FIREWOOD poaching is threatening a US$10 million black pepper production at Sable Ranch Farm, outside Marondera, NewsDay Weekender has learnt.
The project is a joint venture between Sable Ranch Farm owners Tikley Enterprises and Switzerland-based ecosystem investors, Silva Terra AG.
The project is reportedly going to earn approximately US$15 million annually in exports and is set to create 500 jobs for locals.
NewsDay Weekender is reliably informed that Silva Terra AG has since disbursed part of the money to kick-start the first phase of the project to be implemented on a 300-hectare piece of land.
Black pepper thrives in woodlands and creeps on trees.
Last week, officials from Tikley Enterprises announced that their security details had intercepted a UD truck belonging to the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services (ZPCS) on the farm, loaded.
According to the head of security, they were ordered by police officers to 'let the truck go.'
"Good evening, all. I thought it pertinent to advise you that this vehicle ferried freshly-cut indigenous timber from Sable Range through Auchenlarich Farm. Having been apprehended by my security, I was advised by the police in Marondera rural to allow them to proceed as it was, supposedly, for Heroes Day celebrations," read a message by an official from Sable Ranch Farm.
- Mudariki’s vision for Zim contemporary art fair
- Artist Richard Mudariki’s vision for a Zimbabwean contemporary art fair
- Afrophobia: Can some in ANC stand up
- Chief sucked in woman disappearance case
Keep Reading
A director at Tikley Enterprises, Edwin Masimba Moyo, described the move as 'persecution and betrayal.'
"This is the persecution and betrayal I have had to undergo throughout my farming life. A whole truck from the prisons service invades my farm, cuts trees to sabotage my ecosystem joint venture with the Swiss. I am trying to get the economy working, but I am treated like a criminal. Pure sabotage," Moyo posted on his X handle.
Speaking to NewsDay Weekender, Moyo confirmed that the black pepper project is under threat.
"It is under threat from firewood poachers. It is hurting to note that there is a choreographed poaching of firewood at Sable Ranch and nothing is being done by the law enforcers," Moyo said.
Efforts to get a comment from both police and ZPCS in Mashonaland East Province were fruitless.
