News / National
Zimbabwe land reform has created peasants instead of farmers
20 Nov 2011 at 07:32hrs | Views
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has once again attacked Zimbabwe's land reform programme, saying it had created peasants instead of farmers since the beneficiaries have no security of tenure on the land.
Addressing delegates at an Agribusiness Forum in South Africa last week, Mr Tsvangirai said while he genuinely believed in supporting the empowerment of indigenous people in the area of agriculture, his belief was to go further than simply doling out a farm without title, training, markets or downstream processing industries to enable beneficiation and value-addition to their products.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot have a progressive society by creating more peasants, without security of tenure on their land and without the relevant infrastructure to engage in meaningful agriculture that averts food insecurity," he told the delegates.
Mr Tsvangirai described the exercise as chaotic and violent land invasions which, to him, decimated the sector thereby causing loss of confidence in it as an industry.
Speaking the same language with former white farmers whose land was acquired for the benefit of the majority indigenous landless, Mr Tsvangirai said he preferred the issuance of title deeds to farmers against the 99-year leases.
Although he could not shed light as to how the former white farmers got title deeds on land that was forcibly taken away from indigenous people of Zimbabwe, Mr Tsvangirai said the land redistribution had created more peasants than empowering the people.
The Prime Minister also failed to apprise the delegates that the land reform programme had actually seen more than 300 000 families get land under A1 as well as more than 12 000 A2 farmers being created.
These farmers have contributed immensely to the growth of the sector despite operating under harsh economic conditions created by the imposed illegal sanctions, contributing 34 percent of the GDP.
This was a sign that the agrarian reform was cultivating the rise of an indigenous agrarian middle class capable of serving not only as the drive-chain of an agrarian culture-led economic recovery but also as a regional beacon for attainability of agrarian economic independence.
He also fell short of telling the delegates that land previously owned by 4 000 white commercial farmers was now shared between more than 300 000 families with 70 percent of the redistributed land having benefited more than 220 000 poor rural families and their urban counterparts, who on average have acquired 20 hectares of land.
The remaining land had benefited 80 000 new small- to medium-scale commercial farmers with an average of 100 hectares.
A small number of large-scale commercial farmers had remained, including both white and black farmers, although their land sizes had been greatly reduced to 700 hectares on average.
This was lower than the average of 2 000 hectares held by the previous 4 000 landowners.
Mr Tsvangirai, who was more concerned with former farm workers, said the land reform programme had left thousands of farm workers destitute without mentioning that some of them had also been resettled and were now owners of their own pieces of land.
To him, the nobility of land redistribution in Zimbabwe was never in doubt, but it became an avenue for avarice, looting and aggrandisement as chefs and the politically connected grabbed farms for themselves, leaving former farm workers destitute and ordinary Zimbabweans crowded.
Sympathising with former white farmers, Mr Tsvangirai said financial institutions that had supported agriculture for a long time were left exposed as farmers failed to service loans advanced to them following the acquisition of their farms for resettlement.
He, however, acknowledged that agriculture was the mainstay of Zimbabwe's economy.
Mr Tsvangirai said land beneficiaries could do much better in terms of production on the land had they accessed financial assistance like their former white counterparts.
Newly resettled farmers had faced several obstacles since land redistribution began, including recurrent droughts and dry spells, shortages of inputs, lack of capital and poor access to credit.
Despite these adverse conditions, land utilisation levels on newly resettled farms had already surpassed the 40 percent mark that prevailed on white farms after an entire century of state subsidies and racial privilege.
"Failure to access loans and a low financial liquidity position continues to threaten this key sector. This means food security continues to be threatened and, as Government, we have to take urgent steps to ensure that there is food security in the country," he said.
He said food security in Zimbabwe remained a pressing issue with achievements at risk from a protracted dry spell which affected six out of 10 provinces during the 2010/2011 season.
Since then Zimbabwe had become a basket case and, as Government, the major challenge was to ensure that support to this critical sector was increased.
He agreed that support as well as marketing and training of rural farmers and small-scale farmers should be part of Government's new thrust to create the right conditions for an agriculture boom in Zimbabwe.
Due to the illegal embargo, some agricultural produce from Zimbabwe had been banned in the European markets.
He said to kick-start the agricultural revolution, the transitional Government established in 2009 had agreed to find a lasting solution to the land issue.
Mr Tsvangirai said land involved social, legal and economic relationships and there should never be any ambiguity about land as a legal expression.
He said the current starvation and acute food shortages, especially in the Horn of Africa, was a wake-up call on the need not only to take agriculture as a serious industry, but also to see how best governments could marshal their collective effort to ensure none of humanity starves.
Mr Tsvangirai said this necessitated the need for training, skills retention and massive investment in the agricultural industry so that countries not only built adequate reserves for national domestic use but also that they be able to boost exports and improve their economies.
He said changes to weather patterns in recent years had meant that farmers in Africa were increasingly facing challenges in predicting farming seasons.
"When the rains come, whether there would be too little or too much rainfall, these failures could have devastating consequences on agricultural production and food security in most African countries," said Mr Tsvangirai.
He said studies had also shown agriculture to be the most effective driver of growth in the world's poorest countries.
"The agricultural sector remains one of the key sectors of the Zimbabwean economy. To that extent it is therefore critical for the Government to create a conducive environment and policy framework to maintain sustainability of this key sector," said Mr Tsvangirai.
He said equal treatment must be given to all forms of agriculture such as grain producers and those involved in livestock rearing.
Mr Tsvangirai's address was made in a nation in which 80 percent of agricultural land is still owned by white South Africans who make up only 10 percent of the population.
Addressing delegates at an Agribusiness Forum in South Africa last week, Mr Tsvangirai said while he genuinely believed in supporting the empowerment of indigenous people in the area of agriculture, his belief was to go further than simply doling out a farm without title, training, markets or downstream processing industries to enable beneficiation and value-addition to their products.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot have a progressive society by creating more peasants, without security of tenure on their land and without the relevant infrastructure to engage in meaningful agriculture that averts food insecurity," he told the delegates.
Mr Tsvangirai described the exercise as chaotic and violent land invasions which, to him, decimated the sector thereby causing loss of confidence in it as an industry.
Speaking the same language with former white farmers whose land was acquired for the benefit of the majority indigenous landless, Mr Tsvangirai said he preferred the issuance of title deeds to farmers against the 99-year leases.
Although he could not shed light as to how the former white farmers got title deeds on land that was forcibly taken away from indigenous people of Zimbabwe, Mr Tsvangirai said the land redistribution had created more peasants than empowering the people.
The Prime Minister also failed to apprise the delegates that the land reform programme had actually seen more than 300 000 families get land under A1 as well as more than 12 000 A2 farmers being created.
These farmers have contributed immensely to the growth of the sector despite operating under harsh economic conditions created by the imposed illegal sanctions, contributing 34 percent of the GDP.
This was a sign that the agrarian reform was cultivating the rise of an indigenous agrarian middle class capable of serving not only as the drive-chain of an agrarian culture-led economic recovery but also as a regional beacon for attainability of agrarian economic independence.
He also fell short of telling the delegates that land previously owned by 4 000 white commercial farmers was now shared between more than 300 000 families with 70 percent of the redistributed land having benefited more than 220 000 poor rural families and their urban counterparts, who on average have acquired 20 hectares of land.
The remaining land had benefited 80 000 new small- to medium-scale commercial farmers with an average of 100 hectares.
A small number of large-scale commercial farmers had remained, including both white and black farmers, although their land sizes had been greatly reduced to 700 hectares on average.
This was lower than the average of 2 000 hectares held by the previous 4 000 landowners.
Mr Tsvangirai, who was more concerned with former farm workers, said the land reform programme had left thousands of farm workers destitute without mentioning that some of them had also been resettled and were now owners of their own pieces of land.
To him, the nobility of land redistribution in Zimbabwe was never in doubt, but it became an avenue for avarice, looting and aggrandisement as chefs and the politically connected grabbed farms for themselves, leaving former farm workers destitute and ordinary Zimbabweans crowded.
Sympathising with former white farmers, Mr Tsvangirai said financial institutions that had supported agriculture for a long time were left exposed as farmers failed to service loans advanced to them following the acquisition of their farms for resettlement.
He, however, acknowledged that agriculture was the mainstay of Zimbabwe's economy.
Mr Tsvangirai said land beneficiaries could do much better in terms of production on the land had they accessed financial assistance like their former white counterparts.
Newly resettled farmers had faced several obstacles since land redistribution began, including recurrent droughts and dry spells, shortages of inputs, lack of capital and poor access to credit.
Despite these adverse conditions, land utilisation levels on newly resettled farms had already surpassed the 40 percent mark that prevailed on white farms after an entire century of state subsidies and racial privilege.
"Failure to access loans and a low financial liquidity position continues to threaten this key sector. This means food security continues to be threatened and, as Government, we have to take urgent steps to ensure that there is food security in the country," he said.
He said food security in Zimbabwe remained a pressing issue with achievements at risk from a protracted dry spell which affected six out of 10 provinces during the 2010/2011 season.
Since then Zimbabwe had become a basket case and, as Government, the major challenge was to ensure that support to this critical sector was increased.
He agreed that support as well as marketing and training of rural farmers and small-scale farmers should be part of Government's new thrust to create the right conditions for an agriculture boom in Zimbabwe.
Due to the illegal embargo, some agricultural produce from Zimbabwe had been banned in the European markets.
He said to kick-start the agricultural revolution, the transitional Government established in 2009 had agreed to find a lasting solution to the land issue.
Mr Tsvangirai said land involved social, legal and economic relationships and there should never be any ambiguity about land as a legal expression.
He said the current starvation and acute food shortages, especially in the Horn of Africa, was a wake-up call on the need not only to take agriculture as a serious industry, but also to see how best governments could marshal their collective effort to ensure none of humanity starves.
Mr Tsvangirai said this necessitated the need for training, skills retention and massive investment in the agricultural industry so that countries not only built adequate reserves for national domestic use but also that they be able to boost exports and improve their economies.
He said changes to weather patterns in recent years had meant that farmers in Africa were increasingly facing challenges in predicting farming seasons.
"When the rains come, whether there would be too little or too much rainfall, these failures could have devastating consequences on agricultural production and food security in most African countries," said Mr Tsvangirai.
He said studies had also shown agriculture to be the most effective driver of growth in the world's poorest countries.
"The agricultural sector remains one of the key sectors of the Zimbabwean economy. To that extent it is therefore critical for the Government to create a conducive environment and policy framework to maintain sustainability of this key sector," said Mr Tsvangirai.
He said equal treatment must be given to all forms of agriculture such as grain producers and those involved in livestock rearing.
Mr Tsvangirai's address was made in a nation in which 80 percent of agricultural land is still owned by white South Africans who make up only 10 percent of the population.
Source - zimpapers
