Zim farmers want to lease land
21/04/2006 18:18  - (SA)  

Want to know more? Answerit can help.

Armed British pilot held in Zim Bennet seeks asylum in SA MDC dismisses Mugabe threats Pakistan to postpone Zim ODIs Downs keep title hopes alive Zim launches 'revival' plan Blair brands Zim a 'disgrace' Blair won't help 'tragic' Zim Mugabe sees economic growth

Zimbabwe Special Report  Latest Zimbabwe Stories

Harare - At least 200 white Zimbabwe farmers who lost their farms during President Robert Mugabe's controversial programme of land seizures have applied to lease land from the government, a farming official confirmed Friday.

Doug Taylor-Freeme, the president of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), an organisation representing mainly white farmers said "over 200 applications" had been submitted to the government in the last two weeks.

"Most farmers have applied for land that was theirs originally," Taylor-Freeme told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Most of the country's 4 000 or so white farmers have been driven off their farms in the past six years to make way for new black farmers.

Lack of experience

But there has been growing exasperation in government circles over the lack of production on the farms as the new farmers often lack capital and experience to run them. Agricultural production, once the economy's mainstay, has plummeted.

The government now says it will take farms back from new farmers who are not using them productively.

Lands and Security Minister Didymus Mutasa was quoted in last week's edition of the state-run Manica Post as saying the authorities would repossess more than 200 farms lying idle in the eastern Manicaland province.

"After giving land we discovered that some people lied about their capabilities to fund their farming activities and they are now failing to fully utilise the land," he said.

Mutasa has urged the CFU to encourage its members to apply for land from the government, said Taylor-Freeme.

Since the land reform programme was launched in 2000, up to 900 white farmers are believed to have applied to the government for permission to lease back their farms. However, said Taylor-Freeme, only around 20 have been approved.

Last year Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) amended the country's constitution to make all farming land seized by the government state property. Prospective farmers will now have to lease the land from the state.

In a speech to the nation on Tuesday, Mugabe said agricultural production was set to grow by nine per cent this year. The government has since announced ambitious plans to reverse Zimbabwe's economic decline and boost productivity within nine months. - Sapa-dpa

What is this? Yahoo Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Brought to you by OUTsurance Car Insurance
	News24 Headlines on your Facebook profile		News24 on mobile