The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is in the process of developing a database, for the purpose of matching available underutilised and unproductive land units with potential joint venture partners.
This comes after Government approved a Joint Venture Agreement Framework which allows investors to undertake farming operations with the consent of Government.
In a statement on Friday, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka encouraged joint ventures as he said not all applicants for land would get it as it was a finite resource.
He encouraged farmers to register with their nearest Agritex office, with potential joint venture partners required to register with the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Ministry.
“May I take this opportunity to remind all applicants for land that land is a finite resource, therefore, not every applicant will get land. However, I wish to highlight that one does not need to have land in order to do business on land.
It is in this regard that the ministry encourages joint ventures on unproductive land. A joint venture database, for the purpose of match-making available underutilised and unproductive land units with potential joint ventures partners is being developed,” said Dr Masuka.
Dr Masuka said the Government approved a Joint Venture Agreement Framework which allows investors to undertake farming operations with the consent of Government.
He said where conversion of agricultural land — such as cropping and/or livestock to forestry- is planned, a special approval from the Ministry must be sought first, before parties can sign the Special Forestry Joint Venture Agreement.
“It must be emphasised that all Joint Ventures must be approved by the ministry for them to be legally-binding documents. Section 18 of the Land Commission Act Chapter 20:29 buttresses this position by asserting that no occupier of State land shall permit occupation, on a share-cropping basis, by another person unless a formal agreement has been entered into between the owner and the occupier with that agreement having been approved by the minister.
“All Forestry joint ventures, whether registered and unregistered with the ministry, must be submitted to the ministry by 15 February 2022.
Farmers undertaking forestry joint ventures must clearly indicate this on their Annual Production and Productivity Returns,” added Dr Masuka.
The minister revealed that a different agreement was required to cater for the long-term nature of forestry, and the delayed returns on investment but, more importantly, to consider and preserve agricultural land for national food security.
He said in line with the Government’s thrust to increase agricultural production and productivity, abandoned farms, derelict farms and underutilised farms shall be liable for repossession and redistribution to deserving beneficiaries on the waiting list for land allocation.
“Holders of such land must consider joint ventures to quickly bring such land under production. Let us take farming as a business.
Let us make land productive for the attainment of Vision 2030. Land and agriculture must cause accelerated economic activity for the attainment of Vision 2030, it is in this regard that the Ministry directed all A1 and A2 farmers to submit annual Production and Productivity Forms by 15 February each year.
The new A2 permit conditions also compel all A2 farmers to provide such returns,” said the minister.
In pursuit of Vision 2030, through the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy implementation framework, the Minister said Government will transform the agriculture sector by making farming a business, while leaving no household, village and youth behind.
