Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) on Thursday apprised parliamentarians on the research findings of a study the organisation conducted to ascertain the impact of large scale investments on the livelihoods of small holder farming communities in Chisumbanje and Chiredzi.
The research titled Community land and property rights in the wake of developmental projects in Zimbabwe: Challenges and Way forward focused on how Green Fuel and Tongaat Hullet investments in Chisumbanje and Chiredzi respectively, have impacted on livelihoods of their surrounding communities.
Clemence Bwenje from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development who conducted the research called for increased out-grower contributions to Green Fuel’s ethanol production.
“Collaboration between Government and investor to achieve more inclusive models that respond to the demand for land by increasing out-grower contribution to the plants,” reads part of the report recommendations.
Dr Isaiah Mharapara from the Agriculture Research Council said people must develop a tendency to criticize local investors who are not doing well.
“Lets challenge them so that they behave properly,” said Mharapara.
Walter Chambati from the African Institute for Agrarian Studies (SMAIAS) said the ZELA research should inform how the country moves forward in dealing with large scale investments, calling on parliamentarians to deconstruct the issue of public interest that is used by the government to dispossess people of land.
“This research should inform how we move forward, this is not the last large scale investment in Zimbabwe, we are going to have many more, it should inform how we move forward as we talk about this drive towards foreign direct investment.
“The state is endowed with the power to compulsorily acquire land via public interest and we have it in our constitution, but what is public interest, are the communities consulted when there is an investment taking place.
“So as legislators you can help us to deconstruct this thing called public interest,” said Chambati.
Parliamentarians in attendance who included Norton legislator Temba Mliswa, Prosper Mutseyami (Musikavanhu) and many others applauded ZELA for a detailed research promising to play their part in ensuring communities benefit from large scale investments.
“We will ask questions during question and answer sessions in parliament so that we know if Green Fuel undertook an Environmental Impact Assessment,” said Mliswa.
According to ZELA, engaging parliamentarians was aimed at sharing the preliminary research findings and recommendations on the legal, policy and institutional frameworks and impact of developmental projects on the rights of communities residing under customary land tenure in the wake of developmental projects with policy makers, parliament and the public as well as getting input from other stakeholders on the research.
