Agriculture minister ridicules CFU call to end farm evictions

By Tererai Karimakwenda
10 February 2006

A statement released last Friday by the Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU), calling on the government to turn around its current land and agricultural policies and rejuvenate agriculture has been dismissed as hogwash by the Minister of Agriculture Joseph Made. In a harsh statement published in the government newspaper The Herald, Made said: "The white farmers have suddenly realised their irrelevance in the current agricultural set-up and have decided to write statements instead of accepting reality."

The CFU has been choosing to avoid confrontation with the government over the years and pursuing a working relationship through negotiations. But events on the ground have shown this is not possible, and Made’s comments in The Herald ridiculed the CFU approach, and made it clear the government does not intend to change its controversial land seizure policy. He said: “White farmers agitating for a moratorium on land and agricultural policies were dreaming and the unfortunate statement by the CFU only served to show they were still unrepentant.”

MDC shadow minister for agriculture and former head of the Grain marketing Board Renson Gasela said farmers have no reason to trust the government. He reminded us that just 3-4 weeks ago farm equipment was being taken by the police illegally, so why would anyone believe that a reversal of land policy was possible. Gasela believes the ruling party was interested only in staying in power. He said a reversal would mean defeat, and ZANU-PF did not have the capacity to accept defeat.

The CFU statement said: “Our commitment in coming forward today is to help restore this country to its rightful position on the sub-continent of Africa as a leader in agriculture.” In response, The Herald said: The statement released by the CFU implied that the land policies were the major hindrance to productive agriculture and that only the white former commercial farmers had the capacity to help bring back the country’s "breadbasket" status. Gasela said only 20% of the land that was taken can be described as productive because most farms are now idle.

We were not able to reach the CFU for comment.