Farmers who benefited from Zimbabwe's controversial programme to redistribute land taken from white farmers, struggle to borrow money from banks due to a lack of security of tenure or title deeds. Charles Samuriwo, is one such farmer from the Odzi area north west of Mutare city. He was a beneficiary of land redistribution and has been working his tobacco farm since 2001. Today he is struggling because 15 years after taking over the farm, he still has no security of tenure or title deed. Without such collateral, he cannot borrow from a bank to buy machinery or pay for seasonal expenses such as seeds or fertiliser. "As farmers, we have nothing but the land," Samuriwo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Financial institutions need a form of security for them to lend us money. We want to invest in irrigation but without financial support we are not able to do that." His fears for the future have grown amid the severe, prolonged drought induced by the El Nino weather phenomenon that has hit southern Africa hard. Legal loophole The source of insecurity for both farmers and banks in Zimbabwe lies with section 72 of the 2013 constitution, which sets out the state's rights and powers over agricultural land. It says: "Land, right or interest may be compulsorily acquired by the state by notice published in the Gazette identifying the land, right or interest, whereupon the land, right or interest vests in the state with full title with effect from the date of publication of the notice." Even though the government moved in 2006 to offer 99-year land leases and permits to some farmers, banks have consistently refused to recognise these as secure collateral for loans. To date, fewer than 200 of the leases have been issued. Source - www.freshplaza.com