via Black farmers have let us down: Mavhaire 10 September 2014
ENERGY Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire has lashed out at newly resettled black farmers whom he accused of failing to grow enough food for Zimbabweans.
Mavhaire, who is also the Zanu PF secretary for land and production, said the black farmers were to blame for the shortages of maize-meal country-wide forcing President Robert Mugabe to extend a begging bowl to neighbouring countries such as Malawi.
“VaMugabe kuenda kunokumbira sadza kunyika dzakaita seMalawi, ivo vaMugabe vakati minda yose torai, taive tiri bread-basket tichitengesera dzimwe nyika isu asi vauraya nyika (Mugabe is now being forced to beg for food from neighbours. We were once the bread-basket of the region but these farmers have destroyed the agriculture sector),” Mavhaire told NewZimbabwe.com.
Mugabe embarked on a controversial land reform programme in 2000 that saw him seize white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
He said this was important to correct a historical imbalance in land ownership that saw at least 4 500 white farmers own the most productive land while the majority of black Zimbabweans remained landless.
But the programme triggered severe food shortages in Zimbabwe with the majority of the country’s 12 million people requiring food handouts from international relief agencies.
Although the agriculture sector is showing slow signs of recovery 14 years after the reforms began, most Zimbabweans are still battling to grow enough to feed themselves.
Mavhaire also took a swipe at the black farmers for shunning the state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB), preferring to sell their maize directly to private buyers.
“Most resettled farmers are selling their maize to private companies so that it is brewed into Chibuku (a local beer brew). That makes Zimbabwe a country of drunkards and lazy people . . . and they are the first to come knocking on the government’s doors during time of drought,” Mavhaire said.
“These farmers are forcing Mugabe to go to neighbouring countries such as Malawi, South Africa and Zambia to plead for maize assistance in this day and age when these people were given productive land,” he said.
Most farmers in Zimbabwe shun GMB because of its inefficient operating system. The GMB is supposed to pay farmers within 60 days of delivery but often takes months to pay.
For instance, it still owes farmers about US$1.7 million from last year’s maize deliveries. Private grain traders however pay cash on the spot.
COMMENTS
It has nothing to do with the colour of ones skin , it’s all about political allegiance and the inefficiency of the current bunch in Power including Mavhaire. I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with him once , the man couldn’t grow his own beard let alone a crop of any sort.
Just a silly aside – whether you or someone else dreamed it up – ”the man couldn’t grow his own beard”! I love it – original and witty!
when you point your finger don’t forget there are three pointing back at you- Mavhaire you r a d!ckhead
yu are very correct on that 1 cs mavhaire is surely demostrating his senselessness and failure to grasp the political and economic situation in this country
Before the so called re – distribution program (take what you want cause we say its for free) the bulk of the maize was grown by communal farmers anyway. But this was done under a support system that took nearly a century to evolve. This system also required the participation of the large commercial growers. Now that the system has been destroyed by the very people, ie Mavhaire being one of the worst in Masvingo province. It is the farmers fault, instead of the fact this Government has been too short sighted to design or just too stupid to design a new system, just like every thing they have done since 1980, besides their take and not replace policies!!
Blame lies squarley on Mugabe and his ministers who started this disaster. They threw people into farming (many of them the same ministers!)with no experience rather promises of free land and inputs. We stiull remember the scandals of cheap fuel that was sold on the black market, this futher fueled farmers not to produce -why work when its all for free! Again so many ZNU stalwarts were involved and are to balme.
The clowning Dzikamai never ceases to amaze. If he is not sing (some foolish song) for his super then he will be busy plotting something stupid – ranging from insulting the President (by telling him go, where only himself knows where?) to dishing out some $10 notes to resource-starved Zanu pf youth (so that they vote his own way, and not what they believe in).
At the moment the buffoon is singing for dear super. And instead of blaming the corrupt GMB officials, who hve run down the parastatal to the extent of failing to buy 1ton of maize from farmers, the clowning Dzikamai would like to see farmers giving away their hard-earned harvest to GMB for free.
May he should lead by example by donating to the penniless GMB. Why doesn’t he tell Zimbos the tonnage he delivered to GMB this year himself. Of course, even if he did offered something to GMB we always know that when zanunized parastatals don’t have anything to offer for the general citizenry they always have more than enough in stock for zanu pf fatcats. So, we know if he delivered maize to GMB then certainly his crop was paid for. But, when common people deliver they are not paid. So why should Dzikamai expect them to deliver their crops to GMB? Any logic in that?
It makes me sick to the stomach when these people lie and talk about the land invasions as if to say they had planned the course of action all along. We that were there at that time (which is most of us on this forum) will be reminded of the CNN report that had Mugabe fuming when a few commercial Farmers were shown donating money to the MDC. The so called land reform was sparked off by that report.Mugabe was so angry that he saw every white face on that report. And as usual the rewards of vengeance is chaos. There are a very few black farmers on the land. Most are just useless invaders from the urban areas. Those that knew how to farm that were working on the farms were evicted and made homeless.It is not these people that have let Zimbabwe done. It is the vengeful Zanu pf monster.
And Patrick is saying that the farm take overs will continue??? Am I dumb or am I missing something? They want the economy back on track; they want FDI, they want to restore regional and international confidence; they want enough money to pay wages; they want they want they want but they keep walking down the road of destruction!
I may well be wrong but I thought that at one time farmers HAD to sell their grain through the GMB for the sake of the Country’s food reserves. Of course that was when the parastatals were run efficiently and without corruption and the farmers knew they would be paid regularly. Now who can blame them for selling privately or trying tobacco instead?
Imagine a story where they are blaming the whites, surely they can do better than that
I don’t blame the farmers, the investors, the lenders etc. Who can make a deal with zanupf gvt
Honestly who can deal with Zanu unless he is also a crook
Give title deeds to the communial residences and see what will happen . Then the legal commercial farmers (white)will continue but ZANU don’t want that cause they are so ……… Greedy and stupid
There are two issues here one of land distribution and one of farming . Under the disguise of land distribution Mugabe gave his close followers the most valuable land . The stupid population all believed him to be helping the ordinary black farmer . But he wasn’t this was a land grab for self enrichment. There was never an intention to take the most valuable ( most productive) and farm it , it is all about amassing wealth. Hunger is a great way of controlling a population and so is poverty.
Mr Mavhaire, blaming the black farmer? Are you suggesting we replace the black farmer with what? White farmers perhaps and whilst we are at it lets replace the clueless Zanu-PF secretary for production with a white chap. Maybe we might get policies to promote agricultural productivity. Its about a comprehensive policy just RESTORE GMB as the sole buyer of maize and see wat happens! Black farmers let down by Mavhaire!
How many white farmers do they have in India?
That’s not the issue my friend. Either you know how farm or you don’t and as things stand the majority of those with the knowledge, ability, work ethic to do so in Zimbabwe happen to be White. Imagine taking over any industry of your choice & hand it out to people who haven’t a clue on how to run it, can you reasonably expect that industry to survive never mind thrive? If the government was positively motivated they would have looked at an option whereby skills transfer could have taken place over a few years. This exercise was racially & politically motivated & now the chickens have come home to roost. Suck it up!!!
Unopa mbavha munda uchiti chii chaingaite kunze kwekuba chete.makasarudzana pakugovana minda asi chabuda hapana , instead motowedzera kuti nyadzisa nokutuka dzimwe Nyika dzakazvibudirira hadzo nokuti makapedza zvese zvaive zvasiiwa in those farms.kukwereta kwese kwese kana kushaya nyadzi varume vakuru.At times just wonder kuti nekuparliament vanoenda kunodii.they have got nothing to offer our beloved humble people but lies.our people simply help themselves, many working zimbas left the country and are supporting families back home.we live by the grace of God.a zanu govt is a failure and a shame not to zimbas only but the rest of africa.kana usina nyaya unotyei kuti umwe wako muzimba atungamirire. Mayinyadzida varume, we love our country but a…
I’m sick and tired of listening to idiots putting the blame on anything but themselves. The supposition that every Zimbabwean is a hotshot commercial farmer is ludicrous in the extreme. Will we ever see a Land Audit? Will the multiple farm grabbers ever be named and shamed? Will Zimbabwe ever feed itself again? Not as long as ZanuPF are in power.
As long as Zimbabwe carries on referring to peoples colour rather than what certain people are able to do we will be stagnant.All I am saying is that if it wasn’t vengeance Zanu had in it’s mind there was more that enough land to go around that was lying idle that could have been used to resettle communal people and boost those in our black community that could farm without kicking people off productive places and looting the equipment so that the farms are now useless. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Zambia has all of a sudden become an exporter of maize and Zimbabwe an importer.We all know the reason why.We have one vindictive man still in power who is taking revenge on certain people of a different colour or tribe for his own personal reasons. That Mavhaire blames the Black farmers is because he has no one else to blame since most of the whites have been evicted.
Mboko! Mazimbavha
Mavhaire dzikama, cool down! You cannot even produce 1 tonne from your Coronation Farm, 10 km from Beit Bridge road on the road to Great Zimbabwe Monument.
A kettle calling a pot black!