INDEED food security can be achieved.
The masses can be fed.
The masses will be fed.
This country will export maize.
The fields will be green with crops.
I am saying this with certainty.
Who thought the day would come when ZESA Holdings would proffer an apology for a power outage.
But it happened, in our time.
Early this week the power supplier’s chief spokesperson Fullard Gwasira apologised for a power outage experienced, for a few hours, on Tuesday.
Now many of us are taking the availability of electricity for granted.
But prior to this, many of us thought the day would never come when power was always there, magetsi asingaende.
I have been prompted to reflect on this on the background of the report that Government has embarked on an initiative to achieve and guarantee food security.
The project that Government plans to roll out is feasible and has vast potential.
It is attainable and it will happen, but we have naysayers among us quick to dismiss.
However, we have ZESA Holdings which proves that the seemingly impossible is doable.
Successfully implemented, the food security initiative will not only feed the nation but will restore us to being the breadbasket of the continent.
It is said under the programme Government will extend support to the Agricultural Rural Development Authority, prisons and universities, among other institutions.
It is common knowledge that these institutions have vast land presently underutilised.
And institutions like the prisons and universities have a capable human resource base that can steer production.
Besides the above institutions, Government plans to partner 2 000 farmers, each farmer operating on 200 hectares of arable land.
Targeted farmers are those with access to water bodies.
The success of the initiative is given provided all stakeholders play ball and do not pull in different directions.
The initiative will not only deliver food security but will transform the lives of producers.
Participants in the programme are set to receive the latest equipment in agriculture as well as inputs and finances to support production.
The country is said to have
220 000 hectares of irrigated land with a potential to produce 3,5 million tonnes of maize.
One person who will be delighted by this initiative to look within for answers to our perennial food problems as a result of the recurring droughts will be Saturday Herald columnist Nathaniel Manheru.
The prominent columnist Manheru has argued that to make our fields green and give life to our economy we need to harness our resources, skills and labour.
This is the path to take.
We have advocated being masters of our destiny and this is the way to go.
Let not the scourge of corruption creep into this noble initiative.
Let it be rolled out efficiently and properly so that the anticipated results will be achieved.
This is our Government, a Government of the people dealing with its people thus we have no fears but all the belief and optimism that we will be successful.
We are not dealing with the ‘complex’ Brettonwoods institutions that extend support accompanied with mind-boggling and usurious conditions which have absolutely no bearing on the aspirations of our farmers.
The initiative will empower our producers and take them to the next level in agriculture.
We continue to sing our song and celebrate our heritage.
And with a thriving agricultural sector we will not just sing our own song but feed from our own troughs.