ZIMBABWE’S finance minister, Simba Makoni, said on Wednesday that government would normalise the situation in its farming areas, wracked by violent farm invasions for more than two years.
”We will continue to work to normalise the situation in the country and the farmlands,” Makoni told a press conference in the capital. He could not explain exactly what that would entail.
”I can’t give you a menu of what we’re going to do,” he said. Commercial farming, once the country’s economic mainstay, has been disrupted by land invasions carried out by supporters of President Robert Mugabe, to press for the redistribution of white-owned commercial farms to blacks.
The country is currently facing severe food shortages, partly due to the disruptions to farming, and partly because of erratic rains.
Makoni — perceived as a lone voice in Mugabe’s government — admitted there were ”factors” affecting farmers’ ability to produce. He said the government recognised this as ”an aberration.”
Government land reform has been equally disruptive, according to farmers’ groups.
Farmers who have their farms designated for compulsory acquisition by the government cannot procure loans, or in some cases are forbidden by law from farming.
This, at a time when the country is facing severe shortages of staples such as wheat and maize.
Zimbabwe needs to import between 800 000 and 1,2-million tons of maize to reach the next harvest in May 2003, Makoni said.
”We’re looking for the money. It’s not there now,” he said. Makoni said government acquisition orders were among the ”impediments and constraints” facing farmers.
He said he hoped the government would remove them to allow farmers to ”farm to their potential.” – Sapa