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Caligastia
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quote:
As country heads for disaster, Zimbabwe calls for return of white farmers
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
Saturday May 21, 2005
The Guardian
White farmers may be allowed back on their land in Zimbabwe as part of a plan by the government of Robert Mugabe to solve the country's deepening economic crisis.
The president's key finance aide has called for some of the farmers whose properties were confiscated in a land seizure programme to be allowed to resume growing crops to boost the country's flagging agricultural output.
Gideon Gono, governor of the central bank and Mr Mugabe's main policy maker, made the proposal as he announced a 31% devaluation of the Zimbabwe currency.
"In order to ensure maximum productivity levels, there is great scope in the country promoting and supporting joint ventures between the new farmers with progressive-minded former operators," said Mr Gono in a state radio and television broadcast that lasted nearly three hours.
He added that the skilled whites and other new investors would be given special guarantees of uninterrupted tenure of five to 10 years, backed by government force to prevent any disruptions on the farms.
Mr Gono was careful to say that it would not reverse Mr Mugabe's redistribution of white-owned land to blacks.
However, observers say his plan would be an implicit admission that the land seizure policy has failed.
A Zimbabwean economist, John Robertson, said: "This shows the desperation of the government to improve the economy. They say it is not a reversal of their land seizures, but it is. It won't get very far.
"I don't think many farmers will take up the offer because they would have to give up their title deeds and lease their land back.
"The range of measures proposed by Gono and the government show that the economic situation is dire. But they are avoiding the fundamental changes needed because those would be opposed by Mugabe. These measures don't add up. The economy will continue to be a disaster area."
At the start of the land seizure policy in 2000, Zimbabwe had 4,500 white farmers, now about 400 remain on portions of their farms. Mozambique, Zambia and Nigeria have welcomed some of the skilled white farmers.
The economy has also shrunk by more than 40% in five years.
Yesterday Mr Mugabe did not comment on Mr Gono's proposal.
During the election campaign in March, the president said he was disappointed that only 44% of the land seized from whites was being cultivated and that the remainder was lying fallow.
He has also had to admit that Zimbabwe, once called "the breadbasket of Africa", needs to import food to feed its population. For months he had boasted that the country had a bumper harvest and would "choke" if it was forced to take international food aid.
But Mr Mugabe said this week that his government would welcome food from the UN, as long as it came without any political conditions.
The government announced yesterday that it was busy redrawing its 2005 budget to fund food imports.
Drastic cuts to other parts of the budget will be needed to raise the money to import food, the acting finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said, according to Reuters.
On Thursday the government devalued its currency and banned imports of luxury goods to try to reduce the economic freefall. But the devaluation falls far short of the Z$25,000 that one US dollar (55p) fetches on Zimbabwe's thriving black market.
Mr Gono reduced by half his forecasts of the country's economic growth, to 2.5%. That figure is viewed as unrealistic by economists, who point out the five consecutive years of economic decline.
John Worsley-Worswick of Justice for Agriculture said: "This is a puppet show and it's not going to solve things. Gono is a master of spin and he is saying that he can fix things. But the reality is that the few farmers who have managed to stay on their land are being hammered by the military.
"This suggestion that white farmers could come back is an admission of their failure, but I don't know anyone who would take them up on their offer. The government's agriculture policy has failed abysmally. There is no maize, there is no wheat, people are hungry. It's a debacle."
· Eighty percent of black South Africans who responded to a survey believe Mr Mugabe is ruling badly. |
In other news, white farmers tell Mugabe to take a flying leap.
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Caligastia
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"I don't think many farmers will take up the offer because they would have to give up their title deeds and lease their land back."
Why on earth would they turn down such an attractive offer? They must be racist or something.
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Lancer
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Oregon Coast, USA! or Bohol, Philippines!
Apr 1999
time: 05:22
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"During the election campaign in March, the president said he was disappointed that only 44% of the land seized from whites was being cultivated and that the remainder was lying fallow. "
Why don't blacks farm this land for profit? I assume they were the ones doing the real work anyway. If it was me I'd take advantage of the situation to get ahead, feed my family, etc...
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Lancer
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Oregon Coast, USA! or Bohol, Philippines!
Apr 1999
time: 05:22
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Most third world farmed plants are their own seed, yes? Also, labor is the biggest tool in the 3rd world. A couple of people pulling a dealy doo that cleaves the ground, or a water buffalo like in the Phils, and some hot chicks planting seeds from the prior harvest...wait a while...and you have a crop. Eat and repeat.
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Caligastia
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quote:
Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
If you had access to tools, seed, etc. |
Somehow I doubt that was the reason Mugabe's thugs let the land go to waste.
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lightblue
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L'Boro, UK
Oct 2001
time: 05:22
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I don't think the militias that took the farms were particularly interested in farming. Not wanting to stereotype, but i don't think a lot of sub-saharan africans have any idea what commercial farming is. Most might do subsistence farming but commercial farming to feed cities is something different.
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BlackCat
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And what to call tha honkeys that was driven out of their farms ?
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Lancer
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Oregon Coast, USA! or Bohol, Philippines!
Apr 1999
time: 05:22
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Ahhh, communism.
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Dr Strangelove
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Most of the farms confiscated from white owners were mechanized to an extent comparable to American farms. If you take that same land and divide it up among 10 to 20 times that number of Africans those farms aren't going to generate the cash needed to keep them running and profitable, because the types of cash crops previously grown by the whites do require seed stocks, fertilizer, irrigation, mechanical tilling. So the black small farmers may not be to blame for the decline in agricultural production because they're trying to imitate the results of modern agriculture with primitive resources.
Another problem with Zimbabwe agriculture is that often the land wasn't given to the former hired hands, who knew something about running the farms. Instead much of the land was given to militiamen and party cronies who knew nothing about farming.
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BlackCat
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Most of the farms confiscated from white owners were mechanized to an extent comparable to American farms. If you take that same land and divide it up among 10 to 20 times that number of Africans those farms aren't going to generate the cash needed to keep them running and profitable, because the types of cash crops previously grown by the whites do require seed stocks, fertilizer, irrigation, mechanical tilling. So the black small farmers may not be to blame for the decline in agricultural production because they're trying to imitate the results of modern agriculture with primitive resources.
Another problem with Zimbabwe agriculture is that often the land wasn't given to the former hired hands, who knew something about running the farms. Instead much of the land was given to militiamen and party cronies who knew nothing about farming. |
The real problem isn't so much how much the squatters are able to earn. The real problem is that they can't produce the amount of nuts that the previous farmers could. Zimbabwe was a relatively small country with intensive farming at industrial level - splitting the farming land up as done is just a catastrophe just as it would be if tried in Denmark. This can be done in coutries as Brazil with it's wast agricultural capacity, but Zimbabwe should have gone the industrial way - unfortunately, Mugabe chose the hate instead of what was best for all.
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Dr Strangelove
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That's pretty much what I said. They divided up the farms to such an extent that they can no longer sustain modern methods.
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atomant
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Aussie, no longer lost in Africa
Jul 2002
time: 15:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Lancer
"During the election campaign in March, the president said he was disappointed that only 44% of the land seized from whites was being cultivated and that the remainder was lying fallow. "
Why don't blacks farm this land for profit? I assume they were the ones doing the real work anyway. If it was me I'd take advantage of the situation to get ahead, feed my family, etc... |
I lived in Zimbabwe for six years, moved back to Oz this year. The problem with land is critical, but no one denies the need for reform, only the manner in which Mugabe acted.
The problem with capital in regards to the 'resettled' farmers is this, they do not have title so can not access capital to start large scale agriculture. Further, white farmers who were operating in the export sector and who have the actual deeds to their farms, have told their former clients that if they buy product from their occupied farm, they are in effect buying stolen property.
Black farmers in Zimbabwe, those based in the communcal areas, are also very good at one thing, subsistance agriculture. However, 80% of the maize and maize seed for public consumption was grown on commerical (white) farms. If their is no maize seed, then there is no maize to be planted, ergo, no food.
I could go on, in terms of farm labour and mechansiation, but will close by way of point out the 25% of Zimbabweans live outside the borders of Zimbabwe, which goes to show how successful the governement of big bad bob is in economic planning. The only people left in the country are (by and large) the rich and the poor. The middle class (the foundation of any democracy), simply does not exist in functional terms anymore.
For further reading i would recommend : www.zimbabwesituation.com
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24-05-2005 02:43
that the police are able to crack down on those evil persons that tries to undermine the glorious governemt of Zimbabwe.
Smash small businesses. That'll really jump start the economy. 
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