Beleaguered Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth on Wednesday said the intervention of international nations, such as the United States is now critical to save the future of Zimbabwean agriculture.

Freeth travelled to Washington last week to appeal in person to the Barack Obama administration, to pressure the Zimbabwe government to stop the ongoing seizures of commercial land. Speaking from New York on Wednesday he explained that he has been left with no choice but to take his fight overseas, ‘where people still believe in respect for the rule of law.’

Freeth has written four times to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai pleading for him to intervene in the wave of farm invasions that have in the past year resulted in the forced seizure of more than 80 farms. The farm attacks have left tens of thousands of farm workers without jobs and homes, while at the same time absolutely no food is being produced, despite the country still facing a critical food crisis. But Freeth's pleas have fallen on deaf ears and Tsvangirai has done nothing to intervene despite the worsening situation on farms across the country. Freeth insists that, “Tsvangirai could at least be calling for action. He doesn’t seem interested in doing anything to get the rule of law respected”.

In desperation he decided to take his case to Washington, where he spent last Friday on Capitol Hill telling his story to legislators. He has also met with key NGOs in both Washington and New York, trying to spread the word that the crisis in Zimbabwe is far from over. He expressed frustration that so many people in the US still believe that the crisis in the country is under control because of Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s induction in government, but he said awareness about the true situation is growing.

Freeth has come under severe intimidation and attack for remaining on his Mount Carmel farm, and most recently his home, his parents-in-law’s home and the homes of his workers, were burned down in a suspected arson attack. Freeth and his father-in-law Mike Campbell were then threatened with arrest in connection with weapons stockpiling charges, after explosions were heard on the Mount Carmel property the week following the devastating fires. All this has formed part of the ongoing offensive against Freeth and his family to force them off the farm, but Freeth has remained resilient.

Last year, Freeth and his parents-in-law were abducted and severely beaten on the day that Robert Mugabe was announced the winner of the farcical one-man Presidential run-off election in June. Freeth, his family and his workers have since endured months of intimidation and harassment by farm invaders, working for ZANU PF top official Nathan Shamuyarira. The intimidation continued, regardless of the formation of the unity government in February. In April some of Freeth’s staff were arrested and severely beaten when they tried to defend the farm against the land invaders. His in-laws, Mike and Angela Campbell also fled the farm months ago because of the constant stress of the harassment by the land invaders.

The invaders meanwhile have completely taken over the farm, destroying and looting property and plundering the farm produce for personal gain. All the attacks have been reported to the Chegutu police who have repeatedly refused to aid Freeth and his family. Freeth has also written urgent letters to Prime Minister Tsvangirai pleading for the unity government’s intervention, but the pleas have apparently fallen on deaf ears.

Despite promises by the unity government to encourage food production on farms, there still has been no effort to stop the attacks that have left the community reeling. The government has instead been at pains to dismiss the farm invasions as isolated ‘disturbances,’ which Tsvangirai said were blown out of proportion by the media.