By Wellington Makonese
Small scale farmers are expected to play a key role in the recovery of the horticulture sector, whose production capacity had gone down by 50 per cent in the past two decades.
It is not the size of the farm that matters most, but the maximum utilisation of a piece of land that one has.
This is true for one Bindura farmer, Tambaoga Soka, who has taken the huge task to contribute towards the recovery of the horticultural sector.
After benefiting from the land reform programme, Soka started small on a 1-hectare space but has grown to become an inspiration for others who are considering investing in the horticultural sector.
“I started off using an ox-drawn cart with support from the community until I managed to buy a tractor and truck. I have worked in any other setup but just this farm. This is a peri-urban farm it’s small considering what I can do, I can even venture into serious animal husbandry as well but the land doesn’t permit. I take this as a business not as part-time.”
The story of this farmer in is line with the government’s expectation of farmers, which is maximum land utilisation.
“We are looking into assessing who has been making use of farms and who has not been, because we don’t want to see farmers taking land as reserves and others are reluctant to take various financing initiatives,” said Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Senator Monica Mavhunga.
The government recently launched the horticulture recovery and growth plan, whose target is to boost production for export.
The post Utilise land, boost exports, horticulture farmers told appeared first on ZBC NEWS.