Ex Zim farmers thrive in Zambia
2004-01-07 10:16
Lusaka, Zambia - Exiled white Zimbabwean farmers have helped neighbouring Zambia break a crippling food shortage that saw millions rely on food aid last season.
The roughly 100 Zimbabwean exile families have settled in central Zambia's fertile maize-growing district of Mkushi, where even critics concede they have revolutionised commercial agriculture by introducing hi-tech commercial farming techniques through partnerships with local landowners.
They have been so successful that Zambia's Investment Centre (ZIC) has just issued certificates to 31 Zimbabweans authorising them to begin commercial farming in their own name and on their own newly acquired land, while Zambia's national government intends luring even more disillusioned Zimbabwean farmers across the border - regardless of possible discomfort in relations between Lusaka and Harare.
Saw them as the enemy
"People initially saw them as the enemy, seeking refuge in Zambia. Because they were white, people were also scared that the history of racism would resurface. Even people in government thought there should be solidarity (with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe), and we should refuse them (entry)," says Zambian deputy agriculture minister Chance Kabaghe.
"But we saw them as potential investors who could improve our food security.
"We have now been vindicated."
Forced off their farms
The exiles fled to Zambia after being forced off their properties in Zimbabwe during the fast-track land reform programme that began in 2000. The Zimbabweans currently either rent land for farming from the locals, or go into partnership with owners who do not have the capacity to till huge tracts of land.
"It's farming that we know and do best. So we just want to see where the land lies, before we apply for permits and licenses and buy land," explains one of the migrants, Jimmy Stewart.
The official support for the Zimbabweans forms part of a wider multi-pronged strategy to revive Zambia's agricultural sector, which is still reeling from the effects of two successive droughts, with a shortfall of 635 000 tons of grain last year.
As a result, food prices rocketed and 2.9 million people were in need of assistance.
"This season we were determined to prioritise agriculture with timely input distribution," says agriculture minister Mundia Sikatana.
The government continues to support more than 150 000 local farmers with subsidised maize seed and fertiliser. It has also specified that commercial farmers, both local and foreign, put at least 10% of their acreage into maize production to ensure Zambia doesn't suffer another grain shortage.
There is no official figure indicating exactly how much maize Zimbabwean farmers produced last year, but some reports indicate that they grew over 70% of Zambia's 2003 maize crop.
ZIC notes in its end-of-year report that all the Zimbabwean farmers awarded licenses had also started producing tobacco and wheat. "They have what it takes to undertake various farming enterprises and we would like more farmers of the calibre of Zimbabwean farmers to invest in agriculture," the investment body said.
While acknowledging the farming prowess of the Zimbabweans, local farmers complain they had an unfair advantage.
'I am happy, but...'
"I do not want to sound petulant - I am happy that we have a bumper harvest and do not need food aid. But I feel a little peeved because we (local) farmers have been made to look incompetent. There are reasons the Zimbabweans had such a good crop," says Zambian farmer Thrifty Stephenson.
Zimbabwean farmers had collateral for loans from local and international financial institutions, Stephenson points out, while some also brought equipment and machinery with them. This gave them a "leg up" when they arrived in Zambia.
Well-heeled business people
"We are not talking refugees here. We are talking well-heeled business people," stresses Stephenson.
The Standard Chartered Bank of Zambia, for example, gave loans to more than 20 Zimbabwean farmers who had settled in Zambia, to acquire existing farms or buy land. The bank's executive director of finance, Brighton Ngoma, says his institution had set up an agricultural unit to help boost the sector. The money being lent out was from the European Investment Bank and from Standard Chartered itself.
Local farmers were also supposed to have benefited from the funds, but discussions about this matter are still underway with the Zambia National Farmers Union.
Reduce inflation
"It's not that we do not have confidence in the local farmers. We need to make sure that we protect our investment and also attain our objective to increase agricultural production. Already we are seeing the benefits of our lending to Zimbabwean farmers, because the good harvest has helped reduce inflation as well as stabilise the foreign exchange," said Ngoma.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa recently announced that government would revitalise farming through agricultural financing, tax exemptions for imported equipment and low power tariffs. The government also wants to revive co-operative banks that lend money to farmers at favourable rates, and national marketing boards to buy their crops.
Stewart, who has a farm leased from a local resident, is reluctant to criticise existing agricultural policies. But he agreed that it was difficult to make commercial farming viable in Zambia. He cited high electricity tariffs, duties on equipment and the lack of a good lending and marketing policy.
"Basically we came equipped with our own money, some equipment and good relations with international banks and donors. So we are not affected by those problems."
Abundant land and water
On the positive side, says Stewart, there is a steady and reliable supply of manual labour, abundant land and water resources. Almost half of Zambian land is suitable for various types of crops.
Government appears to be keeping an eye on the Zimbabweans.
"Minister Sikatana visited us here, I think, just to make sure we were doing what we said we would do, and was quite happy with our output. So for the time being, things are looking good," Stewart says.
Kabaghe is confident that more Zimbabwean farmers will come when they realise Zambia welcomes investors, and that it does not have the land-ownership problems that have beset other countries in the region.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe is experiencing a debilitating food shortage for the second year running - something that analysts have ascribed to drought, and the drop in food production caused by the land distribution programme. More than half the country's population will require emergency food aid this year, according to the World Food Programme. - Inter Press Service