As Zimbabwe marks the fourth anniversary of its controversial land redistribution programme, there is widespread concern about the impact this is having on the country’s environment.
Many of the peasant farmers who were resettled on land forcibly acquired from white owners lack funds to buy the seed, fertiliser and tools needed to produce a crop. This, combined with poor rains in parts of Zimbabwe, has prompted some peasant farmers to start harvesting other resources instead.
An informal survey conducted by IPS showed that many have turned to selling wood, which is still used as fuel in the high-density suburbs of Zimbabwe’s cities and elsewhere. Bundles of fire wood have become a common sight on the sides of highways passing through resettlement areas.
”Some of this wood is from pieces of land that we are clearing for cultivation,” said Kenneth Munoda, one of the settlers found selling wood along the Great Dyke Pass between the capital, Harare, and the western town of Chinhoyi.
However, Munoda said other recipients of redistributed land have simply become full-time wood traders.
”People from as far as Harare come here with big lorries [trucks] to buy fire wood. Sometimes we fear the farms we got will end up barren like the reserves [communal lands] from where we came.”
About 4 000 farms are reported to have been seized since the land reform effort got under way at the start of 2000. Officials claim that veterans from Zimbabwe’s war of independence spearheaded the reform effort by spontaneously invading farms owned by minority whites.
Government critics say the land occupations were orchestrated by President Robert Mugabe’s administration to divert attention from other political and economic difficulties during the run-up to a crucial parliamentary election. The June 2000 poll marked the first instance in which the ruling Zanu-PF party faced a credible challenge from the opposition.
”Hunting for the pot” is also viewed as a contributor to deforestation in Zimbabwe, since it sometimes involves burning wooded areas to make wild animals easier to track and kill.
It’s not only forests that are succumbing to the knock-on effect of land reform and poverty, however. Settlers — and other Zimbabweans — have also turned to illegal gold panning along rivers and streams, and are hunting for the metal in abandoned mines.
They are known to use chemicals such as cyanide and mercury during the extraction of gold — even through they lack the equipment to ensure proper storage of these substances, or to prevent chemical wastes from seeping into the water supply.
Researchers say contamination from the panning sites can drain into water sources after a heavy downpour, poisoning those who drink the water. The lack of sanitation facilities in panning areas has also opened the door to outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.
Illegal gold diggers have set up camps along rivers like the Mutebekwi, which passes through farm land south-east of the small mining town of Shurugwi, in the Midlands province.
South of Shurugwi, in Zvishavane district, the banks of the Save River are dotted with squatter settlements set up by panners. The Shamva area in the northern Mashonaland Central region has also proved a magnet for prospectors.
Although the government says it has started a campaign to clamp down on illegal gold mining and dealing, commentators question whether there is sufficient political will to carry out the plan — which would mostly affect the rural poor. These Zimbabweans make up the bulk of support for Zanu-PF.
Since the start of 2000, Zimbabwe has been gripped by a variety of problems. The government is accused of perpetrating widespread human rights abuses in a bid to maintain power, while triple-digit inflation has impoverished large sections of the population. The United Nations World Food Programme says it will provide emergency supplies to 4,5-million people in the coming months. — IPS