By Patience Gondo
THE Zimbabwe government says it is tightening land policies to repossess underutilised farms as part of efforts to improve agricultural production and strengthen national food security.
Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Anxious Masuka, said land will not continue to be allocate to individuals who are not using it effectively while the country seeks to grown the economy and improve food output.
He said the government wants all agricultural land to be fully productive .
Masuka said the one family, one farm policy remains important in promoting fair land distribution and maximum land use.
Speaking in Parliament during the week, Masuka also said Zimbabwe is moving to return 67 farms protected under Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs).
The farms belong to foreign nationals from countries including Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands.
BIPPAs are agreements between Zimbabwe and foreign governments that protect investments made by citizens or companies from those countries.
Masuka said Government is working to return the protected farms as part of wider efforts to improve relations with international partners and creditors.
He told lawmakers that Zimbabwe’s land reform programme resettled about 383,500 beneficiaries.
“Of these, 360,000 were settled under the A1 small-scale farming model, while 23,500 benefited under the A2 commercial farming scheme,” he said.
“840 black Zimbabweans who lost farms during the land reform exercise are expected to have their land restored,” he said.
Government says the latest measures are meant to resolve outstanding land disputes while maintaining that the land reform programme remains irreversible and necessary to correct colonial-era land ownership imbalances.