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Conflict & emergencies
ZIMBABWE: FARMERS VOW NOT TO ABANDON FARMS
2002-06-27, Issue 70
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/8564
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The tension was ratcheted up a notch in Zimbabwe this week as farmers vowed to ignore a government order banning them from farming as millions of people struggle with the daily grind of food shortages. Under the country’s Land Acquisition Act, nearly 3000 farmers roughly half of the farming population will be breaking the law from June 25 if they continue to farm their land.
ZIMBABWE: FARMERS VOW NOT TO ABANDON FARMS
Pambazuka News
The tension was ratcheted up a notch in Zimbabwe this week as farmers vowed to ignore a government order banning them from farming as millions of people struggle with the daily grind of food shortages.
Under the country’s Land Acquisition Act, nearly 3000 farmers – roughly half of the farming population – will be breaking the law from June 25 if they continue to farm their land.
It is estimated that about 300,000 farm workers would have to stop work and this would have a knock-on effect on about 1.5 million family members and dependents.
Farmers who have received a "Section 8", a final notice to cease farming, will have to prepare to leave their land, their crops and their cattle.
Their farms will become government property and they will have 45 days to wind up their affairs and leave. The orders come at a time when millions of Zimbabweans are facing food shortages.
Since the beginning of June almost all domestic grain stocks have been exhausted, and nearly two-thirds of the country's needs are not being supplied – a situation which aid agencies blame on a chaotic land redistribution programme that began with land seizures two years ago.
Last month the government passed the legislation, giving farmers 45 days to stop working land which has been listed for acquisition and redistribution. Any farmer who carries on working their land 45 days after receiving an acquisition notice could face two years in prison.
However, the government faces opposition to the law as two farmers filed suit on Tuesday to stop the order that would force them to abandon their farms in a test case closely watched by 3,000 others also facing eviction.
And the country’s Commercial Farmers Union told BBC news that most of its members appear to be ignoring the legislation.
Jenni Williams, spokeswoman for the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) told Irin news that many farmers had applied to their district administrators for an extension to the deadline. Few had succeeded, and it appeared that some planned to defy orders and continue farming.
"They have cattle to look after and 22,000 hectares of wheat in the ground. They have a duty as Zimbabweans to feed their fellow Zimbabweans and they contribute to 15 percent of the GDP," she said. - ENDS