A LACK of farming equipment is creating a barrier that keeps small farmers from emerging and becoming commercial.

A LACK of farming equipment is creating a barrier that keeps small farmers from emerging and becoming commercial.

Farming equipment should be bought and kept by rural municipalities to be used by all farmers in the area. This will reduce the one-man tractor syndrome or equipment bought by the department to empower a single farmer.

This could contribute hugely to uplifting farmers since it will make the tilling of hundreds of hectares and harvesting easy by fast-tracking the process.

Many people in rural areas use the old farming methods, which result in the failure to produce as required to enter commercial farming.

Machinery caretakers or drivers can be employed by the municipalities despite the fact that they are the owners of equipment.

Another major problem is the lack of of irrigation systems since farmers cannot depend solely on rain for their fields to grow healthy crops. That also leads to the downfall of small farmers.

Drastic measures should be taken in shaping emerging farmers to become commercial farmers.

Emerging rural farmers who have the skills and dedication to be productive ought to be given a huge boost, paving their way to be exporters and entering the commercial stage to compete internationally.

Rural farmers have been toothless as a result of the country's history.

One-man equipping should stop and the focus should be on all communities taking charge of their neighbours' farms and working as one farming society borrowing each other to boost productivity.

The food security and poverty reduction battles will be reduced if equipment is bought to be used communally by farmers.

MK Marumo, GaRankuwa