EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell’ Ariccia, said the EU was committed to funding the sector provided there was clarity about land policy. “At the end of the day, the farmers need collateral security to enable them to access loans from banks. The EU is contributing Euro7 million to the establishment of the Zimbabwe Land Commission as part of efforts to have clarity,” he said. “It is essential that we have a land audit first.”
Last November Zanu (PF) said they were shelving plans for a land audit and would concentrate on improving agricultural productivity. “We are hopeful that we will be able to fully resume our cooperation with the government of Zimbabwe before the end of 2014” added the ambassador.
What a mess. The land issue will take years, possibly generations, to resolve. In the meantime, almost everything stays at subsistence level and everyone gets poorer.