(HERALD) Land policy framework vital

Land policy framework vital
By Allen Choruma

The land issue is the very cornerstone of our political, socio-economic system in Zimbabwe. The primary objective of the liberation struggle was to address the historical imbalances and injustices brought about by the colonial system. The need to redistribute land to the majority black population was the major driving force for our quest for independence and self rule.

Now that we have our land, we need not rest on our laurels. Time has come for us as a nation to honestly take stock of the land that was acquired and redistributed, especially post 2000, to ensure that we put in place a system that guards and consolidates the political gains made in land redistribution. We also need to ensure that full land productivity is restored in order to meet the requirements of the people of Zimbabwe.

Sensitive

The land issue is a very sensitive topic in Zimbabwe. But it’s now time that we look at the gains made in the land acquisition and redistribution exercise since 2000 and craft a national land policy programme that is sustainable, transparent, equitable and above all a programme that ensures restoration of agricultural productivity. As an agro-based economy, our economic growth and development is dependent on what we produce from the soil.

National Land Policy

A national land policy framework is now needed in Zimbabwe to clearly spell out all the fundamental issues relating to the land question. Although land issues are covered in the Draft Constitution and the Global Political Agreement, and other Statutory Instruments, there is need to come up with a comprehensive and clearly defined policy framework covering the critical issues to the land question.

Attempts have been made by Government in the past to address issues relating to formulation of a national land policy framework in Zimbabwe, but the process has not come to fruition as yet. The land question at the moment is governed by ad hoc arrangements, a plethora of Acts of Parliament and Statutory Instruments and so on. The national land policy framework should clearly spell out Government objectives and goals on land and the means for attaining these.

What should land policy address?

In my opinion, the Government through the Hon. Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement, Dr Herbert Murerwa, should come up with a land policy framework that addresses the following ten key areas:

1. Government objectives and goals.

2. The irreversibility of the Land Redistribution Programme.

3. Land Tenure and Security.

4. Land Audit.

5. Funding of Agriculture.

6. Technical Support Services i.e. Agricultural Extension Services.

7. Land Administrative Structures.

8. Foreign Ownership of Land (Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements.

9. Compensation.

10. Restoration of Law and Order.

The above ten key issues are not in any order of priority or importance. I will briefly discuss some of the ten key areas that should be addressed in the national land policy framework below.

1. Irreversibility of Land Redistribution Programme

The objective of the liberation struggle was primarily anchored on the land issue. Now that the land has been acquired and distributed to the people, we need to consolidate these gains and confirm the irreversibility of land acquisition and redistribution in our land policy framework. The GPA contains provisions under Article 5.5. which endorses the irreversibility of the land redistribution programme.

2. Land Tenure

The land is our national heritage and as such all Zimbabweans irrespective of race, colour, creed, religion, gender, social status, political party affiliation and so on should have access to and control of their land. The land policy framework should clearly address the land tenure system in Zimbabwe i.e. how people secure access to land and its resources, who can hold and use land and its resources and under what terms and conditions and so on. Land tenure is multi-dimensional, bringing into play social, technical, economic, institutional, legal and political aspects that are often ignored but must be taken into account.

Issues relating to administrative procedures on: application for land allocation, qualification, land offers, leases, repossessions, land rights, appeals process and so on are all part of land tenure and should be clearly spelt out in the national land policy to ensure transparency and accountability in the manner in which land is accessed and allocated.

4. Security of Land Tenure

All people who have been allocated land should be given security of land tenure which is the right to occupy land for a period of time specified in a legal document (i.e. offer letter, 99 year lease) without fear that the land may be arbitrarily or summarily withdrawn by the Government or its agents.

Security of tenure should provide legal rights to people allocated land. Such rights include: right to occupy land, use land, use profits from land, retain occupation for specified time, prevent summary repossession of land, use land as collateral, cede land to successors on death and so on.

Security of land tenure should offer protection to people allocated land within defined legal parameters. People allocated land should not be victimised or prevented from exercising their rights to land. Land which has been allocated to people should only be withdrawn under most extreme and exceptional cases which should be clearly spelt out in the land policy framework to ensure transparency.

There should also be observance of the principles of natural justice by allowing aggrieved parties to appeal where they are justified into believing that their rights to land were infringed i.e. in the case of summary withdrawal of land by authorities.

If people allocated land are not given security of tenure, they will not invest long term in land for fear of losing what they would have worked for or invested in. Where access to land is only given for shorter periods, people are also likely to take short term speculative measures.

Where there is risk of loss of land, i.e. insecure tenure, people will not invest in agriculture seriously. The consequence is that there will inadequate utilisation of land and hence insufficient food production. Where there is no security of tenure, it will lead to inability to produce sufficiently and sustainably. The land policy framework should ensure that all people allocated land should have the 99 year leases, which gives them the legal right to occupy land and hence the security of tenure. Most people currently allocated land do not have the 99 year leases.

Their entitlement to land allocated to them is in the form of Offer Letters. An offer letter, unlike a lease, does not give one full security of tenure. The offer letter can be withdrawn easily leaving one without land. This anomaly needs to be addressed.

The 99 year lease, because of the long lease period, gives the lessee an opportunity to take a long term approach to land utilisation. Although the 99 year lease does not equate to a Freehold, 99 years is almost occupation of land for life. The Government needs to ensure that proper legal documentation of all land allocated to ensure that lease holders have security of tenure. The reason why banks are not accepting 99 year leases and offer letters as collateral is because the security of land tenure matters have not been clearly addressed.

3. Land Audit

A national land audit exercise is now overdue. "The current land audit is a noble idea aimed at fully knowing ‘who is where and what is being done’, Minister Murerwa remarked while addressing students participating at the Joint Command and Staff Course at Zimbabwe Staff College early November, 2009.

Land audits are necessary, as the Minister puts it, to take stock on who has been allocated what, and what they are doing with the land. It also makes the planning easier as a database will be set up to ensure that all beneficiaries are identified, size of land documented, primary agricultural activities known etc.

The advantages of a land audit exercise are as follows:

l Ensures transparency in the land distribution/allocation exercise.

l Curbs multiple farm ownership.

l Ensures that no land remains utilised.

l Enables efficient planning and allocation of resources.

l Ensures checks and balances and accountability.

The first land audit exercise is yet to be conducted. We can not keep postponing this exercise if we are to progress in ensuring that we have a well structured land redistribution exercise.

5. Funding

Experience has shown us that we cannot adequately address the land question in Zimbabwe without funding. The funding I am talking about is basically financial resources that enable farmers to buy capital goods (tractors, irrigation equipment etc), and pay for: implements, seed and fertilisers, chemicals, labour and so on. We need to have a structured financial system that supports agriculture; otherwise all land that we allocated to people will be derelict. We will not be able to produce food if we do not address the issue of funding.

The Government, through its various wings, should not be involved in direct allocation of financial resources and equipment to farmers because it does not have the systems, expertise, skills and capacity to deal with that. The National Land Policy needs to come up with an appropriate institutional framework for funding agriculture. Financial institutions like AgriBank need to be adequately capitalised and capacitated to enable them to support agriculture.

All lending or allocation of financial support to farmers needs to be done through financial institutions that have the capacity to administer funds, maintain records, assess risks involved in lending and the mechanism to collect debt.

The National Land Policy should also address programs such as the Agricultural Input Schemes. Parameters on how such schemes work, role of parastatals like GMB, should be clearly defined to allow farmers to access inputs such as seed and fertilizer at an affordable price. Such measures were this year hastily put in place and are inadequate.

What the above tells us is that, for the land redistribution exercise to be successful, it requires adequate funding to ensure that farmers produce adequate food. In order to stimulate agricultural production, the Government should ensure that the 99 year leases can be used as collateral to enable farmers to access capital. Currently most financial institutions do not accept the 99 year leases as collateral.

The Government also recently signed an agreement with various banks to accept offer letters as collateral to assist farmers with finance for the current agricultural season. (Herald 9 November 2009).

To fully support the land redistribution program, there is need to mobilise funds to support agriculture. Funds for agriculture could be mobilised through donors, Government to Government Bilateral Agreements, International Financial Institutions, Local Banks, Government direct funding, and so on.

6. Technical Support Services

The National Land Policy should address the issue of technical support services. These are in the form of agricultural extension services, training, research and development, among others.

Arex should be adequately capitalised to ensure that it provides full extension services to all farmers. We need to ensure that all farmers have access to technical expertise to enable them to adopt the best farming methods, use appropriate farming technologies, use recommended seeds, fertilizer, chemicals, use environment in a sustainable way and so on.

Institutions such as research stations should be revived and capacitated in all provinces to ensure that farmers have expert advice of farming. DDF support services in the form of tillage assistance should be resuscitated as part of technical support services to farmers.

Other Issues

Due to the shortage of space, I am unable to discuss the following issues, which should also be addressed in the National Land Policy Framework:

l Land Productivity.

l Foreign Ownership of Land (Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPAs).

l Compensation.

l Restoration of Law and Order.

This article will be continued next week.

l Allen Choruma can be contacted on e mail: allenc17 *** juno.com