surrounding hills.
Plate 6.1a Crop failure of maize crop in one of the fields of a beneficiary in April 2005
Plate 6.1b A comparatively worse of yield of maize on one of the resettled farmers’ plots
The primary form of tillage was cattle and plough. Fourteen households hired equipment for tillage; of these, four hired tractors and plough at an average cost of Z$275 000 per hectare, excluding fuel, ten hired cattle and plough at Z$180 000.
Cattle and plough were hired from people within the village and the tractor and plough from one household in the village; the DDF, were said to be cheaper, but often provided this resource late and from a black commercial farmer in the Eiffel Flats area. Most households did not hire labour to cultivate and weed, citing that it was expensive. Gardening and weeding were mainly done using hoes, of which all households had ownership.
Generally, most households said they were content with the quality of arable land with three rating it as excellent, four as satisfactory and 15 as good. Three of the ex- farm workers sharing plot 14 cited that although they were satisfied with the soils, they recognised that during periods of continuous rainfall these soils were prone to water logging owing to poor drainage of clay soils. The ex-farm worker and the household at plots 25 and 20 respectively, cited that although they were given virgin land, the soil quality was not good for crop production unless large amounts of fertiliser were added in order to prevent the depletion of its natural structure. They concurred with Edwards’ (2005) assertion that soils at Lanteglos needed an immense injection of fertiliser for the procurement of high yields, as well as nutrient replacement. Nevertheless, these farmers, amongst others were not applying fertilisers because they said it was very expensive to purchase.
Most farmers were allocated plots in soils that fell in zones III and IV, whose soil structure required careful management and the injection of fertilisers for longer-term sustainability of the cropped area. Failure to do this would lead to the depletion of the soil quality and structure and, subsequently reduced productivity. Clearly failure by most farmers to apply fertilisers and continuous farming on the same piece of land annually is likely to lead to unsustainable crop production.
Animal Husbandry
Livestock rearing was the second most important land use practice. Seventeen households reared livestock, which included mostly cattle, goats and chickens. These were reared for subsistence purposes, primarily for draught power and consumption, although there were cases in which households sold livestock to supplement their household income. Since most resettled villagers (with the exception of the ex-farm workers) were from the Mashona tribe, cattle and goats play an important role in their
social and cultural lives as they were also kept for purposes of marriage and ritual ceremonies.
Table 6.7 summarises the type of livestock kept and the total quantity kept by the sampled households. Chickens were reared by all households as they were easy to rear and transport from previous areas of residence. A comparison of Table 6.7 and Table 6.3 indicates that fewer livestock were reared and the total quantity of cattle and goats was less after resettlement. Two reasons given for these patterns were firstly, that rural households had left most of their stock where they had previously resided, due to the uncertainty of their tenure at Lanteglos, and secondly, households that had resided in urban areas had not reared livestock such as cattle or goats but only chickens.
Table 6.7 The number of households rearing livestock and the total quantity reared
Livestock Number of Households Total Quantity Chickens Cattle Goats Pigeons Sheep 17 8 7 1 1 325 67 62 40 1
Most households, including those that did not rear goats, cattle and sheep, cited that they were content with the quality of the grazing land at Lanteglos. According to the Department of Conservation and Extension (1957), the grazing commons at Lanteglos required careful management with rotational grazing in order to restore plant root reserves of the perennial grasses. There was no indication that the villagers were practising crop rotation.
Gardening
Half of the households grew vegetables and cited that this land use was not an important source of income for their livelihoods. Vegetables were primarily grown for consumption and these were similar to those grown prior to resettlement. It was noticed on transect walks that most vegetable gardens were located approximately
garden of one household, which was about one metre away from the intermittent stream.
Plate 6.2 A household’s vegetable garden approximately one metre from the stream
6.2.3.3 Natural resources
Households used their natural resources to construct houses and stock pens; to source firewood and water and for food consumption.
Lanteglos was endowed with a variety of wild fruits such as matamba (African Orange), matowe, shuma, tsvansva, nhunguru, mauyu, gangacha, matufu, tsambati, tsubvu, howa (wild mushrooms) and hacha. Most households collected these fruits frequently throughout the year when in season. Five households hunted wild pigs and dassies. According to some heads of households and the security officer, a week prior to the survey being conducted, women in the village had been beaten up by the police for slaughtering a waterbuck that had roamed into the village. As a result, most households were reluctant to admit that they hunted wild animals for fear of reprisals from the police. According to the households, with the exception of wild pigs, dassies and rodents, a number of animals, such as all forms of antelopes, were not permitted to be hunted without a permit.