'Am ready to harvest' - Madzivanyati

One of the 14 beneficiaries of Esidakeni Farm in Nyamandlovu, Dumisani Madzivanyati will soon harvest his crops a few months after taking occupation of his allocated space.

Below is what we know:

Allocated 50 hectares in May under the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme (Model A2, Phase 2)

The offer letter states that beneficiaries must take occupancy within three months, failure to do so the offer letter would be revoked.

Took occupancy of his allocated portion n September and started cultivating.

To date six hectares under cultivation: One hectare under carrots,  one hectare for watermelons, one hectare for butternuts, half a hectare under beetroots, 10 000 heads of cabbages and eggplants.

As of this week, most of the crops were ready for harvest as shown below. RDF

 

ESIDAKENI ESTATE: Untold tales of infrastructure collapse, lax security, scavengers playground

Tucked away a few kilometers off Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway at Ticehurst  Business center (koBhenisi) lies an expansive 553-hectare farm commonly known as Esidakeni. 

The property, once a thriving agricultural concern mainly on the lucrative dairy sector has been under media spotlight since Government gazetted it for land acquisition.

It is not the only farm to be gazetted for land acquisition to resettle landless Zimbabweans on the ever-growing waiting list. At present, the Lands and Agriculture and Rural Resettlement ministry sit on over 250 000 applications for land countrywide.

However, the acquisition of Esidakeni farm has torched so much controversy locally and internationally.

The Trio
It was expected though as prominent government critic Siphosami Malunga, a director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) that allegedly funds a number of 'hostile' civic groups, claims ownership of the farm with his co-partners Charles Moyo and Zephaniah Dhlamini.

Moyo is a businessman while Dhlamini is a scientist working at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust).

In court papers, the trio says it acquired the property for US$248 000. However, the government says the farm purchase was fraudulent.

"They are claiming to have bought shares in the property, but you cannot buy shares to a land that has been acquired by the government. Besides, they do not have any documentation showing that they own the property" Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs minister Richard Moyo is quoted saying.

On social media, Malunga, who does not hesitate to state he is a son of a national hero, has been painting a picture of a thriving dairy and horticultural farm.

But a visit to the area paints a sad picture of the state of affairs.

Infrastructure Collapse

Since August, Rural Digital Focus has been documenting infrastructure and agricultural activities at the vast estate against a litany of court papers and Twitter posts of a thriving agricultural venture generated by Malunga.

To say the farm is underutilized sounds like an understatement.

A rundown unmanned security guard cubic welcomes a visitor to the property.

Malunga paints a picture of an invaded secured property but security is lax.

A huge portion of the underutilized farm has no perimeter fence, unlike adjacent properties.

Vast tracts of land seem not to have been tilled for years. It is a dense forest.

Scrap metal scavengers have on several occasions been observed freely engaging in their illegal activities, with buyers milling around the property.

The few buildings at the estate are in an advanced state of dilapidation with telephone poles and lines close to the main entrance lies on the ground.



As of 4 December, the poles were still not taken care of.

A few meters away, there is a huge dairy facility now hardly visible as the feedlots are covered in overgrown grass.

The feedlots structures clearly show that they have been out of use for many seasons and would take huge amounts of capital to bring them up to recommended state before use.

Other buildings have no roofing and windows.

In several visits, our news crew only saw a handful of goats and cattle.

 

However, the trio says it "also keeps beef herd of 150 animals, 50 goats and 400 free-range SASSO chickens".

Meanwhile, the court battle for Esidakeni farm continues. RDF

Beitbridge Re-Development Housing Project excites Mnangagwa

Rural Digital Focus

President Mnangagwa has said the Second Republic 'is seized with the project of constructing housing units in all these border towns' so that civil servants and all agencies will have adequate and decent accommodation.

He was speaking during the commissioning of the Beitbridge Re-Development Housing Project today (17 November) in Beitbridge.

The President expressed delight for witnessing the project which was initiated in 2006 but stalled for years now gathering pace.

"I am happy that I have begun this project in 2006 and due to my resilience, I am completing it in 2021. The project stalled in 2008 but was restarted in 2019 under the Second Republic. So far 52 units have been complete and more are on the way" President said.

Housing delivery to Zimbabweans is one of the key promises made to Zimbabweans at the launch of the Second Republic.

Recently, the President launched the Zimbabwe National Human Settlements Policy which aims to build 225 000 housing units by 2025.

Beitbridge attained town status in 2006.

Beitbridge connects Zimbabwe and South Africa and serves as the transit point for the majority of north-south trade in Southern Africa.

The commissioned houses are for the accommodation of civil servants.

About 16 blocks of flats that are at various stages of development from footing to roof level and when complete, will accommodate 64 families. RDF

Bulawayo -Victoria Falls Road neglected as ministers fly- MP claims

Rural Digital Focus

A legislator has claimed that the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway is neglected "because Ministers do not use these roads but they fly" and do not have an appreciation of the state of the road.

Contributing to the President's State of the Nation Address in the National Assembly on 16 November, legislator L. Sibanda said the state of roads in Matabeleland are in a deplorable state.

"I would start by the road infrastructure; the Bulawayo to Nkayi Road is in a sorry state. The road is inaccessible and it is in disrepair. Of course, the Ministry of Transport has tried because in the past, it has deployed graders and other equipment for road rehabilitation but the road is still not good enough.

"I believe that it is important for the road to be tarred even if it is 5km or 10km, it would be better. Let me also look at the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road which is also in a bad state and has culminated in business people shunning the road" said Sibanda.

 
In July this year, media reports indicated that Zimre Capital has secured US$3 billion funding for a bankable feasibility study for the proposed rehabilitation of the Beitbridge- Bulawayo, and Bulawayo- Victoria Falls highways.

 The 426-kilometer stretch has been experiencing severe damages especially in Hwange and Umguza district with motorists forced to navigate around massive potholes.

In February this year, Government declared the country's road network a State of Disaster and has since embarked on a national road reconstruction blitz that has seen many of the roads being upgraded or rehabilitated.

The government set aside US$400 million to fund the rehabilitation through the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (EPPR).

 

Added Sibanda "The implementation of the devolution of power would be quite useful.

"For instance, Bulawayo to Victoria Falls Road is in a bad state because Ministers do not use these roads but they fly."

The legislator partly blamed haulage trucks for contributing to the poor state of the network.

"There is Hwange Colliery which supplies the nation with coal and thermal power, a lot of haulage trucks ply this road and despite the damage that is done by these haulage trucks, there is no money that they leave for the communities. The transport companies are not contributing any toll fees towards the rehabilitation of the Bulawayo/Victoria Falls Road. Hwange is responsible for supplying coal and the proceeds from the sales are found to be developing and rehabilitating roads".

The rehabilitation of the highways is expected to lay a strong foundation for economic development. RDF

Gwayi-Shangani Dam in pictures

The government recently said that completion of the Gwayi-Shangani dam construction project is now expected in July 2022 owing to foreign currency shortages, constant power cuts and delays in material supply.

Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Matebeleland North, Richard Moyo is on record saying: "Since the dam is now set for completion next year our farmers can go ahead and prepare for planting. This also clears the air as anxiety was rife over what to do given that some farmers were given agricultural inputs." RDF

Beitbridge embrace Intwasa/Pfumvudza

RURAL DIGITAL FOCUS



BEITBRIDGE community has embraced the Intwasa/Pfumvudza farming concept, as almost three-quarters of the wards did not need food assistance from Social Welfare this year, a local legislator has said.

Intwasa/Pfumvudza is a farming concept that uses a climate-proofing agricultural concept that emphasizes on the use of conservation farming techniques to make the most out of small pieces of land.

Essentially, it allows Zimbabweans to get the most of their produce from a small piece of land.

The government has come up with the agriculture revival strategy that is already bearing fruit after the country recorded a bumper harvest in the previous summer cropping season.

Legislator Albert Nguluvhe told Parliament on 11 November that the farming community is appreciative of the farming concept that was not common in the dry region.

"First, I wanted to talk about the issue of Pfumvudza which was not common to us in our culture, especially the people of that area. For the first time, I want to report that we managed to get something. Beitbridge is known to be a very dry place where you will not harvest anything if you plough. However, since the introduction of Pfumvudza" said Nguluvhe.

On the same day in Gokwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Government is targeting to avail $8 billion next year for the scheme.

Last year, $5, 8 billion was released.

Added Nguluvhe: "Last year, we managed to secure something that almost three-quarters of the wards did not need food assistance from Social Welfare. It is only now that we need the food. We want to applaud that move.

 
"As we are talking, Pfumvudza is on the ground again. They were busy distributing seed last week and I want to say we appreciate that. As our area is dry, I would say let us look at this Pfumvudza, I think it will do on small grains".

Gwayi-Shangani Dam, a Game changer

Speaking in the Zimbabwe Parliament early November, Deputy Minister of Finance, Chiduwa said : “This is a project that we have worked on and by December, Gwayi-Shangani Dam will be completed.  This is a project that we started hearing about when we were still children.  He also directed us that by December, 2022, he would want to open a tap of water from Gwayi-Shangani Dam which is the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project. 

“So by December, 2022 in terms of the resource allocation, His Excellency should commission the completion of the whole project and opening water in Bulawayo next year.  So this is where we are and in terms of the implementation, already we have selected six contractors who are already dealing with the pipeline as we complete the dam.  So this is running concurrently but the end is not in water.”