LAND INVASION . . . War veterans spearheaded Zimbabwe's chaotic land reform

HARARE – At least one million people lost their livelihoods and homes as a result of President Robert Mugabe’s controversial farm seizure programme, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report released at the weekend. 

The report that highlights the difficulty that Zimbabwe’s incoming power-sharing government faces in tackling the emotive land issue said an estimated 320 000 workers or about 25 percent of the country’s labour force were employed on commercial farms before the chaotic programme to seize white farmland for redistribution to landless blacks.

"In the aftermath of the land invasions over 200 000 farm workers and their families -- an estimated one million people -- lost their livelihoods and homes, as well as access to farm schools and other social amenities," the UNDP said its Comprehensive Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe.

The UNDP, which has in the past promised to support orderly land reform meant to alleviate poverty in Zimbabwe, said prior to the country's political crisis agriculture was the largest formal sector employer and made significant contributions to export earnings.

The report said that since the fast track land reforms in 2000, wheat production has declined from about 270 000 tonnes in 1998 to 62 000 tonnes in 2007 falling well short of the national requirement of 350 000 tonnes per year. Production of maize, a key staple for Zimbabweans, has likewise plummeted.

Mugabe, opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara last week signed an agreement to form a government of national unity that is expected to act urgently to end food shortages in the country.

But a deadlock over how to share key government posts has stocked up skepticism over whether the deal could survive deep seated animosity and mistrust among the three political rivals, while relief agencies warn that prolonged delay to announce a new government could only worsen the humanitarian crisis in the country.

Once a regional breadbasket, Zimbabwe is in the grip of severe food shortages that Mugabe blames on poor weather and Western sanctions he says have hampered importation of fertilizers, seed, and other farming inputs.

However critics blame Zimbabwe's troubles on repression and wrong polices by the veteran leader such as land reforms that displaced established white commercial farmers and replaced them with either incompetent or inadequately funded black farmers resulting in the country facing acute food shortages.

Meanwhile, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal last week reserved judgment on an application by a group of Zimbabwean white farmers against the seizure of their land by the government.

The tribunal said it withheld a ruling in order to study objections submitted by Zimbabwean government lawyers but did not say when exactly the judgment would be delivered.

The regional court had temporarily barred the Harare government from confiscating land belonging to 77 white farmers pending the outcome of an application by the farmers challenging the legality of land reforms

The white farmers wanted the Tribunal to declare Mugabe's controversial land reform programme racist and illegal under the SADC Treaty.

Article 6 of the regional treaty bars member states from discriminating against any person on the grounds of gender, religion, race, ethnic origin and culture. – ZimOnline.