Thyolo land shortage blamed on fertility rate

Thyolo District Council has said high fertility rate and improved life expectancy are the major factors behind the increasing problem of shortage of farmland in the district.

This is in sharp contrast to claims by locals that their land woes are a result of the many estates the district has.

Their claim is supported by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), which says estate owners occupy 70 percent of the 1 672 square kilometres of land in Thyolo, leaving 600 000 people to share the remaining 30 percent.

But in his submission at a CCJP consultative meeting on Thursday, council director of planning and development, Douglas Moffat, disputed this, saying estate owners occupy only nine percent of the land in the district.

The meeting took place a few hours after police dispersed angry villagers from traditional authorities (T/As) Khwethemule and Kapichi who mobilised themselves to demonstrate against government’s failure to address their land problems.

Apparently, the people there want government to ‘grab’ land from estate owners and distribute it to them. They argue that their families are facing serious food shortages every year because they have no land to cultivate on.

CCJP project officer Peter Muyaya said his organisation established that shortage of farmland is one of the main drivers of poverty in the district, hence, it is engaging government, policy makers and duty-bearers to find the best means for addressing the problem.

But Muyaya clarified that CCJP was not behind the villagers’ decision to rise against estate owners, saying the organisation is there to empower communities with advocacy skills.