By Margaret Lubinda 

THE Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) says illegal mining activities are contributing to failure of environmental sustainability and worsening environmental degradation.

ZFU made the remarks during the 84th annual congress held at the Lakeside Events Centre in Bulawayo on Thursday which was attended by the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development ministry officials, adding that illegal mining was retrogressive in terms of environmental sustainability.

The congress was held under the theme Family Farming and the Food Security Nexus, emphasising that family farming is the backbone of food security in this country.

ZFU secretary-general Paul Zakariya said mining activities are disrupting agricultural activities, posing a huge threat on food security.

“So there are gullies that are forming all over the country, and mining activities that are taking place. Some of them are actually disrupting agricultural activities, and this is a threat to food security in the long run,” he said.

“We are seeing siltation of rivers because the top soils have been dug up, and when the rains fall, all the top soil erodes. In fact, it goes to fill up our rivers, and our rivers get silted.”

He added: “We need to control some of these things, bring some sanity in the sphere of mining, so that our mining is formalised, and our mining is done with a map providing the environmental clearances, or those certificates that they give to say, ‘yes, these operations are, indeed, guided by environmental concerns and, therefore, they fit to be outfits that will help our people’.”

Zakariya challenged the mining sector to be organised because without doing so, the country will be affected.