News / National
Masuka declares war on urban land barons
16 Nov 2024 at 06:50hrs | Views
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Anxious Masuka warned land barons against invading land earmarked and reserved for agriculture unless there are formal or legal conversion procedures from other line ministries.
Speaking during an interview on the sidelines of Zimbabwe Online Agricultural College graduation ceremony this Friday, Masuka said land barons should desist from illegally encroaching land earmarked for agriculture especially in those areas adjacent to urban areas, advising that cities should rather be developed vertically rather than horizontally.
"There maybe reported cases of some criminality on land earmarked for agriculture being illegally invaded by land barons. Policy on urban agricultural land is clear, unless if there are formal and legal procedures with related line ministries to implement the conversation," Masuka said.
"We always engage and liaise with other line ministries to ensure that everything done is legal and above board. Any act of criminality will be dealt with through legal means and we expect people to respect land adjacent to urban set-ups which are earmarked or reserved for agriculture," Masuka added.
Meanwhile, Masuka expressed gratitude to various institutions of higher learning education and other various vacational training centres whose contribution towards complementing agricultural technologies through innovation, research and development would help in ensuring that the country is food secured.
"We applaud our institutions of higher learning education and vocational training centres whose contributions in complementing Education 5.0 policy have been realised through human capital development, research and development. With Education 5.0, we have mechanise our agriculture, embracing technologies to ensure improved productivity, innovations and continuous research and development on initiatives towards food security," Masuka said.
At least 46 graduates have graduated from the Zimbabwe Online Agricultural College which the Minister proposed that the institution should change its name to Zimbabwe Agricultural College.
Speaking during an interview on the sidelines of Zimbabwe Online Agricultural College graduation ceremony this Friday, Masuka said land barons should desist from illegally encroaching land earmarked for agriculture especially in those areas adjacent to urban areas, advising that cities should rather be developed vertically rather than horizontally.
"There maybe reported cases of some criminality on land earmarked for agriculture being illegally invaded by land barons. Policy on urban agricultural land is clear, unless if there are formal and legal procedures with related line ministries to implement the conversation," Masuka said.
Meanwhile, Masuka expressed gratitude to various institutions of higher learning education and other various vacational training centres whose contribution towards complementing agricultural technologies through innovation, research and development would help in ensuring that the country is food secured.
"We applaud our institutions of higher learning education and vocational training centres whose contributions in complementing Education 5.0 policy have been realised through human capital development, research and development. With Education 5.0, we have mechanise our agriculture, embracing technologies to ensure improved productivity, innovations and continuous research and development on initiatives towards food security," Masuka said.
At least 46 graduates have graduated from the Zimbabwe Online Agricultural College which the Minister proposed that the institution should change its name to Zimbabwe Agricultural College.
Source - Byo24News
