Agricultural Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has directed that securitised A2 Permits be issued to deserving farmers whose annual production and productivity forms speak volumes on their commitment to partner Government in food production, poverty alleviation and farm commercialisation.

This was said by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Anxious Masuka, while giving a blow by blow narration of the President’s policies meant for the transformation of the Agricultural Sector through the Agriculture and Food Systems Strategy (AFSTS)(2020-2024).

“In an effort to improve the security tenure, the President directed that securitised A2 Permits be issued, instead of offer letters.  Importantly, the President has directed a policy shift that farmers no longer have to apply for 99 year leases, instead the Annual Production and Productivity Returns now form the basis for assessment and issuance of the 99 year leases,” said Minister Masuka.

Minister Masuka explained that this move was meant to pool together farms that will form the basis for farm commercialisation enabling Government to make location specific assessments as they thrive for maximum productivity.

“Although the maximum farm size is a good concept , Government has refined the system to ensure that location-specific assessments are made based in the new concept of the minimum economically viable unit, which is a better indicator of farm potential and a better determinant of a commercial approach to land redistribution for increased production and productivity,” Masuka said.

Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa further directed that a Special Purpose Vehicle in the form of ‘land-owing and agricultural development vehicle’ be formed urgently to accommodate all the 260 000 people on the land allocation waiting list, some 10 000 diasporas, and more.  This special purpose vehicle will enable people to participate in the agricultural business despite physically owning a piece of land.