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Dogs and Fences
When I attended Gwebi Agricultural College in the early 60's the
faculty
told the students that we should watch out for two features when on a
farm
visit - the state of the fences and the nature of the dogs. The first
would
suggest what sort of farmer we were about to visit and the second would
indicate what sort of an employer he or she was. It was amazing how
often
these two simple features of ordinary farm life projected accurately
the
type of farmer we would encounter.
Today we can apply the same criteria to the whole country. The state of
our
farm fences is such that they no longer contribute in any serious way
to the
management and control of our livestock. They are either falling down
or
non-existent. As for the dogs - well the only kind of dog seen on most
properties today are thin emaciated animals of dubious pedigree! They
survive by scavenging - like many of the rest of us.
We have now reached the stage where squatters of various descriptions
occupy
90 per cent of our large-scale commercial farms illegally. There are,
we are
told, 129 000 small scale squatters - about 500 000 people in all and
some
12 000 larger scale squatters. Most of the latter are not resident;
they are
bank managers, doctors, and business persons with interests in towns
and
civil servants. Many are army officers and members of the Police. After
4
years of chaos, we have about 600 000 people partially settled on 12
million
hectares of land that once supported 2 million people. The same land
now
employs about 60 000 people in paid jobs - where once we employed 350
000
and incomes have plummeted from about three times the national average
to
well below the national average income per capita.
Before the chaos called "land reform" we were the third largest
exporter of
tobacco in the world, we were the largest beef exporter in Africa and
were
major producers of cotton, milk, sugar, fruit and horticultural
products.
The industry generated a third of Zimbabwe's national employment, half
its
exports and fed a population of 11 million.
Today we have 75 per cent of our population dependent on food handouts
or
imports; we are unable to supply our needs for vegetable oils, milk,
meat
and fruit. Our food prices have risen to the highest in the region from
being the lowest in Africa in 1997.
And the madness goes on - just this past week at least two farmers per
day
were being systematically evicted from their land - by force and
without any
legal basis. People need to understand what happens as it still seems
to me
to be totally bizarre and how anyone, anywhere, can call this "land
reform"
or defend the practice, is beyond me.
Let me give you one example from the past week. A tobacco farmer - one
of
200 who were still on their land and were encouraged to grow a crop
this
year by the authorities, living in a homestead he built in the bush
after
many years of living in ramshackle conditions while he became
established.
Having given away three quarters of his farmland and trying to make a
living
for himself and his 100 farm workers on the remainder, is giving a
birthday
party for his 89 year old father who has been on the farm for 50 years.
A
convoy of luxury vehicles arrives and men and women in dark glasses and
imported shoes arrive at the gates and inform the farmer that he has 24
hours to leave. The convoy departs leaving a Police detail to ensure
that no
assets are removed when the family departs.
In the ground are 35 hectares of tobacco, weeks away from reaping and
other
crops that are grown in rotation or as supplements - a bit of
irrigation.
The inputs for the crop - fertilizer and chemicals are in the sheds as
are 4
tractors and several trailers and all the other equipment you need to
farm.
By Monday morning the farmer and his family are with friends in Harare
and
the farmer is desperately trying to get the people he is contracted
with for
the tobacco to persuade someone to get him permission to go back and
finish
his crop - to no avail. The ZTA hold an emergency meeting with the
Governor
of the Reserve Bank and he calls in the army and the Police and demands
action to protect the crop - to no avail.
The farmer and his family have been "allowed" to take three quarters of
their furniture and their personal effects. There was even a squabble
about
the farm pick up - the 7 tonne truck was a no go.
This farmer was - with several others in the District, helping hundreds
of
small growers who were trying to grow tobacco on the farms they
occupied. He
had grown seedlings, helped with advice and even held a field day on
his
property when the crop was in and growing. Now they sit shattered by
the
loss of a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice. Their children bereft
and the
old man confused. When they had bought the land in the early 50's it
had
been 1200 hectares of wild bush. They had cut the road for 15
kilometers
from the nearest Council road. Built a pole and dagger hut to live in
and
grown a tobacco crop to get started. Everything they earned they put
back
into the farm. They survived the liberation war and helped build up the
industry again after 15 years of mandatory UN sanctions.
All they have to show for this now is some money in a bank, some shares
in
agro industry and their clothes and some worn furniture that has raised
three children. They have their memories and are now deciding what to
do
with the rest of their life. They get phone calls from friends in
Zambia and
Botswana - come and join us here. But do they trust Africa again? How
about
a fresh start in Australia - they find they are too old. The UK? No
real
links in that direction. South Africa? From the frying pan into the
fire!
And the tragedy of it all is that these guys were the best farmers in
Africa. They took marginal land and a variable climate and no help from
anyone except a hard-nosed bank and built up an African empire with
real
African expertise. Now it's all gone and all that remains are a few
mangy
dogs and broken down fences. It will take a long time to put it all
back
together again.
And for those people who try to justify this racist, illegal,
unbelievably
short sighted action, I say what about the consequences for the
millions who
now suffer and who have no external options or havens of safety? If we
are
going to allow such actions simply because a few of the victims are
white -
then we have really lost the plot altogether.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 20th December 2004.
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