Reuters
Mugabe attacks Blair, Bush and Tutu
Mon 24 May, 2004
04:35
LONDON (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has
launched a
blistering tirade against Tony Blair and other world figures,
accusing the
British premier of doing "mad things" and leading the world into
turmoil.
In an interview to be screened by Sky News television on Monday,
Mugabe said
Blair considered himself to be "superhuman" and looked down on
other people.
He also criticised U.S. President George W Bush for "cheating
the world"
over Iraq.
"They knew they were wrong by deciding to attack
Iraq. They deceived the
world with lies, lies of mass deception, by telling
them that there were
weapons of mass destruction," Mugabe said.
Mugabe
said Blair still behaved as though Zimbabwe was a British colony and
was
trying to control it.
"You can see some of the mad things he has done and
the world is now in
turmoil," the Zimbabwean leader said.
"He has
opposed us in my election, he has called upon nations to...regard
Zimbabwe as
a lawless country, a country where democracy is not respected,
where there is
no rule of law, where human rights do not exist, and all that
is a
lie."
Mugabe also lashed out at South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
who
recently likened the Zimbabwean president to an archetypal African
dictator.
"He is an angry, evil and embittered little bishop," Mugabe
said in
response.
Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980,
dismissed reports of organised
violence against supporters of Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) as "allegations".
He
also denied using youth training camps to train young supporters of his
own
ZANU-PF party to use violence on groups who oppose the government.
"It is
a National Service, in a sense, this is a youth training scheme," he
said.
"The youth must be developed and developed in respect of all skills.
They
must think Zimbabwean, feel Zimbabwean and be nationally
conscious."
Mugabe, 80, was re-elected in 2002 but the opposition MDC and
several
Western countries say he rigged the elections.
He told Sky
News he was unlikely to stand again when his term ends in 2008,
saying: "I
also want to rest and do a bit of writing."
Mugabe denies charges his
rule has caused an economic meltdown with soaring
inflation and unemployment,
as well as persistent shortages of foreign
currency.
The veteran
leader blames the ruin on sabotage by local and foreign
opponents of his
policy of confiscating white-owned farms for redistribution
to landless
blacks.
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 6:39 PM
Subject: re: Mugabe interview today on Sky News @ 11.30am, 3.30
& 10.30 pm
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 10:07 AM
Subject: Mugabe interview.
WHAT were the powers that be at SKY NEWS thinking??
Would they give hitler, idi amin, saddam hussein or ceausescu an hour long
interview? So WHY give 6 mins airtime, let alone an hour, to
this lying murderous dictator & members of his inner circle? ESPECIALLY
after the appalling treatment the Sky News team has been subjected to! To say
nothing of the way he constantly insults & trashes the British and their
leaders.
Do your millions of viewers worldwide need(or even
want) to be "convinced" of mugabe's twisted arguements? I THINK NOT! After 24
years of systematically destroying a once fine country, the world knows the
MONSTER mugabe is! Certainly, people can be gullible & stupid, but to
deliberately feed them this absolute drivel is unacceptable! If more than 2% of
viewers are taken in by this ghastly interview, it will be enough to make one
lose faith in humanity! So what is it all about then ......a scoop?
sensationalism? viewership percentages?
Innocent Chofamba Sithole of the Zim. Mirror
newspaper, writing about the Sky News coverage, reports that the channel has
come under immense pressure from British authorities NOT to air the interviews
on account of their POSITIVE thrust (oh how sickening can Sky News
get????)....which runs counter to the negative image of Zim, "conjured" in Brit.
minds by "unrelenting anti-mugabe propaganda". !?!?!? And a zanu-pf spokesman
has boasted that "the president has been interviewed for 50 mins, which is a
long time , as there are few occasions when political leaders have been given
such exposure in the international media, particularly in Europe!" THANK YOU
Sky News for playing right into the hands of that monster's propaganda machine!!
They will milk it for everything they can get !
The Sky News piece recently on the militia camps
& farm invasions was given a sympathetic slant...THAT was disappointing
enough! But this "civilised" exposure of a powermad megalomaniac, who has ruined
the country, brutally crushing the opposition, & who continues to
systematically murder & starve his own people to remain topdog is just TOO
MUCH!! Sky News should have put its finances, efforts, & considerable time
into something infinately more worthwhile!
I hope that this entire sickening & disgusting
interview backfires on you & you will lose viwers as a result! Sky News
will cease to be my news channel of choice from hereon!
SHAME ON YOU!!!
Colleen Henderson.(Zimbabwean in
exile)
IOL
Tutu ignores Mugabe's 'evil' comment
May 24 2004 at
01:39PM
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu will not be reacting to
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe's charge that he is "evil", Tutu's office
said on
Monday.
Tutu, a past winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has
criticised Mugabe's
government for human rights and democratic abuses, and
has described him as
a "caricature of an African dictator".
Mugabe's
claim that Tutu is "an angry, evil and embittered little bishop" is
due to be
broadcast in a SkyTV interview with the Zimbabwean ruler
on
Monday.
Tutu's secretary Lavinia Crawford-Browne said the
archbishop was aware of
Mugabe's attack.
"He's not prepared to
comment," she said.
Also targeted by Mugabe in the interview are British
Prime Minister Tony
Blair and United States President George Bush. -
Sapa
Zimbabwe President Plans to Stay in Power
Mon May 24,11:34 AM
ET
By MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe will stay in office as long as his
people want him
to, but he does not plan to run for re-election in 2008, he
said in a
television interview broadcast Monday.
Mugabe also lashed out at
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair for the war in Iraq ,
telling Sky News TV "they deceived the world
with lies" about Iraq's weapons
of mass destruction and now "the chickens
have come back to
roost."
He also called South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a
critic of Zimbabwe's
human rights record, "angry" and
"evil."
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since it achieved freedom from
Britain in
1980, appeared to dismiss the need for talks with his country's
opposition
movement, which disputes his victory in the March 2002 election.
Opposition
leaders and independent observers maintain Mugabe used
intimidation and
vote-rigging to win the poll and continue his authoritarian
rule.
"If there is business to negotiate about we will welcome
negotiations,"
Mugabe told Sky News TV. "But if there is no business I don't
see why we
should talk about negotiations."
Opposition lawmakers
"are in parliament, they get their voices heard ... and
that's the normal way
of running a democratic system."
When asked how long he intended to
remain in office, Mugabe said, "For as
long as the people want me to stay,
but not for eternity, of course."
He said he wanted to "rest and do a
bit of writing."
Mugabe said he did not have a successor in
mind.
The Zimbabwean leader criticized Bush and Blair for going to
war in Iraq.
"They knew they were wrong by deciding to attack Iraq,
they deceived the
world with lies, lies of mass deception, by telling them
that there were
weapons of mass destruction, and they thought the world was
going to be
cheated for all time," Mugabe said. "And there you are now, the
chickens
have come back to roost."
He also said Blair, a strong
critic of Zimbabwe's alleged human rights
abuses, has done "mad things ...
and the world now is in turmoil."
Mugabe also singled out Tutu, who
won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his
efforts against apartheid in South
Africa.
Mugabe described Tutu as "an angry, evil and embittered
little bishop, you
see, who thinks that his own views should
hold.
"He was a frightened man during the apartheid era and the
little he did was
perhaps just to criticize and criticize even in an innocent
way, apartheid,"
Mugabe said.
Zimbabwe faces its worst political
and economic crisis since independence
from Britain in 1980. The
often-violent seizure of thousands of white-owned
farms for redistribution to
blacks, coupled with erratic rains, have
crippled the agriculture of a nation
that was once a regional bread basket.
During the past three years,
Zimbabwe's economy has been in spiraling
decline with 3.3 million people
reliant for survival on international
donors' food
relief.
In the interview, Mugabe stood by his
government's forecast for a bountiful
harvest this year that will be more
than enough to feed his people.
Sky News
HOW SKY BAGGED INTERVIEW
Sky News Africa
Correspondent Stuart Ramsay explains the long battle that
Sky fought to
secure the Robert Mugabe interview:
In recent weeks the Sky News Africa
Bureau was allowed to film as an
accredited news organisation in
Zimbabwe.
This was a rare event in recent years for any journalists, and
was almost
unheard of for British reporters.
Securing this interview
was a tortuous process that began over a year ago.
It involved meetings
between Sky News Foreign Editor Adrian Wells and later
Africa Producer Ben
dePear with senior Zanu PF figures.
It became apparent that other major
news organisations were attempting to
contact the increasingly remote or
cosseted President through
intermediaries.
They were playing on their
contacts with the inner circle of advisers to Mr
Mugabe.
In the last
few weeks we filmed and reported from Zimbabwe on all of the key
issues
affecting the country.
There were no deals with the Zimbabwean government
or the President's men on
content.
But it was clear they wanted to see
for themselves how we worked.
We were concerned throughout that any
broadcast prior to the interview had
to be balanced and open to professional
scrutiny.
Senior editorial staff at Sky News were clear that we were not
in the
business of giving the Zimbabwean government favourable reports just
to
secure the interview.
In fact the view was quite the
opposite.
The first 15-minute report broadcast two weeks ago included
government
ministers and supporters.
But they also featured, in equal
measure, Mr Mugabe's opponents.
These included MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangari and white farmers' spokesman John
Worsley, both of whom were highly
critical of the government.
My commentary included allegations of rape
and brutality at youth training
camps.
It also carried the criticism
of the government's land redistribution
programme and subsequent economic
decline.
Contacts reported that the President, while not exactly happy
with the
report and certainly not agreeing with much of it, accepted that
both sides
had been reported.
We knew then that we were in
business.
It seems that the real movers behind this interview were from
Zanu PF
itself.
For many months it had been intimated to us that Zanu
PF had been concerned
about the image of both the country and the party to
the outside world.
I did not meet any moderates when it came to following
the government line.
But I did meet senior figures who believe the
country can be turned around.
They also believe one of their best assets
is the President himself - when
allowed to talk at length.
Certainly
the Ministry of Information and the President's top adviser on the
media,
Professor Jonathan Moyo, had taken a different line.
They prefer to keep
foreign journalists out of the country and the President
under
wraps.
But this time they failed.
Sky News
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
For more than three years I
was a banned person and Sky News was a banned
organisation, writes Sky News
Africa Correspondent Stuart Ramsay.
But after a year of secretive
discussions, an urbane, relaxed but distinctly
aging Robert Mugabe finally
shook my hand.
He sat down for his first in-depth interview of this
century.
The President of Zimbabwe answered questions on every issue and
topic that
had led to his regime being characterised around the world as
inept, racist
and corrupt.
In the interview he slammed Tony Blair as
an arrogant colonialist "who
thinks himself superhuman - but
isn't".
He dismissed Archbishop Desmond Tutu as "an angry, evil and
embittered
little bishop".
And he accused Deputy Prime Minster John
Prescott as being no better and no
different to a thug carrying out acts of
political violence in Zimbabwe.
The 80-year-old President has to all
intents and purposes run Zimbabwe since
independence in 1980.
After
relatively good links with the international community he has in
recent years
been stung by international condemnation.
His land reform programme has
seen thousands of white farming families
kicked off their land.
It
also contributed to his country's rapid and disastrous economic
decline.
For the first time though, he conceded that there have been
problems with
land distribution.
He accepted that as many as 60% of
farms allocated to black farmers had not
been taken up as expected.
He
denied, however, international estimates that the whole land programme
had
been a disaster.
He also denied that the country was incapable of feeding
itself - despite
all efforts to the contrary.
"The whites who were
here were mere actor farmers. We brought in a system
which is much more
enlightened than the system they had," he said.
"We are not hungry. Aid
agency food should go to hungrier people, hungrier
countries than
ourselves.
"They need the food and we urge it to go and do good work
there."
President Mugabe at times seemed on the verge of losing his
temper,
especially on the subjects of political violence and human rights
abuses.
I asked him why Archbishop Desmond Tutu described him as an
"archetypal
African dictator".
"He is an angry, evil embittered little
bishop who thinks his own view
should hold.
"Should one little bishop
become the proponent of our political system
here?" he countered.
"He
was a frightened man during the apartheid era and the little he did
was
perhaps just to criticise and criticise even in an innocent
way.
"When called upon to do something, something that would distinguish
him as a
supporter of the ANC, he didn't."
Mr Mugabe denied widespread
political violence towards his political
opponents.
Holding his balled
fist in the air, he likened John Prescott's famous punch
to the violent
actions of misguided youths.
"The Deputy Prime Minster beats a person,
boxes a person, and that person
falls down.
"Is that more acceptable
than the violence of a small group that might just
be mistaken in its own
belief that violence will work?" he argued.
From The Times, (UK), 24 May
Mugabe: we're no worse than
Prescott
By Stuart Ramsay
A correspondent asks the leader
of Zimbabwe about violence, poverty and
corruption
Zimbabwe
government supporters who beat up dissenters are no worse than John
Prescott,
President Mugabe has said. In his first interview with a British
news
organisation for four years, Mr Mugabe told Sky News that Tony
Blair
considers himself "superhuman" but is not, that the World Food
Programme is
trying to foist food on Zimbabwe that it does not need, and that
his
Government's drive to seize white farms and give them to black
Zimbabweans
is "going to reinvigorate the economy". The interview took 15
months to
secure and was conducted in the elegant surroundings of State
House. Looking
urbane, relaxed but showing the effects of age, the
80-year-old President
answered questions on the issues that have led to his
regime being described
around the world as inept, racist and corrupt. His
answers were charged with
hostility towards Mr Blair. "I don't know how
Britain came by him. You can
see some of the mad things he has done and the
world is now in turmoil," Mr
Mugabe said. He insisted that his Government
wanted dialogue with Britain
but that Mr Blair "won't have it because he
doesn't want to talk to us. We
are inferior. He is superhuman. No, and he
won't be drawn into discussions
with us."
Mr Blair still
considered Zimbabwe a colony, he said. The Prime Minister's
recent meeting
with Colonel Gaddafi of Libya was "not just to get Libyan oil
but also to get
Libya to desist from assisting us". The controversy over
England's autumn
tour to Zimbabwe was Mr Blair using "the cricket bat as a
weapon against
Mugabe". But Mr Mugabe gave no ground when asked about the
many charges
levelled against his own regime. Questioned about the violent
suppression of
political opponents by supporters of his ruling Zanu PF
party, he suggested
that such incidents were no worse than the action of Mr
Prescott in hitting a
protester during the 2001 general election campaign.
"The Deputy Prime
Minister beats a person, boxes a person and that person
falls down," he said,
holding his balled fist in the air. "(You mean) that
is more acceptable than
the violence of a small group that might just be
mistaken in its own belief
that violence will work?" He admitted only to
"hitches" in the 2002 general
election, which international observers said
was stolen. "We say the election
was fair. We say all the African groups
pronounced the election fair." He
denied recent reports that Zanu PF had set
up training camps to teach young
Zimbabweans brutal methods of suppression.
The camps were a programme of
National Service, he said. The allegations
came from "people who do not want
us to train the youth, who fear that
perhaps we are training the youth to be
nationalistic, to respect their own
culture and the African
personality".
He also denied that Zimbabwe faced mass starvation,
despite mounting
evidence to the contrary and dire warnings from
international aid agencies.
"We will have enough food for the country and
with a surplus," he insisted.
He had expelled the World Food Programme this
month because its assistance
"should go to hungrier people, hungrier
countries than ourselves . . . Why
foist this food upon us? We don't want to
be choked. We have enough."
Despite crippling debts, 600 per cent inflation,
and a 40 per cent economic
contraction between 1999 and 2003, Mr Mugabe
likewise insisted that the
economy was "now improving - it is getting out of
that mess". He admitted
that there were corrupt individuals in his party, but
when asked if he
himself was corrupt replied: "Oh come on, come on, come on."
The mansion,
said to cost £14 million, being built for him on the edge of
Harare, was a
present from Zanu PF, he said. Malaysia was donating the timber
and China,
another friendly nation, the roofing materials. Mr Mugabe said
that he would
stay in office "as long as the people want me to stay", and had
no successor
in mind. However, he doubted that he would stand again. Mr
Mugabe was
apparently persuaded to grant the interview by senior members of
Zanu PF,
concerned about the image of their country and their party in the
outside
world. They still believed that the country could be turned around,
and that
one of their best assets was the President, when allowed to talk at
length.
Stuart Ramsay is Africa Correspondent of Sky News
From The Guardian (UK), 24 May
Mugabe says he will refuse food
aid
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
The Zimbabwean president,
Robert Mugabe, angrily denies that his country
needs food aid and rejected
charges that his government inflicts human
rights abuses in an interview with
Sky News released today. In the
interview, the first Mr Mugabe has given to
British media for several years,
the leader clung to his position that the
Blair government is responsible
for whatever problems his country is facing.
He also attacked Bishop Desmond
Tutu and Bulawayo's Archbishop Pius Ncube as
"unholy men". Critics in
Zimbabwe say the interview exposes Mr Mugabe as a
leader out of touch with
the reality of his country. Mr Mugabe said his
government would not accept
international food aid in the coming year. "We
are not hungry. It should go
to hungrier people, hungrier countries than
ourselves," he said. "Why foist
this food upon us? We don't want to be
choked, we have enough." He said
Zimbabwe would produce 2.3m tonnes of maize
this year, though independent
and international food monitors have dismissed
the figures as fantasy and
completely unrealistic. They warn of widespread
famine if Mr Mugabe does not
permit international aid. Mr Mugabe rejected
charges that torture, rape and
terror are being inflicted by his youth
militia on the opposition and the
wider population. "These are the
allegations being made by people who do not
want us to train the youth, who
fear perhaps we are training the youth to be
nationalistic, to respect their
own culture and respect the African
personality," he said.
He denied
documented reports of systematic human rights abuse by police and
other
groups, suggesting that any violence came from over-zealous supporters
of his
Zanu PF party. "We have millions of supporters in the country but you
also
get small groups naturally that act in order to demonstrate that they
are
strong in particular areas especially when they are provoked and in
the
majority of cases because of the provocation of MDC." Mr Mugabe's
assertions
fly in the face of several reports by human rights groups which
state that
police and groups allied to his party are responsible for more
than 90% of
the political violence in the country. When confronted with the
criticism of
the retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu that Mr Mugabe now resembles
a
caricature of an African dictator, he dismissed the Nobel peace
prizewinner
as "an angry, evil and embittered little bishop". Mr Mugabe said
the
archbishop "was a frightened man during the apartheid era and the little
he
did was perhaps just to criticise in an innocent way. When called upon to
do
something that would distinguish him as supporter of the ANC, he didn't."
He
also turned on the Catholic Archbishop of Zimbabwe's second city,
Bulawayo,
who has claimed that 10,000 Zimbabweans in his Matabeleland region
died of
hunger-related causes last year. "That's another Tutu, the bishop, an
unholy
man, he thinks he is holy and telling lies all the day, every day,"
said Mr
Mugabe. "Oh come on, 10,000 people, where did they die? Even show me
a
single person who died of hunger." Some Zimbabweans said the
interview
demonstrated that Mr Mugabe has lost touch. "He is delusional about
food
production, in denial about violence, and abusive about Desmond Tutu,
Pius
Ncube and other critics," said Iden Wetherell, editor of the
Zimbabwe
Independent. "This is self-evidently a leader who has lost
direction. All he
can do is shake his fists at a world he no longer
understands." Mr Mugabe
repeated the assertion that he intends to serve out
his current term, which
lasts until 2008, when he will be 86. He said he has
no successor in mind.
Business Report
Deadline for white Namibian farmers to offer land
to state
May 24, 2004
By Brigitte Wieldich
Ongombo West, Namibia - Four generations of farming in Hilde Wiese's
family
are about to come to an end following a Namibian government order to
sell
their farm.
Wiese is among 15 white farm owners who were told by
lands minister
Hifikepunye Pohamba to "make an offer" within 14 days to sell
their property
and enter into talks on the expropriation. The deadline
expires today.
Wiese owns Ongombo West, a farm located about 50km
from Windhoek,
where she and her son Andreas raise cattle, grow vegetables
and for the past
five years produce arum lilies for export to Germany and The
Netherlands
"We have to sell the farm to the government, what
else can we
do?"
.
But a dispute with six black
labourers who were evicted from the farm
put Wiese in the spotlight of land
ownership in Namibia.
"We have to sell the farm to the government,
what else can we do?"
Andreas said.
President Sam Nujoma singled
out the Wiese farm in a speech at a May
Day rally, saying "some of the whites
are behaving as if they came from
Holland or Germany. We can drive them out
of this land."
The president's tirade was the last straw for the
Wieses, who feel
they are scapegoats in a political campaign that is heating
up ahead of
elections in November and Nujoma's upcoming
retirement.
"President Nujoma mentioned me by name and called me a
'criminal'. Our
case is being used to set a precedent," said
Andreas.
Namibia's mainly white Agricultural Union has asked the
government to
extend the 14-day deadline, saying the criteria for choosing
the 15 were
unclear.
The order to the white farmers to sell
their property has raised fears
that Namibia may be on the same path as
Zimbabwe, where land from white
farmers was seized, some
forcibly.
But the government maintains land reform will be
carried out in the
context of the law and is necessary to address the fact
that most of
Namibia's arable land is in white hands.
Two years
ago, members of Nujoma's governing Swapo Party marched on a
farm near the
town of Gobabis, broke the locks on the gate and slashed the
tyres of
tractors while shouting anti-white slogans after the farmer won a
court order
to evict his labourers.
The Wiese family had a similar eviction
order in hand when six black
workers, their wives and 10 children were
removed from their farm a few days
before Christmas last year.
The Wieses wanted the six to leave after a dispute over a goose that
was
accidentally killed by one of the workers turned nasty and Andreas
was
threatened.
A labour court in February ordered the workers
be reinstated and the
six are back at work but are refusing to move back into
their humble houses
on the farm.
"We don't know that we can go
and live there again", says Amanda
Hoebes, who lives in a tent provided by
the government.
"We heard of the eviction and we hope we can settle
once the owners
are gone," Hoebes said.
She said the government
has been providing them with fresh water once
a week and also
food.
At the Wiese family, work is winding down in anticipation of
the sale.
A campsite on the farm is closed and no lilies have been planted in
recent
months.
"Our future is too uncertain now," says Andreas,
who declined to
discuss their offer to sell.
"I am sad about our
family graves here on the farm. What will happen
to them once we are gone?"
Wiese worries.
SOKWANELE
Enough
is Enough
Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT PRINCIPLES TO
ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY
We
have a fundamental right to freedom of expression!
Sokwanele reporter
24 May
2004
Violence and lawlessness continue unabated in
Zimbabwe. Over the weekend a serious assault took place
on a ranch manager and some of his game scouts in the Save Valley Conservancy. Anthony Bodington is
the manager of Masapas Ranch within the Conservancy. On Friday 21st May he and six of
his scouts were ambushed and attacked by an assorted group of war vets, poachers
and illegal squatters. Their assailants were armed with knobkierries, assegais
and machetes. They were abducted and held overnight in the bush where they were
severely tortured. During the course of their ordeal they were subjected to
gross verbal and physical abuse. The physical abuse included severe beatings
with knobkerries which resulted in bruises, broken limbs and widespread
lacerations. A game scout was stabbed and Bodington, for whom the assailants
appear to have reserved the worst of their venom, was at one time held down and
made to endure the motions as if they were going to cut off his
arm.
The abductees were rescued from the gang of
violent thugs early the following morning by a ZRP support unit. All were in poor shape and they required
immediate medical attention. Bodington
who was severely traumatized was admitted to hospital in Triangle. Full medical details of the injuries have
been recorded and graphic photos reveal how savage and prolonged was the
attack.
The police took down statements from those
abused and have already made 33 arrests in connection with the incident. It is
understood that one of those who led the attack, named Chirapa, was among those
arrested. He is already on a charge of
assault with intent to cause gross bodily harm in connection with an assault
incident which occurred in 2002. On that
occasion it is believed he and a brother of the same name led a group of more
than 20 illegal squatters in a vicious attack on another senior member of the
team managing Masapas Ranch. That case
has inexplicably been postponed time and again.
The intervention of the police and arrest of
some of the violent thugs responsible is a welcome development, though time will
tell if they are to be prosecuted with the full force of the law. This aside, the continued presence of armed
gangs of violent thugs who can, at will, abduct innocent citizens and carry out
such murderous attacks upon them, dispels once and for all the notion that the
level of violence and lawlessness is abating in
Zimbabwe.
Photographes
available on request
Visit: www.sokwanele.com
Zimconsult Independent economic & planning consultants
FAMINE IN
ZIMBABWE
Implications of 2003/04 Cropping season
Prepared for the
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
April 2004
CONTENTS
Acronyms
1.
INTRODUCTION
2. METHODOLOGY
3. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
3.1
Demand
3.2 Production
3.3 Urban Maize
4. FACTORS DETERMINING FOOD
PRODUCTION
4.1 Maize Seed
4.2 Shortage of Fertilizers
4.3
Tillage
4.4 Rainfall
4.5 Combined Effects of the above Four
Factors
5 FIELD VISITS
5.1 Mashonaland West
5.2 Mashonaland
East
5.3 Mashonaland Central
5.4 Manicaland
5.5 Midlands
5.6
Masvingo
5.7 Matabeleland North & South
5.8 Peri Urban
Agriculture
5.9 Provincial Findings at a Glance
6. ANALYSIS OF DATA
FROM OTHER SOURCES
7. CONCLUSION
Acronyms
ARDA Agriculture
& Rural Development Authority
CFU Commercial Farmers' Union
CSO
Central Statistics Office
DDF District Development Fund
FAO Food &
Agriculture Organisation
FEWSNET Famine Early Warning System Network
GMB
Grain Marketing Board
ICFU Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union
MDC
Movement for Democratic Change
NRZ National Railways of Zimbabwe
SADC
Southern African Development Community
UNDP United Nations Development
Program
VIDCO Village Development Committee
WFP World Food Program
ZFU
Zimbabwe Framers' Union
1. INTRODUCTION
Since the Zimbabwe
Government embarked on its fast track land resettlement
programme, the food
situation, particularly in respect of the staple maize,
has been getting
worse every year. Initially people were talking of food
shortage, but
"famine" would now seem a more appropriate term to apply to
the situation the
country now faces. "Famine" has been used to describe
situations of extreme
food scarcity and starvation in countries such as
Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Nobody ever contemplated that Zimbabwe, formerly the
bread-basket of southern
Africa, would come to be referred to in terms of
famine.
The fast
track resettlement programme was officially completed in August
2002.
Theoretically, it should therefore have been possible to properly plan
for
the 2003/4 agriculture season, at least in respect of ensuring that
enough
maize would be planted. As will become evident in this report, there
was no
such planning. The certain consequences are going to be severe
shortages of
food, although just how severe is unclear due to lack of
information. In the
past, information about the food supply situation in the
country was given to
anybody interested, but in the current situation of
policy-induced food
scarcity and the militarization of the Grain Marketing
Board (GMB), the
public is deliberately denied access to information.
Independent observers
who monitor food demand and supply trends are
concerned about the spectre of
famine. The donors, who must be thanked for
saving the lives of well over 6
million people over the past three years,
are exasperated by the lack of
information.
On its part, the government is content to manipulate food
for political
gain, and appears quite unconcerned about the plight of the
people. This
lack of care by the government is evident, for example, in the
government's
unwillingness to approach UNDP for food assistance in a timely
fashion. The
World Food Programme (WFP) cannot begin to approach donors until
an official
request has been received. Last year, as the well documented
concerns voiced
by the opposition party and the donor community became more
insistent, the
government request was finally made in July 2003. This year,
with an
election in prospect and control over food therefore more important
than
ever to a self interested government, it is remains in doubt whether
any
official request will be submitted at all. It is against this
background
that it was considered important to carry out an independent study
of the
food situation in the country.
2. METHODOLOGY
The study
is based on a physical survey of the crop in the ground in
selected
parts
of Mashonaland East, Central, West, Manicaland, Midlands and
Masvingo
provinces, together with information from other sources, including
crop
forecasts by FEWSNET, the SADC Early Warning System and
farmers'
organisations. The team undertook the field visits before
analyzing
estimates by independent observers.
The field survey was
spread over a 10 day period in early March 2004. The
team selected communal
areas, resettlement areas, small-scale commercial
areas and new fast track
resettlement areas in each province visited. The
selection took into account
highly productive areas that would provide a
good and representative
indicator of the amount of maize grown. The team was
interested to see the
area under cultivation, the area fallow and quantity
and quality of maize
stands. The team was able to talk to many farmers in
most of the areas
visited.
3. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
3.1 Demand
The 1991-92
drought gave Zimbabwe a baseline figure for minimum consumption
requirements
for both human beings and livestock. During that time, the
monthly sales of
maize by GMB peaked a 150 000 tonnes, equivalent to annual
consumption of 1
800 000 tonnes of maize. In addition, GMB was importing
wheat and rice. Wheat
sales amounted to 480 000 per year while rice was 24
000 tonnes per year.
That brought the total cereals requirement to 2 304 000
tonnes per year. This
was more than 10 years ago when the population was
estimated to be 10 million
or so. Considering maize and small grains only,
human consumption
requirements are estimated to be 120 kgs per person per
year. Using a
population of 11 million people the maize/small grains
requirements is 1 320
000 tonnes. The total requirements, taking into
account other consumption and
strategic reserve needs, are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Maize / Small
grain Consumption Requirements
Maize/Small Grains for humanconsumption 1
320 000 tonnes
Stockfeed 400 000 tonnes
Poultry 80 000
tonnes
Industrial ( brewers etc) 100 000 tonnes
Total Demand 1 900 000
tonnes
Strategic Reserves 500 000 tonnes
Grand Total 2 400 000
tonnes
3.2 Production
The bulk of this report deals in detail with
the factors determining the
likely level of production in the current season,
but it may be useful to
the reader to have a summary upfront of our
production estimates. The
essential elements to be estimated are the area
under production and the
average yield, these being determined in turn by the
availability of seed,
fertiliser, tillage and rainfall.
On the basis
of commercial seed availability, plus an estimate of the seed
planted from
retentions from the previous year, the area being cropped is
thought to be
between 1 280 000 ha and at most 1 600 000 ha. In view of the
deficient level
of fertiliser available (30% of ideal requirements),
inadequate tillage and
excessive rain at the end of the season (this
adversely affecting sorghum in
particular), it is unlikely in our view that
the average yield will be higher
than 0.5 tonnes per ha, and could well be
as low as 0.35 tonnes per ha. This
compares with the previous national
average of 0.75 tonnes per ha, which was
based on production by commercial
farmers of 5 tonnes per ha, while the rest
of the farmers having a much
lower yield even when there were no constraints
on the availability of
inputs.
Taking into account the failure of the
early planted maize and the late
season problems for small grains, our
central estimate is production of 600
000 tonnes of maize plus 100 000 tonnes
of sorghum. Excluding any strategic
stocks, this would imply a shortfall of 1
200 000 tonnes. Given the
uncertainty surrounding many of the parameters, it
is possible that
production may be higher. Our upper estimate is 800 000
tonnes of maize and
200 000 tonnes of small grains would still result in a
shortfall of 900 000
tonnes for the current crop year.
3.3 Urban
Maize
The dire food situation in the country has led to unoccupied land
in urban
areas being used for food production. Some people in the urban areas
have
grown a good crop, though very small per individual. Collectively, it
is
estimated that a total of 50 000 tonnes will be produced by the
urban
people.
There are permanent police roadblocks in all major roads
into the cities,
with GMB employees being posted there to impound maize
coming into the urban
areas. This is nothing short of a systematic starving
of the urban people
who in many cases would have provided the productive
inputs to their parents
and relatives in the communal areas. Through this
mechanism, it is the urban
areas which this year will be chronically short of
food.
4. FACTORS DETERMINING FOOD PRODUCTION
The Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water
Development, Rural Resources
and Resettlement looked into the issue of
availability of agriculture inputs
before the start of the current season
and presented its Report to Parliament
on the 19th November 2003. This
Report covered seed, fertilizers and tillage.
This report was compiled on
the basis of oral evidence from the seed houses,
fertilizer companies,
farmers' organizations and officials from the Ministry
of Lands Agriculture
and Rural Resettlement.
The Portfolio committee
initiated this study because it was "concerned with
the non availability of
agricultural inputs on the market, despite the fact
that we are already into
the summer crop season". (Report of Portfolio
Committee on Lands Agriculture
presented to Parliament on 19th November
2003). The Parliamentary report is
factual and authoritative.
4.1 Maize Seed
While implementing the
fast-track programme, government decreed that it was
essential to spare seed
producers from acquisition and to this end they were
classified as
agro-industries. However, in practice the Minister proceeded
to acquire all
farms, including those producing seed. Although government
had policies on
one-person-one-farm policy and on minimum farm sizes, these
were not adhered
to, resulting in almost all seed growers being evicted.
Commercial seed
farmers produced on average, 5 tonnes of seed maize per
hectare. The new seed
farmers produced an average of 0.4 tonnes of seed
maize per ha. Whereas 12
000 ha traditionally produced sufficient seed (60
000 tones), 150 000 ha
would now be now required to produce the same 60 000
tones of
seed.
For the current year, with heightened requirements for food and
the
re-building of strategic stocks, the Ministry and seed houses agreed that
up
to 80 000 tonnes of seed would be required. Apart from lower yields,
there
were many problems faced by the seed producers. The lawlessness in
the
country resulted in unprecedented thefts of the seed crop, one
company
reporting loss through thefts of between 15% and 20% of their seed
crop last
year. The national shortage of fertilizers also had an adverse
bearing on
the quantity of seed produced.
The seed available at the
start of the season was only 32 000 tonnes or 40%
of the target. At 25 kg per
ha, this quality of seed would be sufficient to
cultivate 1 280 000 ha. Using
the previous national average yield of 0.75
tonnes per ha, the available seed
was therefore sufficient to produce - at
optimal conditions and all other
things being equal - only 960 000 tonnes of
maize.
The seed was not
readily available in the market even at the time of
planting and the little
that was available was too expensive for the
ordinary communal and A1
farmers. The prices were upward of $100 000 per
50kg bag, enough for 2 ha
only. Consequently, many farmers bought sufficient
seed only to plant for
their own subsistence.
Given the shortage of seed, government encouraged
farmers to do their own
seed selection from maize they had harvested the
previous season. This was a
disingenuous recommendation. Over the years,
farmers in Zimbabwe have been
encouraged to buy hybrid seed which have made
it possible to achieve higher
yields. As a result, open pollinated varieties
have became all but extinct.
The germination and yield of seed selected from
hybrid maize production is
highly suspect. Some farmers may have kept seed
from the previous season,
but the quantities would be very small because seed
would only have been
retained due to exceptional circumstance arising from a
lack of rain, too
late to plant, lack of tillage or some other
cause.
4.2 Shortage of Fertilizers
The major producers
of fertilizers informed the Portfolio committee that
their operations had
been severely curtailed by the shortage of foreign
currency to import raw
materials used in the production of fertilizers as
well as spare parts for
their machinery. As a result, the main producers,
Sable Chemicals and
Zimphos, operated at well below their capacities. The
major raw materials
they required were potash, sulphur and ammonia. They
only managed to secure
30% of their foreign currency requirements. To
operate at full capacity they
require only US$ 2,45 million per month. This
is a very small amount of
foreign currency considering its cascading
benefits. Like other companies,
they joined the parallel market to source
for foreign currency, which
increased prices of their products.
Also contributing to the fertiliser
shortages was the failure by the
National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) to
deliver raw materials. In this regard
only 58% of raw materials consigned to
NRZ would be delivered. These
companies then resorted to road haulage, which
cost 15 times more than the
NRZ. These increased costs had to be passed on to
the consumers. Power cuts
and load shading by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) further
compounded their production problems.
Despite
all the above and numerated problems or challenges, the government
had strict
price controls on fertilizers. These price controls had no
relationship with
the constraints and costs encountered in production.
"The negative impact
of the above mentioned factors on the industry need not
be over emphasized.
An analysis of statistics will clearly illustrate the
situation. Operating
under normal conditions, the fertilizer industry could
have produced 370 000
tonnes between January and August this year. However,
it only managed to
produce 240 000 tonnes, giving a deficit of 130 000
tonnes. On average, the
industry has a capacity to produce about 550 000
tonnes per annum.
Compounding this situation, now is the unprecedented
demand in fertilizer due
to Land Reform Programme, which saw more farmers
coming into the fold.
Projections for domestic requirements of fertilizer
point to 1 million metric
tonnes per agriculture season". (Report of the
Portfolio Committee On Lands
presented to Parliament on 19th November 2003).
4.3 Tillage
The
third factor influencing food production is tillage. Government policy
is
that District Development Fund (DDF) tractors are mandated to provide
tillage
for communal and A1 farmers, while Agricultural and Rural
Development
Authority (ARDA) is mandated to provide tillage to the A2
farmers. For the
2003/04 season, the DDF charges were set at $32 000 per ha
while the ARDA
charges at were at commercial rates of $106 000 per ha.
The Portfolio
Committee was informed by the Zimbabwe Farmers Union that
although DDF had a
fleet of 768 tractors, 50% of them were grounded due to
lack of spare parts.
Ministry of Agriculture officials confirmed this
information. The tillage
programme was further compounded by the acute
shortages of diesel. Farmers
also complained that the cost of ploughing.
Disking was prohibited for
communal farmers.
4.4 Rainfall
Zimbabwe received early
rains, which pounded nearly the whole country for
over a week between 16 and
24 October 2003. The rains were accompanied by
cold, which left thousands of
cattle dead. More than 1 500 head of cattle
died in Midlands alone. The early
rains did bring some relief, however, as
pastures responded
favourably.
Many farmers took advantage of the early rains to plant
maize, but
thereafter there was no further rain until towards end of
November. This
resulted in much of the early planted maize being a write-off.
Fortunately,
after a short break in January, rains have continued
beneficially until the
writing of this report, which is middle of March 2004.
The crop that will be
worth talking about is the late crop - that is, the
maize planted from end
of November onwards, despite the fact that any maize
planted after
mid-November always has a lower yield potential.
4.5
Combined Effects of the above Four Factors
Using the commercial seed
availability of 32 000 tonnes would imply no more
than 1 280 000 ha planted
to maize, but the additional of retained seed and
seed taken from past
production might raise the total to say 40 000 tonnes,
implying 1 600 000 ha
being planted to maize. With about 30% fertilizer
availability and less than
50% draught power, together with failure of the
early planted maize implies
production of between 650 000 and 850 000
tonnes.
The upper estimate
is based on an estimated average yield of 0.5 tonnes per
ha. This is based
both on consideration of the input factors, urban maize
production estimates
and our field observations, which are described in
detail in the next
section.
5 FIELD VISITS
5.1 Mashonaland West
This province
has traditionally been the biggest producer of maize in the
country. It has
20 GMB depots out of a total of 70 depots for the whole
country, with 7 of
these depots being modern silos. Around a third of
national maize production
was normally expected to originate from this
province. This year, given
constraints on the availability of seed,
Mashonaland West would have been
expected to have cultivated 416 000 ha,
which at the historical national
average yield of 0.75 tonnes per ha would
result in 312 000 tonnes of maize.
The yield in this province is normally
higher than the national average.
However, in the current season, the
hectares being cultivated are low and the
yields well below historical
levels, with overall production from the
province unlikely to exceed 190 000
tonnes.
Mhondoro communal area
became our first port of call and what confronted us
was a picture of
desperation. Many farmers were forced to restrict
themselves to small
acreages due to lack of inputs and the crop in some
areas shows moisture
stress, tinged with yellow and visibly stunted. Only
pockets of areas within
Mhondoro will be able to produce subsistence
harvests, which nonetheless may
only be sufficient to last five months. This
leaves a large portion of
Mhondoro in need of food relief. From interviews
we carried out, only those
farmers who planted late are likely to harvest a
meaningful crop. Most
farmers failed to access inputs, this being
illustrated in one village of 76
households where only 2 households managed
to get fertilizer packs
distributed by government, one of the recipients
being the VIDCO
Chairman.
Reports of rampant selective distribution patterns abound in
Mhondoro and
NGO's have come to the rescue of some farmers by distributing
the much
needed inputs and food relief. Catholic Relief Services is
currently
involved in distributing food rations. There were complaints of
interference
by the local councillor. Some of these villagers claimed to have
been denied
food assistance by government. Many farmers relied on their
draught power
for tillage.
Driving through the A2 area between
Mhondoro and Chegutu South we were
surprised to observe considerable
similarities, particularly as regards the
under-utilization of land. This
became a pattern throughout the area
although some maize stands were in
better shape than those we had witnessed
in Mhondoro communal area.
In
relative terms, the areas planted are far below expectations. Failure
by
resettled farmers to produce a meaningful crop can be laid on
government's
inability to help in the provision of inputs and
tillage.
Performance in the Musengezi Small Scale is mixed, but the
overall presents
a sad scenario. One striking observation we made was
over-reliance on
Government support, even by farmers in this
area.
Zvimba Communal Area is a complete disaster with hardly any area of
promise.
Yellow stunted stocks, already tussling at 2 feet tall, exemplify
the maize
crop. No harvests of any nature will be achieved. This should rank
as one of
the most needy areas of food relief at this juncture, any delay
will result
in untold suffering of the people.
Chitomborwizi small
scale farming area is a huge relief although the areas
planted do not inspire
confidence. The late crop is above average. Farmers
in this area could have
done better with adequate tillage and input supply.
The resettlement area
between Chinhoyi and Chitomborwizi exhibits gross
under-utilization of
land.
The A2 areas encompassing Umboe, Mhangura, Lions Den including
Banket
signalled a discordant yield pattern with consequences throughout
the
country. This is so because it is that particular area that
earned
Mashonaland West the nickname of 'Mashonaland Best'. What we saw in
that
area therefore casts a very dark shadow over the whole country. The
areas
are regrettably symbolic of underutilization bordering on reckless
abandon.
A sad scenario of absentee landlordship by the newly resettled
farmers is
common throughout this area.
5.2 Mashonaland
East
This province in the past has also been highly productive, but
performance
this year will be well down. A yield of less than 0.5 tonnes per
ha has to
be assumed from this province and with under 200 000 ha under
cultivation
about 90 000 tonnes of maize may be produced.
The
Enterprise farming area had fair to good stands of crops, mainly soya
beans.
The small area under maize was just average. Murewa communal area,
which in
good years would deliver over 100 000 tonnes to GMB, suffers from
the same
factors affecting other areas. There are fields that are fallow,
there is
apparent shortage of ammonium nitrate and the maize has also been
adversely
affected by the continuous rains. The situation is the same from
Juru right
through the Chitawa. The area South of Mrewa along Macheke road
is no better.
Chitawa is slightly above average. Overall, Murehwa will have
a crop which is
just below average.
The old resettlement area in Mutoko around Corner
Store, especially North of
Corner Store, has an excellent maize crop.
Although not all the land was put
to crops, what is in the ground are good
maize stands with potential for
high yields. That resettlement area has good
and production farmers. We
understand however that the Jani Area, South of
Corner Store is not as good.
Virginia area of Murehwa South going all the
way to Macheke is known for
high production of both maize and tobacco. It was
sad to see nothing in that
whole area, except one black farmer after Nyahuni
Mission who has produced
an excellent crop of maize. Also another farmer has
a good crop of sorghum.
While it was not our brief to look at tobacco,
Honourable Chitongo has quite
a large and good crop of tobacco. We talked to
a few farmers who told us
that their problem was cost and availability of
inputs. Once again, there
are tracks and tracks of fields which are fallow.
Most of the fields are
fallow because those allocated the land did not take
it up. Those who took
up the land, mainly A1 farmers, made some attempt to
put something in the
ground, but the output will be below subsistence
levels.
Generally, what people see while driving along a major road in
the country
is no different from what is happening deep inside the
countryside. One can
end up with a fair assessment without carrying out the
survey in the manner
that we did.
Marondera/Wedza: we combine these
two districts because the level of
violence and destruction was the same. It
was also difficult in some cases
to tell whether the team was still in
Marondera or was then in Wedza. The
team used the Ruzawi road, which enabled
us to go right through commercial
farms. We were lost at some point and
continued to dead end roads. That
helped us to see some of the farms where
there was no cropping going on at
all. We came back through Igova and
proceeded to Wedza. Only in the communal
area of Wedza can one talk of some
crop maize 4 months after harvest.
The former commercial farms in that
area are just full of grass and nothing
else. In fact, there is a lot of
grass this year. The level and extent of
grass is an indication that if there
were a crop, which naturally would be
attending to and cared for, the crop
would be better than grass. In almost
all areas, we saw fields that were
planted with maize or soya beans, but the
poor farmers were overcome by grass
and weeds to the extend of a total
write-off of those crops. In a lot of
these areas, particularly those with
red soils, it is not possible to go
large-scale using hoes to weed. A high
level of mechanisation is required,
together with the use of herbicides,
otherwise such farmers would require a
very large labour force. Overall the
Marondera/Wedza area is equally
bad.
5.3 Mashonaland Central
Historically, this province closely
followed Mashonaland West in terms of
production. The size of the province
contributes to its being the second
highest producer, otherwise rainfall,
soil types and other factors are
basically the same. Its traditional
production percentage was about 19.
This season it is the only province
visited that has a good crop. Like other
provinces, it was affected by lack
of inputs and uptake by A2 farmers,
leaving large areas fallow. While the
land cultivated had a good crop, this
would be reduced by the quality of land
fallow. At 0.7 tonnes per ha, 210
000 tonnes would be produced from 300 000
ha, but the actual area planted is
less than this. Despite having a yield
higher than this year's national
average, production in this province will be
reduced to below 200 000 tonnes
by input shortages and unutilised
land.
Musana Communal area in Shamva District has an excellent maize
crop. The
farmers there are assured of high yields from the maize. It does
appear that
they timed their planting correctly, as there was no evidence of
a damaged
crop as a result of early planting. The crops appear to have had
sufficient
fertilizers. However, as one proceeds into the Pote Valley, which
was famous
for cotton, maize, tobacco and soya beans, the pattern observed in
other
provinces starts emerging.
The social status of the individuals
determines the success of some A2
farmers. Farms belonging to business people
and senior government officials
have an above average crop with some areas
planted being large. The
preponderance of irrigation infrastructure,
particularly in Shamva and
Bindura, explains why the crop in those areas is
above average. However, the
large crop grown in that area is soya beans
rather than maize.
Chiweshe communal generally suffered from lack of
rainfall. Those farmers
who planted early have no crop while those who
planted late have a young and
good crop. From interviews carried out,
communal farmers in Chiweshe had no
problems accessing seed and fertilizers,
with most of them acquiring their
inputs from GMB. The crop in the field
sound and these farmers will be able
to sale some of their produce to the
market, unlike other farmers in the
communal areas. Others will have
subsistence stocks of between 2 to 5
months.
The A2 area between
Glendale and Gweshe exhibits mixed fortunes, with the
majority doing above
average, while others have little to nothing with
fields lying fallow. It was
not possible to find out why some of the land
was left fallow. The Mazoe
Valley is characterized by vast area of soya
beans and citrus fruits, while
the few farmers who planted maize will have
an above average crop.
5.4
Manicaland
This province historically is a marginal producer, as most
production is
concentrated in only 3 of its districts. The districts we
covered were
Makoni, Mutasa and Nyanga. We estimated a maximum production of
50 000
tonnes.
In Makoni, the team surveyed Chinyika old resettlement
area. Again this was
chosen for its experienced farmers and generally it is a
high production
area. The small crop was suffering from fertilizer deficiency
coupled with
excessive moisture. The production will be just below average.
There was
just one good maize stand of well above average, with a good
hectare
cultivated by this farmer. Otherwise, as far as the new farmers
were
concerned, the picture was the same as other provinces and districts
already
discussed.
The Mutasa area covered was that through
Bonda Mission, joining Nyanga road
next to Monte Claire. This area sometimes
gets too cold for the production
of good maize but nevertheless the plots
around people's houses normally
would have good crop. This year, like many
other farmers, they will need
early food assistance.
The rains in
Nyanga came quite late this year. Because of the general
climate in the area,
planting has to be completed much earlier than most
areas to avoid maize
getting stunted by the cold whether. In this district
we went as far as
Nyatate School, with the same situation of poor crops
being evident
throughout.
5.5 Midlands
Midlands is a very large province
geographically but production is limited
to Gokwe, Kwekwe, Chirumhanzu, and
Gweru District. Other than Kwekwe
district, the crops thought the province is
very poor. Our estimate is that
55 000 tonnes could be produced this year.
The districts chosen for the
field visit in this province were Gokwe and
Kwekwe.
The old resettlement area, between Empress Mine turn off and
Munyati river,
has an above average crop. Talking to the farmers, their main
constraint to
the production of maize was lack of inputs. In fact one farmer
proudly
showed us his maize crop grown from his own selected seed. Although
he was
happy, his crop was well below average. Whilst this cannot be
conclusive, it
confirms that selected seed does not perform well. When it is
available,
farmers always prefer to buy hybrid seed.
The Sidakeni
communal area in Kwekwe district is very bad indeed. The
Chemagora small
scale farming area, like many of its kind, suffers from the
deprivation of
the original farmers who bought these properties many years
ago. Those who
inherited these farms are not necessarily farmers. There is
empirical
evidence that communal farmers are more productive than the small
scale
commercial farmers. In any case Chemagara was created mainly for
ranching.
Most of the small scale farms are thus much bigger than the
majority of the
A2s. There was no maize to talk about in this area.
The main Zhombe
Communal area between Zhombe Business Centre and the
Sesombe, the maize cop
is fair to good. In the Sesombe area, where there are
farmers settled under
the form tenet scheme, the maize is mostly fair.
The team went to Gokwe,
past Gokwe centre and along the Sengwe Road for 20
km. The team was able to
talk to many farmers in Gokwe. The crop in the
fields is poor. It has
difficulties caused by lack of fertilizers. Those
farmers we spoke to said
that they were not able to put al their land under
cultivation because of
shortage of inputs. The stressed that they would need
food assistance before
next year's harvest.
5.6 Masvingo
This is another marginal
province. It is estimated maybe 10 000 tonnes could
come from this
province.
In this province, the team visited Gutu district. The
Chatsworth area had
attempts at cropping although the crops were poor. Gutu
has a far below
average crop. Only some parts of Serima have an average
crop.
5.7 Matabeleland North & South
These provinces combined
could perhaps produce 5 000 tonnes of maize. They
do produce some small
grains, but very little going into the market. Small
grains do form an
important part of food security at the household level.
Many NGO's provide
seed for small grain production in Matabeleland
and
elsewhere.
According to FAO, there is a good crop of sorghum in
parts of Matabeleland.
Unfortunately, this crop was planted early and it is
being damaged by rain
as it has matured. While we did not see meaningful
small grains cropping in
our field visit, we would perhaps accept 100 000
tonnes as a likely
production estimate for the whole country, with an upper
estimate of 200 000
tonnes.
5.8 Peri Urban Agriculture
It is
ironic that the best crop in the country is to be found around Harare.
The
yields in and around Harare will be much higher than in the farms, but
the
area planted is very limited. Thus, although the maize crop in urban
areas of
Harare looks good in terms of yield, its contribution to the
national food
supply will be infinitesimal. It has been estimated that 50
000 tonnes of
maize will be produced in the urban and peri-urban areas of
the
country.
The reason why the crop in Harare is good can be attributed to
the
availability of inputs on the black market. The financial outlays of
those
families involved would not be that big, as the land cultivated per
family
is small. The result is that the level of inputs tends to be much
higher
than is the case in the rural areas where farmers plant much larger
areas of
maize.
5.9 Provincial Findings at a Glance
Table 2
provides a summary of the results of the field survey in
a
convenient
form.
Table 2: Provincial Findings at a
Glance
Province CommunalArea Small ScaleCommercial Old
ResettlementArea Fast Track
Mash West Mhondoro B B B D
Zvimba D
Mash
Central A B A C
Mash East C B A C
Manicaland C C C D
Midlands C C B
D
Masvingo C C C C
Key: A good crop
B average crop
C below
average
D poor
6. ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM OTHER SOURCES
At the
time of preparing this report (mid March 2004), the SADC Early
Warning Unit
was busy carrying out its own survey, while the FAO Unit will
only start its
survey at the end of March or early in April. The government
Crop Forecasting
Committee was still to meet. It is under considerable
political pressure to
produce an optimistic forecast of production.
In the past, the Central
Statistics Office (CSO) Crop Forecasting Committee,
kept its information
confidential until about March each year, when the
official crop forecasts
were made public. During the sales or delivery
period the GMB kept the public
informed of the quantities delivered. Since
the militarization of GMB,
nothing is revealed to the public at all. The
nation does not know how much
food was produced in the 2002/03 season, how
much the GMB bought and the
current status of maize stocks in the country.
The team was able to hold
discussions with and obtain the views of the
Indigenous Commercial Farmers
Union (ICFU) The Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) and the Zimbabwe Farmers
Union (ZFU):
· The ICFU believe that the total food in the country would
be slightly
better than last season. It is generally agreed that last season
not more
than 900 000 tonnes of maize were produced. The main factors
contributing to
a low crop were shortages of inputs in all the newly
resettled areas.
· The CFU estimate the crop in the current 2003/04
season at between 750 000
tonnes and 800 000 tonnes. They also pointed out
that the crop in peri-
urban Harare was in better condition than the maize in
any rural area around
the country.
· The ZFU mentioned that the early
crop was a write-off. However, despite
also acknowledging input shortages and
prohibitive costs, ZFU expect a large
crop of between 1 500 000 tonnes and 2
000 000 tonnes of maize. They believe
that the newly resettlement farmers may
not have enough food for themselves.
The Famine Early Warning System
Network (FEWSNET) provided the team with its
February 2004 report.
Extrapolating from previous CSO crop forecasting
committee estimates of the
land cropped and using a yield estimate of
between 0.75 and 0.8 tonnes per
ha, FEWSNET arrives at a production estimate
of between 800 000 tonnes and 1
000 000 tonnes of maize . As for small
grains, they estimate a production of
between 200 000 tonnes and 300 000
tonnes. In relation to an assumption of
demand being 1 800 000 tonnes, these
estimates imply a shortfall of between
500 000 tonnes and 800 000 tonnes.
All the agencies canvassed agree that
the shortage of inputs have had a
major effect on the production of maize
this year. The views of ICFU, CFU
and FEWSNET are of the same order of
magnitude as the team's estimates,
although on the more optimistic side. The
ZFU estimates are far too
exaggerated and are not consistent with ZFU
simultaneously highlighting that
there were serious shortages of
inputs.
7. CONCLUSION
When the government embarked on its fast
track land reform, it was obvious
to all that the programme was driven by
political expediency. On paper and
for the purpose of mollifying countries in
the southern African region, the
policy was presented as an overdue response
to the national land question.
However, the land policy, which on paper was
made to appear reasonable, was
belied by the reality on the ground of mayhem
characterised by murder,
assaults, rape, theft, and wanton destruction of
infrastructure. More than
250 000 farm workers lost their jobs and
livelihoods and in turn a mere 134
400 families were resettled on more than
11m ha.
It is the complete lack of planning, accompanied by the
destruction of
agricultural infrastructure, and the cynical award of farms to
people unable
or unwilling to make use of them, that has put the country into
a situation
of perennial food deficits or famine. The dismissive attitude of
the
government to the food crisis which it has itself inflicted on the
country
is amply demonstrated by the response of Minister Joseph Made to the
17th
December 2003 report of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands
and
Agriculture. The Committee made the following
recommendations:
"Recommendations: 4.1 Short-term: For the short-term
solutions to the
crisis, your Committee is recommending that:
(i) The
Private Sector should be allowed to import seed maize and fertilizer
as a
matter of urgency in order to bridge the shortfall.
(ii) Government
should formally appeal to the NGO Sector and the donor
community to assist
with resources to import the required inputs.
(iii) The distribution of
inputs should be targeted at farmers who have been
properly vetted as opposed
to the prevailing free-for-all scenarios.
(iv) Seed production should be
classified under Agro-business and protect
the commercial farmers from
eviction who have complied with maximum farm
size.
Recommendations:
4.2 Medium to Long-term: For the medium to long term
solutions to the crisis,
your Committee is recommending that:
(i) The Ministry of Lands,
Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, in
conjunction with Seed Houses and
Fertilizer Companies, should come up with a
comprehensive plan which will
restore and guarantee seed and fertiliser
security in the country. The
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural
Resettlement should submit this plan
to the Portfolio Committee on Lands,
Agriculture, and Water Development,
Rural Resources and Resettlement in
March 2004.
(ii) Inputs should be
distributed to farmers by May of each year, so as to
avoid last minute
logistical bottlenecks.
(iii) Land tenure should be urgently clarified
and finalised so as to
restore security and confidence in the agriculture
sector.
(iv) The recently established Land Bank should provide a specific
facility
to assist seed growers with funding".
Hansard of 17th
December 2003 columns 2140-2142
The Hon. Renson Gasela, MP of Gweru Rural
and Shadow Minister for the MDC,
seconded the Portfolio Committee's motion
and read the above recommendations
in Parliament. Minister Made, in his
response stated:
"Thank you Madam Speaker. Let me now turn to the issues
that were raised by
Hon. Gasela. First of all, I want to make it quite clear
that the document
he was reading was his own draft. He was reading his draft;
the Chairperson
is the one who made the report. I know the recommendations
that are in that
report, so we want to be open with each other. When he reads
an ultimatum to
me as a Minister, I know the procedure; I am answerable to
Cabinet in terms
of any documents that relate to the plans and to the
agreements that we
reach. If I have to bring a document to him directly, then
it sill not be
consistent with the procedure and so on. So, the
recommendations are
understood but I would like to put it that what he was
reading, I do not
think it is in that report. I have made the necessary
consultations with the
Chairperson who presented the report. I want to
emphasise again that we
should respect the Committee and we always share the
ideas. I am fully aware
of where I make the plans and submit for approval at
Cabinet. So, I just
thought I should correct that particular
aspect".
Hansard of 17th December 2003 Column 2159
What Hon.
Gasela read in Parliament is exactly what is recorded as the
recommendations
in the Committee's report. The Minister claimed to believe
that Hon. Gasela
was reading from his own notes and thereby avoided
addressing the substantive
issues raised. It is quite clear that the
government has no intention of
addressing the food situation. Plans for the
2004/05 summer crop should by
March 2004 have been at an advanced stage as
per the Committee's
recommendations. It is common knowledge that nothing is
being done at the
moment.
The issue is not just the government's failure to move to
restoring food
security, but its use of food as a political weapon. The
mechanisms used are
blatant. The government has forced all village heads
(kraal heads) to be
chairpersons of ZANU PF. They have now been put on a
monthly salary. During
the September 2002 Rural District Council Elections
and also the Insiza
Parliamentary By-election, village heads drew up lists of
their people and
told them openly that if they did not vote for ZANU PF
candidates, they were
not going to access food. These village heads were seen
camped outside the
statutory 100 meters from polling stations ticking names
of those who had
come to vote. The same thing happened in Gutu North by
election recently.
Such vote buying and rigging is now done openly and
publicly by this regime.
The Zimbabwe Government has never disclosed how
much maize was produced in
the 2002/03 season, nor how much GMB bought.
However, investigations have
revealed that GMB bought 250 000 tonnes last
year. It has also come to light
that all that maize is being kept in storage,
mainly in Mashonaland West and
Central. This maize was not released into the
market despite the fact that
there were severe shortages of mealie-meal in
much of the country until
recently. Through GMB the government supplement
these stocks by buying as
much as possible of this season's maize production.
However, given the
limited size of the crop and the subsistence needs of the
farming
communities, it is not expected that total stocks of maize will be
more than
400 000 tonnes. The government will use padded figures of food
production in
order to create an impression of self-sufficiency.
It is
clear that the government, despite being fully aware of the impending
food
shortage, has no intention of approaching UNDP for food aid. The 400
000
tonnes of maize will be used for general election campaign purposes.
The
estimated food supply situation in the country for this year will be
as
follows:
SCENARIO 1
Opening Stocks 1/4/04 250 000
tonnes
New crop - maize 650 000 tonnes
New crop - small grains 100
000 tonnes
Total 1 000 000 tonnes
Demand 1 900 000 tonnes
Shortfall
900 000 tonnes
SCENARIO 2
Opening Stocks 1/4/04 250 000
tonnes
New crop - maize 850 000 tonnes
New crop - small grains 200
000 tonnes
Total 1 300 000 tonnes
Demand 1 900 000 tonnes
Shortfall
600 000 tonnes
The above scenarios exclude any strategic reserves which
should be 500 000
tonnes. Whichever way one looks at the situation, there
will be a huge
shortage of food in the country, caused by a potent
combination of chaotic
land reform and destructive macro-economic policies.
According to the World
Food Programme report as at November 18 2003, the
target for food aid was to
rise to 4 500 000 people by March 2004. It is
common cause that WFP's appeal
to donors last year only resulted in 44 % of
the necessary resources being
raised. Not all the Zimbabweans in need get
food aid from the donors, for
various reasons including lack of resources.
This year, the number of people
in need of food will be more than 8 000 000
or about three quarters of the
population during the course of the upcoming
year. Of these people WFP
estimates that 2 500 000 people will be in the
urban areas.
As regards future cropping seasons, the adverse legacy of
the chaotic land
reform will continue to depress the average yield. This
implies that the
area that would be needed for self-sufficiency in maize and
small grains
would be much larger than in the past, and correspondingly
higher levels of
inputs would be required. Even with a change of government
and the
introduction of consistent, growth-oriented economic policies, it
will not
be immediately possible to provide the finance, seeds, fertilisers,
draught
power and tractors to meet these very large requirements. It needs
also to
be noted that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has decimated the working
population,
making it much more difficult for rural communities to meet
production
targets, while also raising the importance of providing a proper
diet to
those afflicted with the HIV virus.
Zimbabwe is thus likely to
be in need of assistance in providing basic
foodstuffs for some years to
come. Food self-sufficiency will only be
restored when the land question has
properly and finally resolved and
coherent economic policies have been put in
place.
In 2004/05, the suffering of the people will be increased by the
fact that
the government, through Statutory Instrument 235A of 2001, has
criminalized
the selling of maize among and between people. In terms of the
Statutory
Instrument, all the maize that is available must by-pass starving
people and
be sold to GMB. GMB then sells that maize to those carrying ZANU
PF cards.
In urban areas, which are strongholds of the MDC, the sale of
maize by GMB
has been stopped and maize is instead sold through ZANU-PF
Councillors. A
further example of the political manipulation of maize in the
urban areas is
provided by the case of Mutare. In March 2004, the MDC Mayor
of Mutare tried
to use money collected by his Christmas Cheer Fund to buy
maize from the GMB
for distribution to the destitute. GMB refused to sell
maize to the Mayor,
an unacceptable position that was upheld on appeal by the
Governor of
Manicaland.
The plight of the Zimbabwean people will only
be resolved when all the
governance issues have been addressed.
conservatives.com
Blair must do more for Zimbabwe
Deputy Conservative Leader Michael Ancram has called on the Blair
Government
to crackdown harder on Robert Mugabe, after the tyrannical
President of
Zimbabwe denied that millions of his people are starving.
In an
interview, the 80 year old President of Zimbabwe accused the
British of
treating his country like a colony, charged Tony Blair with
arrogance and of
refusing to take part in dialogue, insisted he was in his
post as a result of
the "will of the people", and reckoned that the seizure
of white farms would
reinvigorate his economy.
But commenting, Mr Ancram said: "Either
he is living in a different
world, or he is a pathological liar. Mugabe, like
all tyrants, holds onto
power by oppressing those who oppose
him."
The Shadow Foreign Secretary said the Conservatives continued
to call
for free and fair elections to be held in Zimbabwe, so the people of
the
southern African state can have a proper their say over who rules
them.
"We also believe more should have been done by the British
government,
to freeze the assets of those who assist Mugabe in his brutal and
corrupt
regime," Mr Ancram added.
He said later: "Everything
Mugabe has said bears no relation to the
reality on the ground. He's living
in a fantasy world, he knows we know his
election two years ago was a rigged
election, and the only way he can clear
that is to hold new, free
elections."
Asked if negotiations were possible, Mr Ancram replied:
"Negotiations
could still be available if free and fair elections take place.
There is
every indication that if the people of Zimbabwe got to chose they
would not
chose Robert Mugabe - a man who is deliberately using a lack of
food to try
and put political pressure on the people of Zimbabwe."
IOL
SA passed info to Zim on alleged mercenaries
May 24 2004
at 01:06PM
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Monday confirmed
"some intelligence"
information had passed between South Africa and Zimbabwe
before the 70 South
African alleged mercenaries left South Africa.
The
men were arrested after their plane landed in Zimbabwe about a
month
ago.
They are suspected of being on their way to participate in
a coup in
Equatorial Guinea, where eight other South Africans are being held
as
suspected co-plotters.
Briefing the media at parliament, Lekota
rejected suggestions they should
have been arrested in South Africa before
being allowed to leave for
Zimbabwe, saying arrests could not be made on the
basis of intelligence.
Arrests could only be made once there was evidence
a crime had been
committed.
Lekota said a delegation from Equatorial
Guinea led by its attorney-general
Jose Obono visited South Africa last week
for consultations with various
government agencies, family, and legal
representatives of the eight men held
there.
Efforts were being made
to bring the prisoners to court as soon as possible,
in the presence of
international observers with a view to ensuring a fair
trial for them, he
said.
All those detained had been visited several times by South
African
diplomats, led by the ambassadors in Gabon and Zimbabwe, in
conformity with
Geneva Convention requirements and South African
law.
These consular visits would continue at regular intervals and South
African
officials would assist the men and their families wherever
possible.
Regarding efforts by family members to have the men extradited
directly to
South Africa, Lekota said it should be appreciated that
government had not
received any official notification of the intention by
Zimbabwe to extradite
the 70 South Africans to Equatorial
Guinea.
Nonetheless, South Africa would not shirk its responsibilities in
ensuring
the prisoners were afforded their rights in terms of the Geneva
Convention
and in line with the Constitution, and that the trial they faced
would be
fair and within the norms of international law.
Lekota said
government would not entertain speculation about the possible
outcomes of the
trials, as this might help to pre-empt the judgements by the
respective
courts.
Only when judgement had been delivered would government engage
with the
process.
He also dismissed "with the contempt it deserves"
opposition party claims
that government was "an accessory" to the matter as
ridiculous. - Sapa
Sunday Times (SA)
Zimbabwe inflation not out of the
doldrums
Monday May 24, 2004 11:27 - (SA)
By Shoks
Mzolo
Overall annual inflation in Zimbabwe declined in April to 505%
year-on-year
(y/y) from 583.7% y/y in March, with all sub-categories of the
inflation
index registering a decrease, Standard Bank (SBK) noted in a
research brief.
"Clearly, the administrative measures introduced over the
past six months
have been instrumental in lowering inflation. However, viewed
over a longer
term the inflation outlook is not positive," Standard Bank
economist
and author of the brief Robert Bunyi says.
The productive
sector lending facility is injecting considerable
inflationary pressure into
the country's economy.
"We expect annual inflation rates will continue to
decline but will later
revert to a rising trend," Bunyi said.
He noted
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in late April reduced the
overnight rate
from 400% to 205%, indicating to the market where it would
like interest
rates to be.
"Following this the bank stated that compound effective
interest rates
should be in line with inflation levels. In response to these
signals,
commercial banks progressively began revising lending rates
downward.
Frequent changes to interest rate policy have increased the
level of
uncertainty in the money markets," Bunyi says.
He reports
that this is expected to result in rapid and large changes in
money market
liquidity, while over the short-term interbank interest rates
are expected to
remain highly volatile.
Following the RBZ's decision to allow the
Zimbabwe dollar to depreciate on
the auction market the currency depreciated
by 15.3% during April.
From its inception in January to early May, the
auction market has allotted
a total of US$232 million from below $80 million
received in the RBZ pool
during the comparable period in 2003.
"Black
market activity has declined significantly due to tightened controls
by the
authorities.
The Reserve Bank may have to incorporate a programme of
periodic devaluation
of the Zimbabwe dollar as part of the process of
injecting some stability
into the markets," Bunyi asserted
I-Net
Bridge
New Zimbabwe
Mugabe says China, Malaysia funded £5m palace
By
Mduduzi Mathuthu
Last updated: 05/25/2004 05:04:16
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
has rejected claims that his £5 million mansion
under construction in the
plush Borrowdale suburb of Harare will be funded
by tax-payers.
"Come
on, come on, come on, that can't be true," an agitated Mugabe said
when
confronted on his luxury palace in an interview with Sky News
screened
Monday.
"I was given the house by the party way back in
1984/85 and it was burnt.
The party was to assist and we have been trying to
build another one from
our resources since 1986," the 80-year-old tyrant
said.
Mugabe became particularly uncomfortable when Sky News reporter
Stuart
Rumsay asked him to respond to widespread suggestions that "you are
corrupt
as well."
He told the reporter that the 25-bedroomed mansion
was funded partly by the
Chinese and Malaysian governments.
"We agreed
with the Yugoslav company Energo Project that we would provide
construction
material little by little and they provide labour, and they
agreed," Mugabe
said.
Mugabe said he had also received timber from Malaysia's former
Prime
Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and roofing materials from the
Chinese
government.
Mugabe was unapologetic for the heavy cost of the
mansioin in the face of
widespread poverty and unemployment in his country.
"It is lavish because it
is attractive," said Mugabe. "Of course it is
lavish, the Chinese are doing
the roofing. They are our good friends you
see."
Mugabe's mansion was declared a "protected area" last month as he
faced
calls to disclose the source of foreign currency for exclusive
imported
materials being used at the mammoth project.
The designation
of the area as "protected area" means access is now severely
restricted and
anyone who strays or is caught taking photographs might land
in hot
water.
The police can now legally shoot and kill anyone who strays into
the area
without authority as has been done at Mugabe's official residence,
Zimbabwe
House, where several motorists have been shot and killed over the
years.
The private mansion in the suburb of Helensvale, near Borrowdale,
has been
under construction for the past five years and is now expected to
cost more
than £5 million on completion.
Apart from bricks, gravel and
cement which have been sourced locally,
sources say everything else at the
property, particularly all the interior
finishings and roofing materials have
been imported from China and Europe.
The house is being built mainly by a
Yugoslav company, Energo Project,
though some work is subcontracted to other
companies.
The project also involves the construction of two sizeable
dams around the
mansion and extensive landscaping work.
Mugabe has
been facing calls to disclose where he has been getting the
foreign currency
to purchase all the imported materials for his house
particularly after the
arrest of his finance minister, Christopher Kuruneri.
Kuruneri is in jail
after being arrested for illegally exporting foreign
currency to South Africa
where he is reportedly building a R30-million
mansion in Cape
Town.
Zimbabwe is mired in its worst foreign currency crisis after the
collapse of
the tobacco farming sector in the wake of Mugabe's land
seizures.
A spokesman for the anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency
International
(Zimbabwe Chapter) said in view of that background, it becomes
"absolutely
essential" for Mugabe to disclose where and how he has been
getting foreign
currency to pay for all imports for his private
mansion.
Scores of manufacturing companies have folded due to lack of
foreign
currency to meet essential imports.
UNI protests violation of workers' rights at ZIMBANK
ZIMBANK
MRS
P. NCUBE
Head of Human Resources Division
Rotten Row Complex
Box
3198
HARARE
FAX: +263 4 735011
Nyon, 24 May 2004
Dear
Mrs. Ncube,
Violation of workers' rights at ZIMBANK
On behalf of
its 15 million members in over 140 countries in 900 unions in
more than 150
countries, among them the Zimbabwe Bank and Allied Workers
Union (ZIBAWU),
Union Network International (UNI) protests in the strongest
possible terms
the totally unjustified dismissal of more than 300 workers on
20 May 2004 and
the threat to lay off many more.
We have been informed that the ZIMBANK
employees and union members
participated in a meeting called by the ZIMBANK
national workers committee
over the refusal of your management to address
issues of high concern to
your employees, e.g. share participation, medical
aid, wage adjustments etc.
We understand that the above issues have been
discussed between yourselves
and the workers representatives since September
2003, without any sign of
willingness from your side to resolve the
situation.
The above dismissals state a clear violation of workers'
rights as
guaranteed by the Labor Relations Act of Zimbabwe and the ILO
Declaration of
Fundamental Principles and Rights at work which your country
has signed.
We therefore urge you to take immediate action to intervene
and ensure the
immediate and unconditional reinstatement of the dismissed
workers.
We furthermore demand you to respect the workers' right to
participate in
actions as set out in the ILO conventions and the Labor
Relations Act of
Zimbabwe.
I look forward to your positive
response.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Jennings
General
Secretary
Cc: ZIBAWU
______________________
Union Network
International
http://www.union-network.org - contact@union-network.org