(HERALD) Land beneficiaries commended

Land beneficiaries commended
Herald Reporter

THE visiting Namibian Minister of Lands and Resettlement has commended beneficiaries of the land reform programme for taking pride in working hard to produce on their farms.

Speaking to journalists after touring a Model A1 resettlement scheme at Glen Grey Farm in Glendale and the Henderson Research Station in Mazowe District, Minister Alpheus Naruseb, said the farmers’ attitude would lead to the success of the agrarian reform in Zimbabwe.

"The positive lesson I have learnt during my tour was that people are taking pride and owning up to produce on the pieces of land that they got during the resettlement programme.

"The farmers I have seen at the A1 farm do not wait for Government to lead their programmes and have been using their own initiatives to improve production on the farms," he said.

Seventy-six farmers, who own between six and 10 hectares of land, grow a variety of crops that include horticulture products such as peas, sugar beans and potatoes.

Minister Naruseb said he was impressed by the land utilisation at the farms.

He applauded interactive activities between the Namibian and Zimbabwean governments in promoting agriculture in their respective countries.

"We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and while it creates a conducive environment for exchange of expertise, it also affords farmers from the two countries an opportunity to work together in various areas of interest," he said.

Minister Naruseb, who was accompanied by Lands and Rural Resettlement Minister, Herbert Murerwa and Mashonaland Central Governor and Resident Minister Martin Dinha, said his experience in Zimbabwe was totally different from what was propagated through the media.

"This is not my first time in Zimbabwe, but what I have seen on the ground is in total contrast with the media reports we get from outside.

"I just hope the true Zimbabwean story will be told someday so that the people understand why President Mugabe has been vilified over the land issue," he said.

The Namibian minister met with Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and the leadership of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union.