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Minister Sithembiso Nyoni

Perspective, Stephen Mpofu
IS it not a tragic irony that erstwhile seats of colonial administrations and epicentres of repressive laws against Africans continue to magnetise, and bamboozle, youths to turn their backs on their umbilical cords in the peripheries of urban centres many, many years after the African continent achieved independence and freedom from foreign rule?

As things stand many, if not most, of the young people drifting away from impoverished rural areas to seek imaginary horizons of life in what is economically still the white man’s world, end up as political thugs  beating up innocent people and ransacking properties or getting sucked into cycles of crime such as robbery and murder when their hopes of a better life in centres of civilisation and riches suddenly turn topsy-turvy and a return to their roots becomes near impossible in the majority of cases.

Given the above scenario, it is not surprising that many African cities and towns are congested and replete with illegal settlements or squatters while rural areas, deprived of labour and infrastructural development remain poverty stricken.

But luckily for Zimbabwe — and probably for some other African states as well — zones have been set up as potential nuclei of social and economic development and in that way give villagers a brave new future in their own birth places so that hunger and diseases induced by lack of nutrition become things of the past.

But sadly enough the growth points at many rural centres meant to serve as springboards for the development of the communal lands, which were neglected by white racist regimes, have mainly remained as nondescript with badly stocked shops and with bottle stores and their noisy juke boxes serving as places of relaxation and entertainment while at the same time prostituting the morals of villagers, as some people have been heard to complain.

Given that dismal picture of our country’s rural setup, it must no doubt have come as a cause for celebration the news by Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperate Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni a few days ago that the government is set to develop at least three growth points in each province to give the areas a deserved social and economic facelift and create jobs for locals, particularly young people most of whom cross borders in search of new opportunities in neighbouring countries, where they run the gauntlet of the laws there as illegal immigrants.

The new initiative, according to Minister Nyoni, is intended to counter challenges involving closures of companies, rising unemployment, climate change, global market shocks and slow economic growth which have worsened poverty levels which now stand at 62.6 percent nationally and 75 percent in rural areas where the majority of Zimbabweans live.

“While the Government is tirelessly working to overcome these challenges and vulnerabilities, implementing sustainable livelihood programmes buttressed by locally-owned economic and resource  endowments is not only vital in achieving poverty reduction and empowering disadvantaged women and youth, but also in creating a breeding ground for SMEs and cooperative development,” said Minister Nyoni.

It should be realised that SMEs can play a very significant role in industrialisation in a country, as demonstrated by those small to medium enterprises which grew into major industries in India, enhancing that Asian nation’s economic fortunes.

There is no reason therefore as to why the same cannot be achieved in our country if our people are driven by an unflinching determination to overcome the legacy of poverty induced by the neglect of the rural poor that was manifest in successive white, racist governments in this country.

The three growth points to be developed in each province should receive the status of economic zones with foreign investment being deliberately directed there to provide the vibrancy needed in creating new jobs and ancillary social benefit to the extent that the urban loafers will be attracted to abandon their miserable lifestyles there for greater opportunities at the growth points.

Or is there any reason why the land reform programme should not turn previously neglected rural areas into major centres of social and economic activity since that scheme is intended to significantly transform the countryside economically and socially?

For instance, why should a province producing the bulk of, say, tobacco not have an auction floor for the crop in that particular area, instead of somewhere in a major city? Foreign buyers drifting to that local centre will obviously help in turning the province into an economic zone with immense benefits to the rural folk.

The same thing could happen where sugar is predominantly produced with a refinery being setup in the area to provide enhanced social and economic benefits to the locals.

Also, major cattle rearing areas could be given economic zone statuses with dairies being setup there along with plants processing meat by canning it, for example, for export to boost local employment.

With properly initiated government programmes, augmented by foreign investment it might just be a matter of time before the atrocious poverty levels in rural areas are drastically reduced and the dwellers there enjoy equal opportunities with their counterparts in urban centres which have long been the preserve of better roads and schools and health centres as well as better housing.