Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
FARMERS in Bubi, Matabeleland North province have received six tractors provided under Brazil’s $98 million More Food for Africa Programme. Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko yesterday commissioned the tractors in Mputshini resettlement area and emphasised the need to embrace development and utilise resources provided by the Government to achieve food security.
“We received tractors from China about 10 years ago and they disappeared. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe distributed another batch of tractors and we’re not seeing them today. I don’t want the same to happen to these tractors that I’m commissioning today,” said VP Mphoko.
“These tractors have been sent here by President Mugabe through the loan facility from Brazil. “They are meant to assist everybody in their farms so that we produce our own food here in Bubi.”
VP Mphoko warned villagers against abusing the tractors, saying they were only meant for farming to eradicate hunger. “We want continuity with these tractors. We’ll not accept a situation where they only work for one season and break down due to abuse.
“They will not be used to transport people, firewood or water but farming only. “We have to help each other in making sure that these tractors are safe because they have to be used for the next generation,” said VP Mphoko.
He said the Government was committed to eradicating hunger. VP Mphoko donated fuel to widows and vulnerable families in the area to assist them in the tilling of the land in preparation for the farming season.
He urged farmers not to be too ambitious by planting crops that are not suitable for the soil and climate in the area. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, responsible for crops, Davis Marapira said the Government was aware of water problems faced by the people in Matabeleland North.
He said efforts were underway to facilitate the construction of dams and sink boreholes in the area. “We have to bring water to this province. We’re trying to raise funds so that we can work with the District Development Fund and other departments to make sure that water is easily accessible.
“Once the funds are available, this will be achieved through the construction of dams and sinking of boreholes,” said Deputy Minister Marapira. He urged villagers to work hard and utilise available resources.
MP for Bubi, Cde Clifford Sibanda who is also the Minister of State in Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office, said the commissioning of the tractors was timely as farmers were preparing for the 2016/2017 farming season.
“The Cabinet meeting of July 20, 2016, made a decision to embark on command agriculture, a programme that is meant to ensure food security and grain supply self-sufficiency, within the next four seasons.
“The programme is being implemented under the guidance of the food and security and nutrition Cabinet committee and is run from the Office of the President and Cabinet,” said Cde Sibanda. — -@pamelashumba1