Zimbabwe -- We have failed, says Made (Agriculture Minister)

Zimbabwe Standard ^ | December 1, 2002 | Chengetai Zvauya

[Clive]

LANDS and agriculture minister, Joseph Made, finally admitted last week that government has failed to ensure food security for the famine-stricken nation, more than a year after repeatedly dismissing warnings of a serious grain shortage.

Made stunned members of the lands, agriculture and rural development committee on Monday, by painting a grim picture of the food situation in Zimbabwe.

The Standard was the only newspaper to attend the committee meeting, a situation which troubled Made enough for him to say: "Mr Chairman, I would have preferred a balanced mix of reporters."

The minister said apart from accumulating a serious maize deficit each week, government had not the slightest clue of the amount of grain farmers resettled under the controversial and chaotic land reform exercise would produce this current season.

Said Made: "The country needs 35,000 tonnes of maize, but it is only able to import 22,000 tonnes, leaving a deficit of 13,000 tonnes every week. At one time, we ordered 400,000 tonnes, but only got 118,000 delivered. This is a big challenge for us as we will continue to need the stocks to feed the population. We don't know when we will be able to get these remaining stocks, but we are trying to make sure that they are in the country so we can distribute it.''

Asked by Renson Gasela-the former Grain Marketing Board (GMB) head who is also the MDC shadow minister for lands and agriculture-why it was that government was failing to fulfil the simple task of buying grain in bulk, Made said: "I don't have the purse to buy the adequate maize supplies. Remember, it is allocated to us, so please bear with me." On his ministry's projected figures for the coming season, the minister said no such estimates were available. "At the moment, we don't have the projected figures of what we have planted this season and this is a big problem for us as government. We only hope that the new farmers will be able to produce enough grain to feed the country,'' said Made. Agricultural production was last season severely hampered by a combination of crippling drought and government-induced disturbances on commercial farms. The government went on to grab farms from about 3,000 commercial farmers, leaving the highly specialised sector with an estimated 1 000 farmers. Speaking after the meeting, also attended by Zanu PF MPs Kumbirai Kangai and Paul Mazikana, Gasela who was ordered by committee chairman Daniel Mackenzie Ncube not to ask too many questions, expressed disgust at the way government had up to this time failed to tell the nation the truth. "The nation will obviously be shocked by the minister's admission that the problem is far from over and that they are not even sure of what will come out of their much touted land reform exercise. We are in the middle of the rainy season, and Made chooses this time to expose his inability to plan. Surely this is a testimony of how the Mugabe regime is determined to drag our nation into further economic abyss,'' Gasela told The Standard. Made, one of the ministers handpicked by Mugabe after the June 2000 parliamentary election, has in the past misled the nation about the food situation. Last year, he dismissed early warning signs of a serious maize deficit, saying according to the knowledge he had gained from aerial flights across the country, Zimbabwe would have adequate grain supplies. However, several months later, Zimbabwe is facing a food crisis and over six million people are in need of food aid. Agricultural-based commodities such as bread, cooking oil and sugar are also in short supply. Long queues of people seeking bread and mealie meal have become the order of the day at shops throughout the country. The worst affected areas are the rural constituencies where the majority of the population are not gainfully employed. The Standard understands that the government is importing food from America, Argentina and Europe. Two years ago, government embarked on a land resettlement programme which saw white commercial farmers being displaced by indigenous farmers. The majority of these new farmers have not bothered to take up their pieces of land.

[happygrl]

Plan B involves a Swiss bank account and asylum in South America. It's a much, much smaller plan.

Excellent analysis; only one small correction: asylum will be in Libya, provided by Mugabe's bestest buddy, Colonel Quaddhfi. Once again, you've made an excellent analysis.

My hope is that the starving gets way beyond what had been anticipated, and that the relatives of the elites, living in the homelands, overwhelm their city cousins. If there's to be starvation, let's bring it home to the party cadres.

[twntaipan]

I lived there once, but only briefly==I can hardly imagine that beautiful land ravaged by so cruel a fate as Mugabe. I pray for my friends there, black and white, that they might be delivered of evil.

[Bozzor]

Zimbabwe is blessed with some of the most fertile land on earth: even basic farming skills would see it deliver acceptable crop yields, whereas the application of advanced farming techniques could see the country feed much of the continent. Furthermore, the country has numerous plants - many of which are unique - that offer incredible potential for medicinal research.

All of this potential is now being destroyed by Mugabe and his cronies. And the West is letting it happen.

[AppyPappy]

Funny...Rhodesia never had a problem like this!

Not even close. I believe Rhodesia was a huge exporter of food. Maybe the largest in Africa. Marxism fails yet again.

[RJL]

All of this potential is now being destroyed by Mugabe and his cronies. And the West is letting it happen.

We hear from another blame America firster!