THERE is a contagious zeal, that is really heart-warming, doing the rounds.
Our farmers are an excited lot.
The gods are excited.
Even the land is excited.
In its silence, it has spoken; nourishing the seeds planted in its womb.
In its silence, the land, our land, has spoken the language of the womb, maguta.
It has been a while since I have seen this enthusiasm among our farmers.
They have every reason to be happy.
Their land has spoken the language of bountiful harvests.
This is the language of the farmer and the language of the land.
Still the farmer is not satisfied.
The land on the other hand is defiant.
It defiantly clamours for seed into its womb, more tilling and more weeding.
That is the language of the land.
The language of the people of Zimbabwe, forever connected to the land.
The farmer’s thirst for production has yet to be quenched.
The farmers are raring to go, some even want more land for production.
And the land that produced still wants to produce more.
All this palpable excitement stems from the success of the Command Agriculture Programme, that initiative established to take hunger head on, to make us again a self-sustaining people.
Such is the significance and impact of this programme that in just one farming season it has exceeded expectations.
We owe this success to the unquestionable dedication and commitment of the Zimbabwean.
Hard work is the hallmark of our people.
If the the command initiative is spread to other sectors, the results will be instant and spread far and wide to the rest of the nation.
Our people have shown that they are ready, given all the support, to work to the best of their ability.
Command Agriculture has shown farmers their capabilities.
Many are still surprised as to their capabilities and they want to do more.
Many are raring to go into the winter cropping season.
The support extended by Government in the last summer cropping season has restored the faith of farmers across the country.
From Manicaland to the Matabeleland provinces farmers do not doubt that farming is the business to be in.
For the first time many operated professionally and they are happy with the results.
There was nothing extraordinary about white farmers.
They just got adequate support.
I plead with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to do for winter cropping what they did for summer cropping.
The Command Agriculture Programme has shown us that we have the solutions to our problems.
Government has once again thrown its weight behind our farmers and is putting in place a Command Winter Wheat Programme estimated to grow
50 000 hectares of wheat.
The anticipated yield is 300 000 tonnes.
The country requires 450 000 tonnes of wheat to meet its annual consumption.
And the Grain Millers Association has guaranteed a market.
It promised to procure 200 000 tonnes of wheat.
What this means is that, locally, we have the means to up the standard of our life.
Yes we do need foreign direct investment but it is not the ultimate of our salvation.