Is Africa benefiting from chaos in Zimbabwe?

When the government of Zimbabwe entered into a deal to import maize from Zambia this year there was lot of hype within Zanu-PF party.

But what was lost in the euphoria was why Zimbabwe is importing maize from Zambia in the first place. President Robert Mugabe literally begged for the maize from Zambian President Michael Sata as the country has no money to pay for the maize. Where are the new farmers in Zimbabwe when the country needs them most?

The answer lies with Zimbabwe's failed agricultural policies which saw the collapse of the agricultural sector over the past decade. We might want to blame it on sanctions or unpredictable rainfall patterns but the truth is, the country has failed to come up with proper agricultural policies. Yes the idea behind the land reform was noble, very noble I should say, but the implementation was chaotic and today the country is paying the high price of a chaotic land reform.

And this then reminds me of a conversation I had the other day in 2010 when I was traveling from to Logan Airport in Boston city to Cambridge in Massachusetts in USA. The taxi driver, who said was originally from Somalia, upon realizing that I was from Zimbabwe started a discussion on the political situation in Zimbabwe.

He did not have kind words for the SADC or AU which he said could have reined in Zimbabwe long back had the blocks been sincere.

"Look here my brother, SADC or AU is partly to blame for the chaos in Zimbabwe, they applaud President Mugabe during the land reform even when they knew was making serious blunders. The land reform program was chaotic but the SADC countries and other African countries were quiet. There were serious human rights abuses in the country during the land reform program but the SADC or AU quiet," the taxi driver said.

On the land reform he told me an analogy of a man who encouraged his neighbour to beat up his wife but afterwards give the same wife shelter from the abusive husband, going to an extent of marrying the abused wife.

While white farmers were branded racists and colonialists during in Zimbabwe, other African countries have welcomed them with open arms.

Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya among others have given the former Zimbabwean white farmers big pieces of land. And Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is reportedly courting President Mugabe's outcasts.

 "And can we call that neighbor a good neighbor? Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya even Nigeria gave vast tracks of land to former white farmers whose land was taken during the land reform. But by day they seem to support Zimbabwe's land reform programme when by night they were luring the productive farmers. Zimbabwe is importing maize produced by the same farmers Mugabe chased?" he said.

Yes former Zimbabwe white farmers have helped to boast the agricultural sectors in other African countries after striking land deals.

In Nigeria's Kwara State, they have done wonders, so have they in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia.

Some of the stories of some former white farmers who successfully made it in some other countries are that of Earthoil Operations director, Wyne Barratt who relocated to Kenya. He used to grow about 800 000 hectares of wheat and soya beans a year in Zimbabwe. He also had a big cattle industry but unfortunately all was lost after they were chased out of their country.

In Kenya, Barratt's oil processing company has become force to reckon with

Barratt says even though his move has worked out, he still yearns for the country which was once his home. He believes that Zimbabwean farmers have something positive to give to the agricultural sector, wherever they go. The Kenyan agricultural community has welcomed the new farmers.

In Nigeria, Graham Hatty a former white farmer in Zimbabwe was reportedly doing well in the Kwara State.

The learning curve has been steep since Hatty and a dozen other white farmers fled Zimbabwe in 2005 to restart their lives in the Nigerian bush. Nigeria harnessed on the expertise of these Zimbabwean castoffs to revive Nigeria's commercial agriculture, which has fallen into ruin since the country became a major oil producer in the 1960s.

In Zambia, many who have moved there to start a new life have managed to achieve record-breaking harvests in their adopted country.

One example is Chris Aston who managed to plant various big acres of tobacco and wheat. He was reportedly growing hot chili peppers for US spice conglomerate Tabasco.

And today Zimbabwe's now is benefiting from Zambia's record harvest.

The Economist once dubbed the difference between the two countries "Zimbabwe's loss - Zambia's gain." And in every sense that was truth.

The taxi driver summed it up when he said: "Mugabe knows that SADC and AU are both toothless bulldogs and he will continue to exploit that to the detriment of ordinary Zimbabweans but I think someone in Africa is benefiting from the chaos in Zimbabwe".