12 Sep 2011Zimbabwe’s commercial farming sector expressed disappointment that a recent summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders didn’t address specific issues on agriculture in Zimbabwe.
Held in Luanda, Angola, the summit also failed to deal with any human rights and democracy shortcomings in Zimbabwe and other SADC countries, and any criticisms about SADC’s continued suspension of the SADC Tribunal.
Before it was disbanded, the tribunal described President Robert Mugabe’s internationally condemned land reform programme as racist. This programme has seen Zimbabwe’s white farmers often violently forced off their farms. Only a fraction of Zimbabwe’s original white commercial farmers remain on the land.
On the impact of this land reform programme, Marc Carrie-Wilson, legal affairs manager of Zimbabwe’s Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), said, “Unfortunately, Zimbabwe’s agricultural industry today isn’t globally or even regionally competitive. Weak property rights, perceived political risks and massive shortages of liquidity in the wake of the hyperinflationary era, have caused high interest rates on loans for farmer working capital. This, coupled with acute shortages of electricity, means that costs of production of many commodities are too high.”
http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/index.php?p[IGcms_nodes][IGcms_nodesUID]=e77612fa22615ac5a9a98819d256c7db
