Tendai Chara

Farmers are under siege from greedy individuals who are setting up dubious associations and unions, some of which are conducting unsanctioned training workshops with the intention of fleecing vulnerable and unsuspecting farmers, The Sunday Mail Society has gathered.

In Harare alone, there are more than 15 farmers’ associations that are purporting to represent the interests of mostly small-scale farmers.

However, the briefcase associations are not even registered.

They are constantly roving and are not easy to track. At least 10 fake training workshops for farmers have been held since the beginning of this year. In some instances, the fraudsters simply do not show up after receiving “training fees” from farmers.

Recently, some farmers, mostly tobacco farmers, were dumped by trainers halfway through a workshop at a house in Eastlea, Harare.

A Zvimba farmer, Mrs Netsai Ndarikwa, and her colleagues narrated their ordeal.

“I learned nothing new from the trainers. After three hours of the supposed training, we were given certificates that I later discovered were useless. I lost both my money and valuable time,” she fumed.

According to Mrs Ndarikwa, the training lacked any practical aspect of farming.

“Farming is a practical subject and I felt that there was need for the training to be held at a farm or demonstration plot. When I asked the coordinator about the practical aspect of the training, he asked me to attend another training session for a much higher fee. Besides, the trainers lacked depth,” she added.

Established farmer organisations such as the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (CFU) and the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) are worried. They urged farmers to be wary and carry out due diligence.

“When it comes to the sprouting  of unions and associations that are purporting to represent the interests of farmers, the situation is getting out of hand. It is now a free-for-all. It appears anyone can just wake up and announce the formation of an association,” observed Dr Shadreck Makombe, president of the CFU.

“The farmers themselves are to blame. They are very easy prey. We always advise them to consult us whenever they are approached by people of questionable characters. Sadly, we are getting reports of farmers that are being duped on a daily basis,” he added.

The secretary-general of ZFU, Mr Paul Zakariya, advised farmers to be organised and deal with known service providers.

“Reports of farmers who are being duped by fraudsters are coming in regularly. The farmers that are being defrauded are not organised and do not have a sense of belonging. They must become members of bona fide associations that will link them to credible trainers and service providers,” he said.

Farmers’ organisations are now contemplating approaching the authorities to have the sector cleaned up.

The training programmes are targeting mostly small-scale farmers that are believed to be less sophisticated. And the farmers are often accosted through social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook.

The fake training sessions are also exposing farmers to Covid-19.

At one of the training workshops attended by this reporter at a conference centre in downtown Harare, participants disregarded all coronavirus protocols.

They did not maintain social distance and were not sanitised upon arrival at the venue. Most of the participants were also not wearing face masks.

Mr Anglistone Sibanda, the chief executive officer of Green Afrique Technologies, argues bogus trainers have eroded farmers’ confidence in getting trained.

“Farmers are now doubtful. Many of them have been conned and cannot distinguish between bogus and genuine trainers,” he said. Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Permanent Secretary Dr John Basera referred all questions to Agritex.

However, efforts to get in touch with the Agritex acting director Mr Stancile Tapererwa were futile.