The prescription in the recently-assented-to Finance Act for the beneficiaries of the land reform programme to start paying rentals and levies to the government is a prudent move poised to benefit the State.
KJ,Our Reader
It is a sensible idea which had been long overdue for all the land holders to contribute meaningfully to the infrastructural development of the areas where their farms are located.
Certainly, these newly-resettled farmers need social services and amenities like schools, health centres, water and roads, among other services.
It is vital that the residents play a pivotal role in enhancing the success of their respective communities.
This, in a way, eases pressure on the fiscus which is struggling to meet its other fundamental obligations due to the dwindling revenue base.
This new requirement will certainly make a difference to the livelihoods of the new farmers scattered all over the country.
The new law makes it mandatory for the new farmers to pay rental levies annually.
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Any land holder that defies the new set-up will lose the land to the State, which will in turn be redistributed to other citizens that are in dire need of the same land for productive utilisation.
This procedure will naturally sift serious farmers from bad apples that have been sitting idle for over a decade on the land, instead of production which can benefit the rest of the nation.
The Finance Act should be applied indiscriminately in order to restore sanity on the agricultural front, which is currently facing a decline due to non-committed farmers that are only deriving pride out of holding land which they cannot put to good use for the good of Zimbabwe.
This country is an agrarian economy which depends largely on the utilisation of land for its survival.
Land constitutes the most invaluable means of production which can sustain humanity.
The new farmers have a critical responsibility to ensure food security.
If this is not guaranteed, surely there is no need to keep non-productive farmers on the land.
It should be parcelled out to dedicated farmers that have the capacity to produce and feed the nation as well as resuscitate the agro-based industry.
The land is the sole source of hope for us all as a nation to improve the economy.
It is high time the nation put sufficient effort to make use of all possible channels which can improve the agrarian economy for the good of all rather than sitting on the means of production while poverty takes a toll on the populace.
