Caption: Today Zimbabwe cannot feed itself; agricultural output has collapsed to 20 per cent of pre 2000 levels.
 One of the key issues confronting the electorate in the 2008 election is who can be trusted to steer the country back to the road from the wilderness that Zanu (PF) has taken us into? In this, the second in our series, A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT looks at the Food and Agriculture sector and the way it has been destroyed by Zanu (PF)’s misrule.
Zimbabwe has always had a majority of its people living on and off the land. Land has therefore been a key issue and access to land a long held priority for most who live here. In recent years this has changed and for the first time in our history, more people now live in the urban areas than live in the rural areas of the country.
This reality has been compounded by the lack of accommodation and living space in the urban areas and the relatively low wages earned by the majority. In some form, access to land has therefore been essential to the survival of most Zimbabweans and has taken on a real political aspect. There can also be no disputing that the land issue is one of the most contentious matters that were not properly attended to after Independence in 1980.
There is no dispute over the need for reform of the agricultural system – the question was only how to do it and on what terms. After neglecting the issue for 20 years Zanu (PF) only started to implement its “fast track” land reform in 2000 after the defeat in the February referendum. The subsequent programme was not only illegal, it violated firm undertakings given to farmers after 1980 and it has resulted in the near destruction of the agricultural industry – long the mainstay of the economy.
Today, eight years later, the country cannot feed itself; output has collapsed to 20 per cent of pre 2000 levels and only a third of the population that once worked and lived on commercial farms remain. Farm exports have collapsed and the coming year, despite a good wet season, will again see Zimbabwe critically short of food.
Food and shelter are the most basic needs of mankind and one of the most difficult issues facing a new government will be what to do about the situation. The MDC has long said that it will be guided by two main principles – not to accept the status quo and not to go back to the situation that existed before 2000. Â
Commercial farmers affected by the land grab have taken the State to Court in Zimbabwe, in SADC and now in Europe. In all three cases they have won significant legal judgments that confirm their rights under law as owners of freehold assets in Zimbabwe guaranteed by the constitution under which they secured those rights. The financial liabilities of the State established by the Court decisions are very considerable and will have to be taken into account in any lasting solution.
The MDC programme of action post the election will be premised on the following priorities: –
1. To get agriculture back on its feet as soon as possible so that it can feed the nation and resume exports.
2. To restore the legal status of title rights.
3. To provide fair compensation to all who lost assets during the past eight years.
4. To investigate the incidents of human rights abuse during this time and record these for historical purposes and to guarantee that this will not happen again.
5. To protect those in productive and sound occupation of land and give them long term security.
6. To provide all farmers – small and large, with security of tenure and the necessary support services to ensure they can farm productively and on a sustainable basis.