Dendairy engages Chilonga community
RYAN CHIGOCHE
Milk processor, Dendairy, says it will soon engage the Chilonga community in Chiredzi district, Masvingo Province, over the disputed lucerne project.
The latest development comes after the government last year moved to evict about 12 000 villages to make way for the Lucerne project.
The villagers challenged the move in the courts.
“Our primary commitment before going full throttle on the agricultural phases of the project is to ensure that communities hosting Lucerne as an industry are taken through dialogue processes on the investment direction to ensure their support and active participation in this national development drive,” Dendairy said in a statement.
“To securitise continuity of local agriculture in Chilonga and Masivamela, the project model carries with it a vibrant out grower component. Existing farmers will receive all the necessary inputs, technical guidance, equipment and water on a cost recovery basis for sustainability.”
The company said it had identified key stakeholders around Lucerne production, that is, the traditional leaders from the Chilonga and Masimavela communities, players in the private sector and also members of the Rural District Development Committee with current focus being on creating awareness on the technical dimensions of transition from dry land to irrigation farming in terms of yields and crop cycles
Dendairy said its main plan was to see the growth of the project in the country as they are targeting a livestock contribution of US$1.9bn to the overall US$8bn agricultural economy as envisaged in the National Development Strategy 1t said irrigated lucerne production is an accelerator of Zimbabwe’s livestock growth plan, which is targeting a US$1.9bn as a livestock sector contribution to the overall US$8.2bn agriculture economy.
“The investment blueprint includes the construction of a regional fodder bank around Chilonga and Masivamela to strengthen stock feed supplies and ultimately drive the lowveld livestock sector into positive performance,” Dendairy said.
The controversial decision by the government to evict the villagers , which courted global outrage, has been raging for almost a year now.
The government in February last year planned to evict the villagers after it passed Statutory Instrument (SI) 50 of 2021 to set aside 12 940 hectares of communal land in their area for a lucerne project by Dendairy.
This faced fierce criticism and at one point the government reversed their decision after being pressured by human rights activists.
However in the latest statement Dendairy said no one is going to be moved giving the villagers some hope.
Lucerne is a legume which carries a crude protein content of between 18- 25 % and is suitable as a finisher in pen fattening. Once planted, harvesting can commence from 70 to 90 days to continue on the same vine in 28-day cycles for four to five years.
Annual yields can go up to 24 metric tonnes per hectare per year. In packaging for the export market, lucerne can be baled or value added into pellets.
