Maravi

(HERALD) Empower youth through land

Empower youth through land
By Vimbai Komani

IN the days of the liberation struggle, many youths voluntarily went to the forefront — or were actively encouraged to do so — to lend their invaluable energy and innovation to the cause of defeating the racist regime of Ian Smith.

Youths were known to organise rallies and demonstrations as well as generally mobilising their communities (and as such the entire nation) during those very trying times.

And in the process they were beaten, teargassed, mauled by dogs, arrested, tortured and killed by the brutal settler government.

No one can ever underestimate the important role that the youth played in taking up arms and going to the bloody war fronts as a demonstration of their love for the nation and for the independence of their motherland.

This fight for nationhood was only for the bold and daring, and many young people demonstrated their resolve to fight, shed their blood and get maimed in order to bring about national freedom.

It is, therefore, surprising that this commitment and sense of nationhood and patriotism is not so visible today.

In 2000, Zimbabwe embarked on the Fast Track Land Reform Programme, which was a fulfilment of the desires that motivated many young people to take up arms in the 1960s through to 1980.

Why then are there so few youths today interested in getting into farming?

For more than 10 years, the people of Zimbabwe have endured severe hardships due to the hypocritical economic sanctions imposed by the US, EU, World Bank, IMF and others in response to the move by indigenous peoples to reclaim land that had been stolen at gunpoint by white settlers.

Currently, Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of around 80 percent, has had to shelve its national currency because of hyperinflation and has been hard hit by drought and famine.

So perhaps enough is not being done to harness the energy of the youth in economic turnaround, particularly in the agricultural sector.

Some, though, have been trying to get the youth more involved in farming.

Established in June 2005, Ujamaa Youth Farming Project is an African youth-led farming co-operative that secured a 100-acre plot of farmland in the city of Gweru under the Zimbabwe Government’s revolutionary land redistribution programme.

UYFP’s mission is to empower African youth through gainful farming initiatives so that they are able to demonstrate the essential skills necessary to function as lifelong productive citizens in Zimbabwe’s agrarian reforms. According to Kwanisai Mafa, UYFP founder and chairman: "One of our immediate goals is to offer produce to wholesalers and retail outlets in and around Zimbabwe’s Midlands provinces.

"A longer term goal is to establish a training programme so that African youth from outside Zimbabwe and even outside Africa will visit, meet, train, work and bond with their counterparts on this farm."

This initiative probably cuts to the core of one of the major reasons why youths are not getting into farming — they simply are not given enough opportunities by the State and their own local communities.

Most farms allocated to new farmers through the Land Reform Programme have not gone to younger age-sets.

More than 1 000 youths graduate from agricultural colleges countrywide every year but very few of them are allocated land which would help them put into practice their skills.

Instead, most of them try and get jobs on other people’s farms at a time few people are interested in hiring young farm managers and supervisors, or they become extension officers.

Blessing Chanana (24), for example, graduated from Rio Tinto Agricultural College with a certificate in agriculture.

Chanana said that he has always wanted to own a commercial farm which would see him helping in the development of the country’s economy.

"When I finished my studies I wanted to venture into the practical aspect of agriculture rather than become an academician.

"l have always wished that the Government would allocate land specifically for the youth who have the experience in farming.

"Instead most of those who graduate from agricultural colleges end up being Agritex officers or teachers and we only exploit our knowledge at that relatively small scale," he lamented.

Most of the youth in Zimbabwe do not enjoy the benefit of their own forefathers’ soil because they are not given the platform to showcase their abilities.

The Government, according to some of the youth interviewed, should establish a quota system, which would allocate a portion of land acquired for purposes of redistribution to the younger generations so that they at least have a starting point and can directly contribute to national economic recovery.

The Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Cde Saviour Kasukuwere, has said that Zimbabwean youths must take a leading role in spearheading community developmental programmes across the country to assist the nation in terms of the food security.

"Youths must use the skills acquired from different learning institutions to uplift the living standards of the communities as well as the nation as a whole," he said.

Cde Kasukuwere said that his ministry has embarked on a programme to encourage youth with an interest in farming.

Called Youth in Farming, its objectives are:

l To facilitate meaningful involvement of youth in national development efforts, particularly in the field of agriculture.

l To encourage and lobby for the participation of Zimbabwean youth in national, regional and international youth exchange programmes and other youth related initiatives.

l To mould youth who are productive, responsible and enterprising.

l To create employment for youths through agriculture and ensure that they play a part in the eradication of poverty and all the social ills that come with it.

l To promote and maintain national unity among all patriotic youth.

l To promote self-reliance among youths.

Membership is open to all Zimbabwean youths between the ages of 15-35.

The Government and non-governmental organisations should seriously consider ways of involving more youths in productive economic activities, such as in agriculture, so that the full energies of the country are harnessed for a quick turnaround in the nation’s fortunes.

Labels: LAND REFORM, YOUTHS

posted by MrK @ 10:00 PM