Second Republic’s national vision 2030 and the mantra: Leaving no one and no place behind.
Also, very interesting to note is how during the past three years (2020-2022) Zimbabwe continues to improve its food sufficiency and credit goes to His Excellence President ED Mnangagwa and his entire Second Republic national leadership, and of course the Ministry of lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Quite effective continues to be the Pfumvudza/Intwasa tactic, which seeks to exploit cost-effective farming methods that draw on Zimbabwe’s heritage-based knowledge.
Another very important milestone by the Second Republic is its recent launching of Zimbabwe’s first ever satellite, thereby enabling the country to leverage on geospatial technology and further improve agriculture.
Several other developmental milestones include infrastructure development such as dams, roads, airport, parliament, and power stations. Overall, Zimbabwe under the second republic leadership of His Excellence President Mnangagwa, continues to foster a national culture of patriotism, peace, unity and development.
For long, the President is on record calling for peace, unity and development and even much more as the nation goes for elections. This is very crucial because undoubtedly, without patriotism, peace and unity, no nation can register significant socio-economic development and it is also in this regard that he recently signed the much-awaited Patriotic Bill into law.
Therefore, given the above roller coaster developments, the electorate undoubtedly find every reason to celebrate and naturally retain the ruling party ZANU-PF.
It is time commentators in the public, private and civic sectors, nationally, regionally and internationally be objective. In this regard, which land reform beneficiary will vote against the ruling party that fought for the land and reclaimed the land and reallocated it to the landless masses?
Which Zimbabwean who resides in Zimbabwe and has a living experience of the agricultural transformation and numerous other socio-economic developments witnessed under the Second Republic will vote against the ruling party in search for pies in the sky?
Consequently, drawing on the above evidence, Zimbabwe’s agricultural future can only be bright and nothing less. For doubters, it has to be put on record that it was under the ZANU PF Government that Zimbabwe’s ‘‘bread basket of Africa’’ brand was fostered and truly African, until of course neocolonialists put all the spanners to sabotage the land revolution.
As is commonly known and observed Zimbabwe did suffer significantly and is still not out of the woods as yet. Nevertheless, it is very refreshing to note how it is also increasingly soon to be an accepted fact that under a ZANU PF government, Zimbabwe shall indeed fully retain its ‘bread basket of Africa’ status. Much evidence about this shall prevail come attainment of our national vision 2030.
While regaining our ‘‘bread basket of Africa’’ status is of course the collective effort of the Government and its people, the youth play an unquestionable key role.
This is because, out of Zimbabwe’s current population of about 16.6 million, around 62 percent are young people below 25 years. Further, the fact that Zimbabwe’s national literacy rate is pegged around 94 percent and that unemployment remains a big challenge all points to the reality that Zimbabwe is largely a young vibrant literate nation for which agriculture has during the past decade increasingly become a career option for many young people.
Simply put, Zimbabwean youths are the lynchpin for regaining the country’s ‘‘bread basket of Africa’’ brand. Yes, this can be done and the Zimbabwean youth have got what it takes to indeed lead the nation in achieving this great agricultural transformation.
However, this shall not be a walk in the park, for as is with any end-visioning, it is crucial to mentally walk back from the desired destiny and interrogate these crucial questions: Where are we now? Where did we come from? How did we get to where we are currently?
Where do we go from here? How shall we choose from many options where to go from here? How shall we go to our desired destiny? Who shall do what and with what and when and how?
How shall we effectively monitor progress and pro-actively take remedial action? Upon attaining our desired goals and objectives and finally reaching our desired destiny, how shall we evaluate and learn from our entire journey and its experiences so we can effectively inform our future?
By asking the above and several other questions, the Zimbabwean youths shall fully equip themselves to take leadership in ensuring the country regains its ‘‘bread basket of Africa’’ status.
However, prevalent are numerous factors that either promote or inhibit the Zimbabwean youths in their noble effort of guiding the nation to regain its ‘‘bread basket of Africa’’ status. It is therefore, hereby submitted that such key factors include: patriotism, land tenure, access to land, irrigation, competence, business consultancy and extension services, finance, agricultural policy consistency, innovation and value addition, mechanisation, access to markets, public and private sector partnerships, ICTs, international donor mentality, weaponisation of the girl child mantra, national culture, national economic development value chain and weaponisation of universal rights.
This article shall only elaborate the first factor and then explain the rest in various subsequent articles.
To commence this elaboration, it is important to note the aforementioned background. In this regard, land was key among the fundamental reasons why Zimbabwe waged an intense war of liberation and eventually dislodged the white settler regime, leading to her independence in 1980.
However, like all former colonies throughout Africa, the independence gained was only political, land and the economy remained in the hands of the minority white settlers. Specifically, that thousands of gallant sons and daughters of the soil went to war was primarily driven by patriotism, which is the unwavering, undying and sacrificial love for one’s country and the overall good for her people.
War of liberation fighters were not just mere citizens but patriotic nationals: born and bred sons and daughters of the soil distinctly patriotic about national interests.
Consequently, they would sing many liberation war songs whose lyrics demonstrated their patriotism, for example:
“Moyo wangu watsidza kufira Zimbabwe
Kuzadzisa basa randakasiirwa
Mumakomo nomunzizi tichararamo
Kudakara pfumo rangu ramutsa Zimbabwe Rufu rwangu rwuchava rweZimbabwe
Yuw-i yuw-i vakoma vapera
Yuw-i yuw-i hama dzapera.”
After independence and more than a decade later it became very clear that the minority white settlers were not at all sincere in giving the land back to its rightful owners: the black indigenous people of Zimbabwe.
As such, it was once again through patriotism, that in 1999 the nationalist leadership of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) superintendent the reclaiming of the land and giving it to the masses.
The implication is that patriotism and not mere citizenship, which by the way can be acquired legally by a non-Zimbabwean national, gave birth to firstly Zimbabwe’s political independence.
Secondly, patriotism gave birth to the initial trajectory of economic independence, by reclaiming the land. This is so because the land is the economy and the economy is the land. For this reason, during the war of liberation patriots would also sing:
Vakauya vachena vakatakura magidi x 2
Vakatanga kurwisa madzitateguru kusvikira vose vakurirwa
Saka nhasi ropa remutema, remutema, roerera munyika yeZimbabwe
Ndidzo shungu dzekuda kurwisa Zimbabwe ine gidi zvidzokere kwatiri x 2
Isu veZANU (i.e. ZANU PF) takadzidza kuifira Zimbabwe neupfumi x 2
Saka nhasi tinovaudza makapambe nyika machimbidza kumedza kutsenga
Machimbidza x 3 kumedza kutsenga
Vakapambe nyika machimbidza kumedza kutsenga uchakuda
Saka nhasi ropa remutema, remutema, roerera munyika yeZimbabwe
Ndidzo shungu dzekuda kurwisa Zimbabwe ine gidi zvidzokere kwatiri x 2
In the above lyrics, sons and daughters of the soil were very clear regarding not just getting political independence but also economic independence; hence, the lyrics “Isu veZANU (i.e. ZANU PF) takadzidza kuifira Zimbabwe neupfumi x 2”. For the avoidance of doubt, readers can listen on YouTube.
Given this evidence, the strong argument here-in submitted is that without patriotism, the Zimbabwean youth will find it extremely difficult to serve as the lynchpin in guiding Zimbabwe to protect and in perpetuity retain the land in the hands of the black majority.
Further, without patriotism, the Zimbabwean youths will find it extremely difficult to serve as the lynchpin in leading the country to regain its historic “bread basket of Africa” brand.
The argument is premised on the fact that unpatriotic youth are exposed to the greatest risk of easily discounting the eternal priceless value of the land.
This is so because without patriotism great are the chances for Zimbabwean youth to easily get lured with all that glitters, which is not gold anyway.
Worsening this risk is how today’s global village open society is daily indoctrinating African youths to disengage with who they are in terms of their identity (ubuntu), their heritage, and their eternal connection with their land: To us Africans land is very spiritual.
Yet the global village open society is increasingly prescribing on the Zimbabwean youths a culture alien to Zimbabwean-hood and African-hood. To demonstrate this, many African youths choose employment/job over land and deem that migrating to western capitals is the only and ultimate solution to make it life.
Therefore, it is quite shocking and at the same very sad to learn how to many Zimbabwean youths, getting education up to university level is just but a means to make it in any of the western nations.
That in Zimbabwe there is land, which was bitterly fought for and tenaciously reclaimed, and given back to ‘‘vene venyika’’; for which the youths are an integral part, is sadly lost to some Zimbabwean youths.
In the same vein, the rich philosophy unveiled by President Mnangagwa that ‘‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’’ is also sadly not understood by such youths. Therefore, while Zimbabwean youths should indeed get land, however, without patriotism, the nation is at great risk of failing to protect and in perpetuity retain the land in the hands of the black majority.
Further, without patriotism, greater chances are that the Zimbabwean youths will fail to effectively take leadership in guiding the nation to regain its historic ‘‘bread basket of Africa’’ brand.
As the nation goes for elections next month, Zimbabwean youths remember the eternal value of the land and how you have an African spiritual obligation to protect and in perpetuity retain the land in the majority black people.
Therefore, vote for the land, peace, unity and development. Thank you for reading and your comments are most welcome. Join the author in the next article that shall articulate the roles of the factors: land tenure, access to land and competence.
Dr ‘Charlie’, Charles Dahwa provides cutting edge consultancy in Entrepreneurship and Business Management. Importantly, SME growth, policy and development is central to his work. Dr Charlie holds a B. Com Marketing Degree — Zimbabwe Open University, MBA — Africa University and a PhD in Management from Manchester Metropolitan University, (UK). He is contactable on Email: [email protected] Mobile: +263 71 370 2933
Bongani Ndlovu