Sora beans and the land reform
- From: "Zvakanaka" <lalapansi@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 02:57:27 +0200
Sora beans and the land reform
Zim Standard
By Foster Dongozi
WHILE driving into Harare from Bulawayo recently, a colleague not too
well-acquainted with different crops wondered loudly what the lush green
produce growing just outside Norton was called.
Another member of the travelling party, sounding bored, muttered
sarcastically: "It's sora beans. The new farmer was hoping to grow soya
beans but ended up growing wild grass."
Sora is grass in Shona.
As we cast our minds to the state of agriculture a few years ago, I
reminded my colleagues of a statement made by a government minister, Webster
Shamu, at a field day for Delta chief executive, Mutizwa last year.
Shamu had, in the presence of senior Zanu PF and government
stalwarts - among them junior minister, Patrick Zhuwawo and RBZ governor,
Gideon Gono - bemoaned the collapse of agriculture.
Mutizwa's rose farm is just outside Norton and Shamu spoke
passionately about how, in the past, driving into Harare was always a joy as
one would always be met by lush crops as they neared the capital.
The hills on the right as you approached Harare were emblazoned with
the words Kintyre Estates.
Shamu recounted how the foothills were populated by hundreds of dairy
cows which produced much milk for the country.
The collapse of agricultural production is not confined to Kintyre
Estates but has been replicated around the country as bewildered and
clueless new commercial farmers ponder where and how to access finance and
farming skills.
A drive along Chinhoyi road in the prime farming province of
Mashonaland West will reveal that not much agriculture is taking place.
The only viable project being run by most of the new farmers is the
sale of firewood, now popular as many urban households go for days without
electricity.
Game meat is another "viable" product being "produced" by the new
farmers.
When the government embarked on the chaotic land reform exercise to
buy votes ahead of the 2000 elections, it resulted in the destruction of
what had become one of the most sophisticated agro-based economies in the
world.
Critics of land reform say, instead of unskilled, senior government,
Zanu PF and military officers taking up prime land, black graduates from
agricultural colleges should have been allocated the land and given
financial assistance.
With senior government officials and senior military officers now
occupying the best land, production has dropped spectacularly, with Zimbabwe
reduced to importing maize from Malawi and Zambia.
Some farmers who lost their land fled to Zambia and Malawi; for the
first time in years, the two countries have surplus maize to export to their
starving neighbour.
The vandalism of farm equipment by farm invaders and the mass
slaughter of animals have pushed back Zimbabwean agriculture by decades.
It is this which forced President Robert Mugabe to create the
Agricultural Mechanisation ministry, which basically means its core business
will be importing tractors, combine harvesters and planters from China.
Yet despite the well-documented failure by the new farmers, the
government is going ahead with its latest "final solution" - to banish the
few remaining white commercial farmers.
Emily Crookes, the spokesperson for the Commercial Farmers' Union of
Zimbabwe, says:
"It is correct to say that there has been an increase of late in the
incidence on productive farms, with new beneficiaries, some in possession of
offer letters, threatening farmers with immediate eviction and seizure of
farm equipment.
"These attempts to move farmers off productive farms and to seize
equipment are not in accordance with the law. It is a matter of considerable
concern that productive farmers are being targeted when so much arable land
lies idle throughout the country."
John Worsley-Worswick, the chief executive of Justice for Agriculture
which fights for the farmers' human rights, said since the land invasions,
agriculture had been dealt a body blow.
"Take tobacco for example: commercial farmers produced 240 million kg
in 2000 compared with 54 million in 2006 by the new farmers. A projection
that this year the new farmers will produce 80 million kg is propaganda. A
reasonable projection would be between 40 and 45 million kg."
The commercial beef herd stood at 400 000 in 2000; in 2006, it was
down to 100 000.
Worsley-Worswick said according to statistics, in 2000, commercial
farmers produced 810 000 tonnes of maize; the new farmers produced 225 000
tonnes in 2006.
There have generally been dismal agricultural performances on the
large estates to which Zanu PF heavyweights helped themselves.
Most have presided over the collapse of the farms, resulting in food
deficits, officially blamed on sanctions and drought.
The drought appears not to affect other countries in the region.
Zambia and Malawi, for instance, have enough to export to Zimbabwe. And
irrigation systems ensured production.
.
- Prev by Date: Go OZ GO!
- Next by Date: Zimbabwe dollar in for a hard time
- Previous by thread: Go OZ GO!
- Next by thread: Zimbabwe dollar in for a hard time
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
