The Sunday News
Shepias Dube
THE Zimbabwe War Veterans Trust — an association that was formed to improve the welfare of the freedom fighters — has started a $300 000 cattle project in Matabeleland region.
The project is seen not only as a way of improving their lives but a national vision to increase the national herd.
As the country celebrates 35 years of independence on Saturday, it is crucial to realise that one of the reasons for waging the war of liberation was for the black majority to gain both political and economic freedom.
Economic freedom is often interpreted as something that must be led by the elite but war veterans have decided to demystify this notion leading from front in the economic sphere just the same way they used to lead in the battlefield.
In an interview on Wednesday the trust’s national chairman Retired Colonel Basten Beta said the money for the project was part of the $1,1 million that was availed to the war veterans by a local investor to promote the participation of the former freedom fighters in the mainstream economy.
“It’s true that as war vets we have embarked on a massive livestock production project using part of the $1,1m loan facility granted to us by Old Mutual through the Central African Building Society (CABS). So far we have purchased nearly 300 cattle and we are targeting more than 800 steers by end of May,” Rtd Col Beta said.
He said the project was set to benefit more than 400 war veterans and their dependants.
The steers will be put under a vigorous pen feeding programme before they are slaughtered for sale.
Rtd Col Beta said some Russians had shown an interest in buying beef from this project and negotiations were under way to finalise the deal.
“The Russians and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are interested in our beef and we are currently working on the modalities of the deal.
“If we are able to meet the quantity and other conditions required by any of these countries then we start beef exports from this project,” he said.
He added that their aim was not just to export carcasses but they wanted to add value to their beef in line with the Government economic blueprint the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) which calls for value addition and beneficiation of local products.
“What we want is to add value to our product so that our beef will fetch more money on the international market.
“Plans to construct a beef processing plant in the city of Bulawayo are at an advanced stage and we have already identified a piece of land for the project,” said Col Beta.
Project acting secretary Mr Watson Dube appealed to Government to assist the veterans with a farm as they were leasing a Cold Storage Company farm, draining part of their income.
“The major challenge we are facing is that we don’t have a farm of our own. We are renting a CSC farm where we are required to pay $2 per beast every month and this is too much for people who are just starting. We therefore request Government to consider allocating us a farm for this project,” Mr Dube said.
He said they had since approached the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement concerning a nearby Arda Estate farm which is not being utilised.
He said war veterans were tracing the footprints of the late Father Zimbabwe Cde Joshua Nkomo who did not only fight for the economic emancipation of the former freedom fighters but wanted to ensure that they were the driving force behind the country’s quest for economic independence.
During the early years of independence the late Vice-President launched Nitram Investments an economic empowerment project for war veterans which was one of the first step towards economic indigenisation in Zimbabwe.
The war veterans have decided to venture into commercial farming to boost food security in the country and to improve foreign currency inflows through exports.
The trust is structured in such a way that provinces in Mashonaland specialise in crop production while Matabeleland and Midlands focus on livestock.
This farming season war veterans in Mashonaland are expecting to harvest more than 100 000 tonnes of maize after they got funding from Old Mutual.
The agricultural sector is the backbone of the country’s economy underpinning economic growth.
