President Robert Mugabe’s government will soon withdraw financial support for black-owned commercial farms resettled under Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform policy, state media reported on Monday.
The move follows charges by central bank governor Gideon Gono during a parliamentary meeting last week that the reforms had caused chronic food shortages in the one-time food exporter.
Under the land programme begun in 2000, farmland was seized from whites and redistributed to landless Africans. Critics say some of the black farmers lacked the equipment and expertise to run the large farms.
The state-run Herald reported that Gono, whose central bank has funded most of the farms, told farmers over the weekend the government would be ”weaning off” those who were given large-scale commercial farmland.
”It is now seven years since we reclaimed our land but we continue looking at government for support,” Gono said. ”Next season we will wean off all A2 [black] farmers as they are now grown-ups.”
Gono accused large-scale farmers of selling subsidies received from the government and failing to repay loans.
He, however, said the government would continue supporting small-scale, subsistence farmers.
During his testimony before a parliamentary committee last week, Gono said it was ”a shame” Zimbabwe continued to import food despite carrying out land reforms.
Minister of State for National Security Didymus Mutasa, who is in charge of land reform, reiterated a government warning that resettled farmers risked losing land if they did not utilise it properly.
Food shortages continue to drive the country’s inflation — at almost 1 600% the highest in the world — while grain imports have stretched thin foreign currency reserves.
Mugabe’s government announced last year that it had contracted suppliers to import 565 000 tonnes of maize from South Africa and Zambia.
The United Nations World Food Programme has said 1,4-million Zimbabweans, or 15% of the population, will require food aid until the next harvest in April.
Aid agencies say production from the current growing season could be hit by below average rains and the shortage of inputs.
No resumption of beef exports
Meanwhile, the country has shelved plans to resume beef exports to the European Union after Brussels introduced stringent pre-export requirements, an official said on Monday.
”One of the major problems we have is that the EU wants all the cattle in the country to be indentified to the farm and dipping tank of origin through ear-tagging,” said Stuart Hagreaves, veterinary services principal director.
He said ear-tagging was ”too costly”.
”We have shelved any plans of exporting because it [ear-tagging] is expensive, very expensive for us to do.
”Unless we get our feet off the ground in terms of self-financing, then we cannot do it.”
Zimbabwe stopped beef exports to Europe and Asia in 2001 after an outbreak of the deadly foot-and-mouth disease, but continued sales to neighbouring countries.
It used to export about 9 000 tonnes of beef a year to Europe but production has taken a battering with Zimbabwe’s commercial herd decreasing from 1,5-million at its peak to 250 000 in recent years, according to official figures. – Reuters, Sapa-AFP