By Godfrey Marawanyika
Harare - Dozens more white farmers were handed eviction notices in Zimbabwe as the government of President Robert Mugabe vowed on Monday to forge ahead with its controversial land reform policy. The seizure of around 4 000 farms since 2000 is seen as a major cause of the economic crisis in the southern African nation, but the farmers' union said around 10 percent of the 500 remaining farmers had now been told to quit. "So far 40 eviction notices have been given out by the government," Emily Crookes, the spokesperson for the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU), told reporters. The affected farmers were from the eastern Manicaland and south-eastern Chiredzi district. More could be facing a similar orders but have chosen not to notify the union, added the spokesperson. "Some farmers have received threats from unidentified people while others are doing their best to contain the situation," said Crookes. "Others are just waiting and assessing the situation from their houses." The owners of several timber and coffee plantations are among those who have been hit the latest batch of eviction notices.
The farm seizures have been blamed for food shortages in what was once southern Africa's breadbasket, with critics saying the majority of those who have benefited from the land reforms lack the means and skills to farm. Although the policy was meant to have helped landless blacks, many of the recipients of the land have been associates of the government. Before the start of the evictions in 2000, Zimbabwe was a net exporter of grain but the United Nations says that a quarter of the 13-million population is now in need of food aid. Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa however defended the decision to push ahead with the evictions which the government has characterised as a correction of historical imbalances which favoured white colonial settlers. "The fact that we are issuing out eviction notices shows that there are some people who are in need of land," Mutasa told reporters, adding that the authorities would announce when the process is finally completed. "When we are finished with the land reform, we will speak for ourselves and we will let the whole world know."
Before the start of the farm evictions in 2000, agriculture accounted for 40 percent of foreign currency earnings but that has now dropped to around a quarter. Amid criticism that the farm seizures have led to a slump in production, Mugabe has warned new black farmers to either start producing food or have the land seized again by the government. "Those who can't produce, be warned, we will take the land back," Mugabe said at a Heroes' Day celebration in August. "We now need to distinguish capable and committed farmers from holders of land who are mere chancers and who should be made to seek opportunities elsewhere," he said. Mugabe's deputy Joyce Mujuru and central bank governor Gideon Gono have also lambasted a new crop of "cellphone farmers" who grabbed farms for prestige and often direct their operations on the phone from their bases in Harare and only visit the farms to hold barbecue parties. Apart from the farmers themselves, the CFU said the latest eviction notices threatened the livelihoods of around 3 000 farm workers. According to the union, only 300 farmers have received compensation for "improvement work" on their farms but not for the land itself. The union said government had thus far paid out nearly Z$842-billion in compensation to the dispossessed farmers but some of its members had rejected the money, saying the amounts offered were too low.