From: bing@jazz.concert.net (Carter E. Bing)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Zibabwean Land Reform (last part)
Date: 14 Apr 92 12:37:07 GMT
Organization: Center for Communications, MCNC; RTP, NC


		Mangwende Spells Out Land Policy Requirments



 	Imposition of Land Tax:

	Government has also decided to impose a land tax on the large scale 
 commercial farmers. This is mainly to encourage the proper utilisation
 of land and also to avoid the bad habit of people who just buy and own 
 land speculative purposes. In order not to burden the agricultural sector
 with high tax payments, the unit tax levied by local authorities wiil be taken
 into account in this exercise. What we are trying to do in this case is to make it expensive for somebody to hold onto land just for speculative purposes.


	The Land Tenure System:

	In the area of land tenure, Government will appoint a commission of
 land experts to examine this subject and submit recommendations accordingly.


	Settler Selection Criteria:

	The present system of allocating land is being viewed as a policy
 of just giving land to people for the sake of giving it. Government has
 decided to change the current settler selection system to now give more
 emphasis to farmers with the potential to full utilise land. The land area
 of Zimbabwe is limited and we cannot afford to under utilise this valuable
 natural resource with impunity. The time has now come to put people on land 
 who can till it properly. If people do not have the know how to apply modern 
 farming methods, my department of Agritex is always at their disposal. From
 now onwards, people who are to be resettled will be specially selected by the 
 local administration with assistance from Agritex and the relevant farming 
 organisations.

	It is our view in Government that the next phase of resettlement is 
 geared at improving the productivity of the resettled lands through the 
 resettlement of people with the capability to fully utilise the land 
 allocated to them. This is an area where I agree with the suggestions
 contained in the CFU proposals on settler selection on page seven. I even
 go furthur to say that the emphasis on productivity and traning of 
 farmers should be extended to the communal areas. That is why Government
 has decided that the programme of communal area planning should move
 pari-pasu with the resettlement programme. These areas should be provided
 with adequate infrastructural services of roads, transport, marketing, depots
 and so on. In addition to that, Government has now also instructed the AFC
 and CSC to design special financial packages for these sub-sectors of the 
 argricultural industry.

	Land Inspection:

	In order to monitor the problems of both under utilisation of land and 
 absentee landlords Government has decided to strengthen both the rural state 
 land office and the farm , management section of the Ministry of Land,
 Agriculture and Rural Resettlement so that land inspection can be done more
 effectively. In my view it is essential to have a strong Land Inspectorate
 Section if we are to catch up with this evil of under-utilisation of land.

 
	The State Farming Sector (ADA):

	Government recognises that the state farm sector should continue to 
 intensify its agricultural operations and also manage idle farms as a 
 stop-gap measure before actual resettlement takes place. As most of the people
 here are already aware, Government is involved in agricultural production   
 through ADA. That parastatal is the Government arm for direct Government 
 participation in the agricultural commodities and in certain cases it goes into the production of strategic agricultural commodities which otherwise an
 individual would be reluctant to embark on. Apart from the commercial ventures
 in its 25 estates, the authority have also assisted peasant farmers to produce
 on a commercial basis in a number of places. It is the intention of Government
 to maitain that role of ADA and improve on it through further expansion.

	Land Subdivision:

	Government has decided that from now onwards, land subdivision as a 
 rule should be allowe on the rationale of viable production systems based 
 on established farming patterns. There is a lot of farm subdivisions going
 on these days and the reason for doing so is not always genuine. Government
 needs to control this activity as a matter of urgency. What we are saying in  
 this case is that we do not want land subdivision for speculative purposes. In  future when we want to buy such land for resettlement purposes it will cost
 us more because we will be dealing with more owners and on many more pieces 
 of land. Land subdivision should be done only for genuine argricultural 
 purposes.

	Structure of the Agricultural Industry:

	Government has decided to maintain for the time being, the existing
 farming system in the agricultural sector. The reason why it is necessary at
 the moment the existing structure of agriculture is because the country cannot
 afford to do away with any one of them. For an example, as much as we        
 desperately want to redistribute the land through resettlement, we also
 want to benefit from the role of the large scale commercial agriculture 
 sector. All these subsectors are complimentary to each other. Of course in
 the long run we cannot continue to have this dualistic structure of 
 agriculture. It is Government`s intention that in future, all the communal,
 resettlement and small scale commercial farmers should become commercial        farmers.


    	Promotion of The Emergent Indigenous Black Large Scale Commercial
 			Farmers:

	Government has decided to promote Emergent Black Large Scale Commercial
 Farmers in order to ensure continuity in production as well as to faciliate
 the establishment of a more balanced racial composition of the large scale 
 commercial sector. To this end, Government will identify a suitable cadre of
 committed potential Indigenous  Black Large Scale Commercial Farmers and 
 will design an appropriate financial and training programme to ensure that
 these farmers succeed. In this regard, they will also benefit from specific
 programmes of AFC and CSC that I have already mentioned in relation to 
 resettlement and communal areas.

	The idea of Government in setting out this programme is in order to 
 maintain a racial balance in the remaining five million hectares of large 
 scale commercial farming land. Government is aware that the few indigenous
 people who have ventured into large are mostly submerging. There are very few 
 who have been able to make it. What we now want is to devise a concerted 
 Government programme to make these people succeed. The previous regimes had
 similar programmes for the now successful large scale commercial farmers. That
 is the reason why most of you have been able to make it. All we are saying is 
 that this Government should resuscitate those special programmes in order to 
 assist the emergent indigenous large scale commercial farmes.

	Concluding Remarks:

 	I am aware of the issues raised in the document entitled "Proposals for
 Land Reform for Zimbabwe, 1991 that has been presented to you today. I also     take note of the points raised by the president of the CFU, Mr. Alan Burl in
 his address. Written questions were also given to me by the CFU in advance. 
 Some of them are useful in assisting Government to formulate appropriate
 strategies for implementing the resettlement programme which is an imperative
 to all of us. The policies and magnitude of the resettlement programme that 
 has been set by Government is not negotiable. It is better for all of us to 
 work together and identify the five million hecteres that is required for the 
 programme. The only useful debate that Government is willing to entertain about the resettlement programme is on the implementation modalities.

	As I have stated in my opening remarks, the resettlement programme  
 should be viewed as a national programme. As such it should be the concern
 of all of us to ensure that the programme becomes a success. It is a 
 Zimbabwean problem which unfortunately some pwople take such a retrogressive
 stance by putting lables such as "them" and "us".

	Zimbabwe has astounded the world as the champion for peace and 
 reconciliation following decades of protracted racial conflicts of the 
 war of liberation. Our stance on racial harmony has been central to our
 post independence socio-economic progress. Unlike other countries that
 experienced racial upheavals following independence, Zimbabwe had no
 Nuremberg trials like after the Second World War in Europe. Our citizens
 have buried their past differences and cemented unity which has been
 central to the country`s properity. To this end, the fears being expressed
 by your farmers are baseless. Our Government needs to be judged on the 
 example and precedence it has set for the past ten years. We are a 
 responsible Government and we cannot afford to destroy the economic fabric 
 that we have created. The President Cde Robert Mugabe has assured the   
 national of Government's commitment to the need to avoid economic disruption
 in his new year`s address where he said "we are seeking to correct a very deep  imbalance that ammounted to deprivation but we will implement it in as fair
 a way as possible."



 Department of Information
 January 18, 1991


                                 end








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 "The oak sleeps in the acorn, the gaint sequoia sleeps in it`s tiny seed,
  the bird waits in the egg and God waits for his unfolding in man."
       Funkadelic                       bing@concert.net