Food System in Zimbabwe

Whatever the historical injustice of the situation, the fact remains that after the white settlers came to Zimbabwe in 1896 and found that the gold bonanza they had expected was not going to materialize, they turned to farming. This initial thrust was further compounded by the policies of the then British government who saw the "colonies" as sources of raw materials and food and followed a "cheap food" policy in the UK which meant that food was imported to the UK without any significant duties. British farmers were paid not to farm or were given huge subsidies to augment their incomes.

This role was accentuated by the two world wars when the "colonies" played an important role in feeding Britain and in supplying British industry with raw materials. Zimbabwe developed the largest citrus estates in the world at the time and most pregnant women in the British Isles during the 2nd World War got a daily ration of "Mazoe Citrus" orange juice. The operations of the "Sterling Zone" meant that the British colonies could trade in Pounds and hold their reserves in Pounds – often in London itself. This was a convenient arrangement and fostered trade dependency between the UK and its global support network. Both sides benefited but its principal justification was the welfare of the British economy.

After the Second World War, hundreds of young British servicemen settled in "Rhodesia" – many with land grants and other forms of assistance. Many were Airforce pilots and crew who had trained in Rhodesia during the war. They were young, well educated and wanted to settle down with their families. They formed the foundation of the present day white farming community. At the height of their activities they farmed about 40 per cent of the total land surface of the country and supplied about 25 per cent of global demand for flue cured tobacco. At the same time they created a farming industry that was quite exceptional by world standards.

The Zimbabwe farming industry set up marketing Boards to handle the purchase, storage and sale of agricultural surpluses, they established research institutions which led the world in a number of areas – maize breeding, conservation practices, livestock nutrition in the tropics. Veterinary science was taken to new heights and the whole of Africa benefited from their activities. They were an enterprising, self-sufficient group who relied on themselves and fought for their rights in every way possible. When the war for independence and civil rights broke out in 1972, it was the white farmers and their families who bore the brunt of the hostilities – with great determination and courage, but it marked the end of their control over their own destinies.

After independence came they tried to maintain their activities as normal and to protect what they and their forefathers had created. One can say they were shortsighted and selfish, that their privileges (if they had any) could not be sustained and I think that the majority today would acknowledge that. But many got down to working with the new government – Dennis Norman, John Lourie, Mike Butler, Johan Swanepoel, John Burl, Jim Sinclair – the list goes on, Mr Mugabe would recognise every one of those names.

They sold a third of all the land they farmed to government, most of the "old timers" left farming to retire and new players came into the industry – purchased their own farms and set up new industries that did not need vast areas of land – horticulture, tobacco, poultry and pig production, large scale irrigation. They supplied 8 per cent of European horticultural imports, 25 per cent of global demand for flue cured tobacco. They were at one stage the second largest exporters of white maize in the world and we still hold the world record for maize yields. Under their tutelage, despite the shrinking land base as resettlement activity took place, they grew agricultural output at an average of 15 per cent per annum for the first 15 years of independence – making agriculture the main pillar national economic output.

In 1998 they finally sat down with the government and international agencies and agreed to a settlement of the land issue – how land would be acquired and settled and what their role would be in the longer term.

Despite all this, their record, their achievements, their contributions in all fields, counted for nothing when the Zanu PF machine realised in 2000 that their control over the reins of power and privilege in Zimbabwe were under threat. After ignoring the 1998 agreements on the land issue, the government suddenly concluded that this was "unfinished business’ and a low intensity guerilla war was unleashed on the commercial farming community.

The international media and community focused on the situation of the small number of large scale white farmers. They are an easy target, have no political support base in the country and virtually no international support for their position – not even among farmers in other countries who seem to have been less than vocal in support for their Zimbabwean counterparts. What the world failed to see was that the programme had two fundamental goals – the systematic looting of commercial farm assets to the benefit of Zanu PF officials and supporters and the dislocation of an economic system which involved 2 million Zimbabweans. The majority of these people were of foreign decent (Mozambique and Malawi mainly) and held the balance of power between the conservative, rural peasant farming community and the strident urban areas from which the main opposition to Zanu PF rule emanated.

The consequences have been catastrophic – Zimbabwe is unable to feed itself, runs the risk of losing its position in the world market for good quality tobacco and the economy has shrunk by 30 per cent in three years and is still contracting. Exports are down a third, incomes are down even further, life expectancy has fallen by 20 years and infant mortality is rising to 50 per cent of all children under the age of 5. We are a basket case. The rule of law has been abandoned, the courts subverted, the police no longer obey their mandate and civil protection is no longer available to the majority. The democratic rights which we fought for in the first 80 years of the country's existence, are now being subverted on a massive scale and the voting rights of millions have been taken away. Now a 78 year old man wants to run for President for another 6 years and expects to win in an environment where only 20 per cent of all adult Zimbabweans have a job, there is no basic food for the majority and state institutions are collapsing.

Right now, we are in the throes of a 4 week dry spell – the crops in a third of the country are probably beyond recovery even if we get rain shortly, the rest are damaged by the long dry spell. One million people are being fed by aid agencies in rural areas and the programme is being expanded urgently. The commercial farms have not grown more than a quarter to a third of their normal food production and the output of the animal sector is falling fast.

It is now quite apparent that the country only grew about 1,1 million tonnes of maize this past summer at the very most. We ran out of maize in the middle of January and must now import our needs through until July/August 2002. If that was the case last year – I doubt if we will grow 1 million tonnes this year given the farm disruptions, the very poor state of communal crops and the dismal performance the Zanu PF "settlers". This means that we will have to import half our food until the end of winter, 2003.

The state institutions that once served agriculture with pride are a shambles – the GMB goes around denying there is a problem and lying to the media. They continue to state that we will grow 3 million tonnes of maize this summer and the current shortages are the responsibility of "hoarding". They are technically insolvent and cannot even support themselves without government subsidy and loans. Depots are badly run and corruption is rife in every department. The CSC can no longer pay its staff and creditors and has had its assets attached by the Courts. Once the largest meat organisation in Africa, its thousands of workers are out of work and destitute. Beef prices have doubled in 6 months. Only the fully privatised Dairibord and the Cotton Company are functioning as islands of normality – although milk has been in short supply and will become even more scarce as stock feed shortages bite and the situation on farms continues to deteriorate.

This generation is not to blame for its history – they were the product of that process and had nothing to do with what it contained. However we do have choices to make with regard to what we do with the present. Do whites have a future in Africa as Africans? Does commercial farming have a role to play or are we going back to the traditional forms of peasant agriculture? If so what are the consequences? Every African has to answer those questions. I am a white African by decent – my family has been here for over a century – we have 3 generations buried here and three still living and working here. Everything we own is here, we love the country and its people and would not choose to live anywhere else.

Peasant agriculture is unable to meet the needs of a modern state with a rapidly growing population. It’s unable to protect the environment or to feed the burgeoning cities. It's unable to meet the stringent standards of export markets or to use modern technologies to lower food prices and raise productivity. We dare not go back to what existed before 1900 or we condemn all Zimbabweans living and still to be born to a life of poverty and deprivation. What’s needed is to face up to that reality and to then get on with the task of correcting the historical imbalances without destroying what we already have or undermining the rights of our citizens and investors.

This is possible – but only if we change the leadership of the country in 6 weeks time, and that is our job – no one else can do that for us. After that our friends will help us put things back together and to create the conditions for a new and better tomorrow. Our task is to complete the change we started two years ago by using the one thing we control completely – our votes.

The MDC is the main opposition party in Zimbabwe.

This article was published by the MDC in January, but I thought it appropriate to post it now in light of the fact that Zimbabwe has just last week declared a disaster in respect of its food supply.

"I didn't see that disaster declaration. Did they blame the drought?"

Yes.

See:
Zimbabwe -- Drought a 'national disaster'

Outstanding piece of writing; tragiclly it was to no avail.

This does provide anyone lacking knowledge of the present situation, a history and a current overview of the crisis.

For anyone who thought that Zimbabwe was just another typical African failed nation; it was not. It was a successful economy and had been providing an improving standard of living for its people until the onset of tyranny at the end of the century.

At that time, it had a free judiciary. That is not to say that there was not corruption and favoritism of the elite, which had its roots in the one-party state. But the police and courts functioned and there was not the fear of men with guns, or free-lancing thugs.

To read that infant mortality is 50% of those under five years tells the story. That was unheard of before the devolution of the country.

Zimbabwe (Mugabe) cracks down on alleged resistance, subversion *** U.N. food agencies estimate 3 million of the 13 million population will face starvation by June. Three journalists were arrested last week for reporting that the government imported Israeli anti-riot equipment in anticipation of worsening food shortages and civil unrest. Israel confirmed the sale of water cannon, chemical additives and other riot control equipment.***

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I am so moved by the plight of our brothers in Zimbabwe, that I am sending a complete lobster, clam, and oyster dinner to Dr. Mugabe's place by UPS tonight.

Enjoy!

***The newspaper said police had bought the anti-riot tankers, equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance cameras and laser facilities, water cannon and chemical additives, in anticipation of civil unrest in the crumbling economy. Israel's state-run radio Kol Yisrael on Wednesday confirmed the Beit Alfa Trailer Co. had sold the riot equipment to Zimbabwe.*** Source

Why isn't there a "Free Rhodesia" movement? Should be a cake walk. It looks like the black Africans will be gone in a few years.

To read that infant mortality is 50% of those under five years tells the story. That was unheard of before the devolution of the country.

U.N. food agencies estimate 3 million of the 13 million population will face starvation by June.

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