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Africa Subsaharan
Troops to Teachers Farmers.
2005-11-30
Mugabe needs more than army to revive farming
THE Zimbabwean government's decision to turn to the army to revive the agricultural sector - the mainstay of the economy - is an admission of the failure of its land-reform policy and civilian administration. As starvation stalks millions in the country, President Robert Mugabe's regime has decided to rope in the army to launch a command agriculture operation to farm the vast tracts of land, now lying idle and derelict, which were seized from the country's (now displaced) EVICTED! white commercial farmers.

The agricultural sector, which was the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy, has practically collapsed due to the chaotic and often violent implementation of a necessary
???
but badly thought-through land reform programme. Instead of adopting a well-structured and adequately funded plan, Mugabe opted for a haphazard exercise, which has left a trail of destruction in its wake. The sector, which was infrastructurally sophisticated and highly mechanised, has been rubbished. Thousands of productive farms, modern equipment and crops were seized, while irrigation systems were vandalised in the name of land reform. In a space of five years, development which took nearly a century to achieve was reversed. In the end, the land reform programme became a great leap backwards.
Don't give me the 'good idea, bad implementation' BS. It was a terrible idea that achieved exactly what Mugabe intended: a homeless, starving populace too weak to fight his goons. And South Africa's headed down the same blighted path.
Food shortages and the closure of downstream industries as well as foreign currency shortages due to the collapse of the sector have forced the government to resort to Stalinist agricultural planning.
A feature, not a bug.
This illustrates that Mugabe has never had a consistent economic policy. He has adopted the command-agriculture (communist model) initiative in which farmers are given production targets. Those who fail to meet the targets risk having their farms confiscated, meaning the danger of another wave of farm expropriations remains high. Despite government's claims that land reform has ended, fresh land takeovers are under way. Farms are still being grabbed. But now the situation is worse because of a recent constitutional amendment that prohibits disposed farmers from resorting to the courts to protect their rights.
The 'rule of law' how convenient.
Zimbabwe's Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga and other top government officials have, of late, been grabbing the headlines for seizing farms. Although some senior government officials have spoken out against more land grabs, the crusade will not stop if the rule of law and property rights are not restored. There is nothing that rattles investor confidence like the risk of arbitrary seizures of private property
...duhh, no shit.
No country in the world can prosper if government officials are practically above the law. Zimbabwe, a another failed African state by any measure, is today a classic case study of lawlessness African democracy. This is shocking considering that until quite recently it was one of the brightest spots in Africa. The cost of the land seizures, particularly the humanitarian cost, is extraordinarily high. The land grabs have undermined the economy and driven millions into poverty. Farm workers are the worst affected. The destruction of property and livelihoods has left Zimbabweans some of the poorest people on the continent. But the unique thing about Zimbabwe is that the poverty is man-made. While other countries suffer from a lack of resources, Zimbabwe has an abundance of resources ¡ª natural and human ¡ª but suffers a chronic drought of leadership. A parliamentary portfolio committee recently warned of more food shortages due to government¡¯s poor planning. The committee also said the command agriculture plan was bound to fail.

Meanwhile a report conducted by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, on which the government sits, recently revealed that 36% of the rural population was facing food shortages. Others have put the figure at around five million.
It will be interesting to see if Mugabe will, in the end, get away with his misrule. In any normal country there would be a political price to pay.
Posted by:Besoeker

#5  Instead of adopting a well-structured and adequately funded plan, Mugabe opted for a haphazard exercise, which has left a trail of destruction in its wake.

'Haphazard' is a odd way to spell 'vindictive'.
Posted by: Pappy   2005-11-30 19:19  

#4  besoeker - were you perhaps Rhodesiaforever before :-)

I still have hopes Bob and Grace won't die natural deaths
Posted by: Frank G   2005-11-30 18:06  

#3  "THE Zimbabwean government's decision to turn to the army to revive the agricultural sector ..."

Didn't Pol Pot already try that trick?
Posted by: Xbalanke   2005-11-30 16:54  

#2  Well where the hell is dey Bob? Dat shit don't grow itself you know. And where's my free UN house while we at it?
Posted by: Farmin B. Hard   2005-11-30 15:51  

#1  A political price to pay?
He should be hung by the neck until dead, dead, dead.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2005-11-30 14:43  

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