LAND ownership is crucial for Zimbabwe's industrialisation, as it provides the raw materials needed to fuel the manufacturing sector, Zimbabwe Lands Commission (ZLC) Commissioner Rosemary Choruma Dowa has said.
Speaking at the Smart Township and Rural Opportunities Forum in Bulawayo yesterday, Dowa emphasised the importance of land in driving economic development.
She encouraged Zimbabweans to take advantage of the title deed reform programme to build businesses around land.
“The State owns land and it has the right to expropriate, alienate and compulsorily take land and allocate it for others,” Dowa said.
“However, the State also gives citizens the right to use land through some form of land tenure. When we look at the reasons why land was allocated during the land reform programme, it is mainly about the participation of indigenous people in the economic development of this country.”
Dowa said land was the backbone of any form of economic development, as it provided the raw materials for the manufacturing industry.
“You can have a machine without raw material, but what's the purpose of the machine? We need to take seriously issues of land and build businesses around it.
“These businesses should include identifying corridors where specific products or commodities are produced, which feed directly into our industry,” she said.
- Land ownership key to Zim’s industrialisation
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Dowa said Zimbabwe was currently importing most of its raw materials, despite having the capacity to produce them locally.
“We are importing most of our raw materials, yet some of them are so simple that we can produce them ourselves,” she said. “We need to take advantage of our land and use it to drive industrialisation and economic growth.”
Dowa encouraged Zimbabweans to take advantage of the title deed reform programme to secure their land and build businesses that contribute to the country's economic development.
“Now that we are allowed to own and retain these pieces of land through the title deed reform programme, we should take it seriously and build businesses around land,” she said.
Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education chairperson and land development expert Mandivamba Rukuni echoed Dowa’s sentiments.
He said rural industrialisation was the solution to escaping the middle-income trap that has afflicted all African countries, including Zimbabwe.
He emphasised the need to focus on the development of rural areas through industrialisation, highlighting that it is a crucial strategy for sustainable economic growth and development.
“The solution to getting out of the middle-income trap for all African countries is rural industrialisation. The relationship between agriculture and industry is very poor,” Rukuni said.
