Zimbabwe: Thiefs Ruin Urban Farmers’ Hopes Of Bigger Yields

“It is saddening to note that some people toil day in and day out and some uncultured people just come to steal. I urge the citizens to embrace the spirit of ubuntu and respect one’s property,” he said.

By Sibongile Moyo
Radio VOP
Bulawayo, March 31, 2017

Residents practising urban farming in some open city spaces around the city are dismayed by the continued theft of their green mealies at a time they were hoping to realise bigger harvests owing to good rains experienced past few months.

The urban farmers, among them the elderly citizens, orphaned offspring and the unemployed, also produce sweet potatoes, edible bean plant leaves, water melons, groundnuts among some common produce that has helped supplement their domestic diets.

One senior resident, Nelson Ncube of Njube suburb told RadioVOP his hopes of reaping more have disappeared.

“There are people who have been going around our fields stealing green mealies. I was expecting to harvest at least six bags of maize, but my hopes have been lost,” Ncube said.

Ncube said this has forced residents to harvest their crops before reaching their full blown maturity stage, a development that has lowered the quantity of the yields.

“I have been forced to remove all the maize from the fields and dry it at home instead. However, this method reduces the harvest as the life cycle of the crop has been disturbed,” he added.

Read the complete article here.