By Benhilda Chademana
AFTER critically reviewing our situation, including our current capabilities and possibilities, we have reached an unassailable philosophical and ideological conclusion that Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe liyakwa ngabanikazi.
Simply translated, it means the responsibility to any mission, duty and burden of developing our Zimbabwe rests with us who own and belong to it.
We cannot subcontract that responsibility to any other country or people.
It is none but ourselves, falling back on our God-given resources and our ever growing ingenuity.
Today we proudly walk tall as a people as we pay homage to those who gave their all to make us free.
Thousands of them perished and continue to lie in marked and unmarked graves, while some were swallowed by waters and mountains without trace as they struggled to liberate Zimbabwe.
Today, we all take pride in being an empowered nation and a united people, keeping in mind that: ‘Nyika yakauya nevene vayo, Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe liyakwa ngabanikazi.
It is a mantra on building our nation with our hands, our own minds, our own capacity, our God-given natural resources, our own people, in unity peace and harmony.
The President is encouraging everyone to participate in nation building through thick and thin and through ups and downs.
And for one to be able to sacrifice for one’s country, he/she should be patriotic.
In short, who should take our country forward?
The answer is very clear: Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ Ilizwe liyakwa ngabanikazi, brick-by-brick, stone-upon-stone, and in doing so, no-one and no place must be left behind.
Picking from the foundation laid by the First Republic, Zimbabweans must recall that independence itself was attained by the owners of the land (vene vayo).
Under the Second Republic, we have turned the page, thriving in most sectors, especially in agriculture following the adoption of the scientific Pfumvudza/Intwasa Farming Programme which ushered in a 2020/2021 humper harvest that broke records.
Pfumvudza/Intwasa is a crop production intensification approach under which farmers ensure the efficient use of resources (inputs and labour) on a small area of land in order to optimise its management.
“Pfumvudza/Intwasa means a new season of increased productivity; it is a season of producing more on less land and with less resources; a season of climate proofing our agriculture through … (the) adoption of conservation agriculture,” said Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, John Basera.
What makes Pfumvudza unique is the size of the plot used.
At just 16m x 39m, the plot is small enough to easily prepare, small enough to manage with mulch, small enough to weed, and even small enough to water by hand with harvested rainwater in the event of a mid-season dry spell or drought.
The concept has been successful in helping farmers to produce grains, including maize, sorghum and millet, while it also encourages the rotation of legumes such as beans, groundnuts or cowpeas.
According to Matthew Mbanga, CEO of FfF Trust: “The secret to the project’s success has been its scalability. Conservation agriculture drastically reduces the workload for farmers and limiting the size of plots makes it even more manageable.”
Indeed President Mnangagwa is correct when he says, Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe liyakwa ngabanikazi.
Remember Cyclone Idai hit Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands in 2019, leaving a legacy of destruction never seen from a natural disaster in Zimbabwe but our disaster preparedness and air rescue demonstrated to the world that, indeed, Zimbabwe can rise to the occasion.
Today, Chimanimani and neighbouring communities are back to life, infrastructure back to normal and the survivors have smiles on their faces again.
The President led from the front and Zimbabweans, as a united people, brought Chimanimani and surrounding areas back to life.
President Mnangagwa says his mantra: Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe liyakwa ngabanikazi, is a philosophy and ideology of self-determination and national responsibility which ensures debt-free development of Zimbabwe.
The President said the mantra has given the people of Zimbabwe “…a debt-free model of development,” and challenged us to “…self-finance our progress, brick-upon-brick, stone-upon-stone.”
“So, Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo is a philosophy and ideology of self-determination and of national responsibility.
Indeed, it is an affirmation of our national sovereignty and independence.
Above all, it is a call and an exhortation to national duty and action.
Zimbabwe’s fate rests with Zimbabweans: They bear all its burdens and define its futures.”