VP Mujuru hands over tractors, urges farmers to be productive

24 February 2010, The Herald
URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/201002220101.html

Harare:  Zimbabwe has the capacity to neutralise the effects of the illegal sanctions imposed by the West if the citizenry unites and contributes positively towards resuscitating the agricultural sector, Vice President Mujuru said yesterday.

She said sanctions could be rendered useless if Zimbabweans worked together to consolidate the gains of the land reforms that saw Government acquiring formerly white-owned commercial farms to resettle 300 000 landless black families.

The VP said, "It is imperative for every Zimbabwean to make a positive contribution towards the revival of the agricultural sector since it is the backbone and mainstay of our economy. If we optimally utilise our land and vast agricultural potential the illegal sanctions imposed by the West will become negligible.  Zimbabweans should put their differences aside and work together in unison to shame the West, who up to this day maintained the illegal economic sanctions against our country," she said.

She said Government was cognisant of the challenges facing the cane industry. VP Mujuru challenged Zimbabweans to take advantage of Government's indigenisation drive and take controlling stakes in various industries.

The chairperson of the Commercial Sugarcane Farmers' Association of Zimbabwe Mr Edmore Hwarare appealed to the Government to establish a cane mill to circumvent acts of sabotage by elitist millers.