News / Regional
Minister Mathema blast stone-age black farmers
03 Feb 2016 at 07:35hrs | Views
MATABELELAND North Provincial Affairs minister Cain Mathema has admitted that new black farmers are struggling to match the high standards set by white former commercial farmers.
Mathema said most of them were relying on ox-drawn ploughs and only producing food for their families.
"We want investment in agriculture to transform our local farmers into commercial farmers. We don't want to continue seeing our farmers using ox-drawn ploughs and as such we would love for example to see a small tractor assembly plant set up in Lupane," he said.
"It will be nice to see Japanese investors in Lupane in the production of such small tractors for our farmers. We want more investment in water infrastructure development such as dams and piped water schemes to our farmers in the province.
"We need to commercialise our farming but we cannot commercialise if our farmers do not have tractors and rely on ox drawn ploughs."
"Matabeleland North is a rural district and naturally, therefore, it is a farming district. We want to transform farming in Matabeleland North," he said.
"We want to have commercial farmers and not subsistence farmers on land, which was given to us by Cecil John Rhodes, which emphasised that they should produce only enough for their families."
Mathema was speaking in the presence of Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yoshi Hiraishi and blasted black farmers for remaining stuck in subsistence farming "as if they were still under the Cecil John Rhodes colonial era".
Mathema said most of them were relying on ox-drawn ploughs and only producing food for their families.
"We want investment in agriculture to transform our local farmers into commercial farmers. We don't want to continue seeing our farmers using ox-drawn ploughs and as such we would love for example to see a small tractor assembly plant set up in Lupane," he said.
"It will be nice to see Japanese investors in Lupane in the production of such small tractors for our farmers. We want more investment in water infrastructure development such as dams and piped water schemes to our farmers in the province.
"Matabeleland North is a rural district and naturally, therefore, it is a farming district. We want to transform farming in Matabeleland North," he said.
"We want to have commercial farmers and not subsistence farmers on land, which was given to us by Cecil John Rhodes, which emphasised that they should produce only enough for their families."
Mathema was speaking in the presence of Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yoshi Hiraishi and blasted black farmers for remaining stuck in subsistence farming "as if they were still under the Cecil John Rhodes colonial era".
Source - Southern Eye
