Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday called for unity among the country’s main political rivals to revive the country’s moribund agricultural sector.
”Let’s work together, all of us,” Mugabe said at a ceremony in the capital, Harare, where he commissioned a range of farming equipment to be distributed to fledgling farmers.
”We all need food whether we belong to [the ruling] Zanu-PF or the [main opposition] Movement for Democratic Change [MDC].
”We eat the same food, so let’s unite for one goal. When these tractors are distributed we won’t consider whether one is a member of Zanu-PF or the MDC.
”The issue of food affects everyone.”
Zimbabwe, once the Southern African region’s breadbasket, is facing a critical shortage of wheat, which has forced most bakers to close temporarily or scale down their production.
The staple cornmeal is also scarce and at least 4,1-million, nearly a third of the population, will require food aid during the lean spell extending to the country’s next harvest, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
Harare blames the shortfall on drought, but critics put much of the blame on its agricultural policy, begun eight years ago.
Often violent land reforms saw the seizures of at least 4 000 properties formerly run by white farmers for redistribution to landless black Zimbabweans, the majority of whom lacked the skills and means to farm.
The last group of white commercial farmers face an uncertain future following the expiry of a September 30 ultimatum to vacate their properties and make way for black farmers.
A magistrate in the farming district of Chegutu, 100km north-west of the capital, is to rule on Thursday whether a group of 11 farmers facing charges of defying the government ultimatum should be jailed or be allowed to appeal in the Supreme Court. — Sapa-AFP