Critics fear Zimbabwe land shift will cut food output
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe, facing food shortages after controversial land reforms sent agricultural production plummeting, plans to nationalize land, according to a senior government minister.
After Land Reform Minister John Nkomo said in the pro-government Herald newspaper that all land would be nationalized, some analysts said they feared the move could further destabilize the country's agricultural system and create more food shortages.
"Ultimately all land shall be resettled as state property. " Nkomo said in an interview published Tuesday in The Herald, calling on all land owners to come forward to be approved for 99-year leases.
The announcement comes after the United Nations estimated Zimbabwe would produce only about half its 2 million-ton grain requirements this year. The government insists it will produce 2.3 million tons this year.
The Zimbabwe government is sensitive to questions on grain production because of accusations by critics that the land-reform policy introduced four years ago has led to a catastrophic drop in food production.
Under the policy, white-owned farms were seized and given to black Zimbabweans, but critics say the land went to government allies and is often unused or underused, undermining the agricultural output which once accounted for 40 percent of the country's foreign earnings.
Despite reports of looming food shortages, President Robert Mugabe scoffed at suggestions that his country needed food aid in a recent interview with Sky TV news: "We have enough," he said, insisting that Zimbabwe would "definitely not" import grain this year.
However, the authoritative journal Africa Confidential reported that Zimbabwe had been quietly importing tens of thousands of tons of grain this year. The South African Grain Information Service confirmed that Zimbabwe shipped in 22,000 tons of wheat and 149,000 tons of corn this year.
Mugabe's government recently asked teams from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program to leave the country midway through their reports on the harvest.
Government critics warned yesterday that if the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front nationalized land, it could manipulate the distribution of leases and even deprive political enemies of their land leases at a whim.
Quoted in The Herald, Nkomo said land would be converted to 99-year leases, which could be used as collateral for loans to develop land.
But independent Harare-based economic analyst John Robertson said it was unlikely that banks would make loans because the government could take back leases whenever it wished.
He said the move would have "a devastating effect" on agricultural production because farmers would not be able to get loans to develop land, irrigate, and protect themselves from the effects of drought.
Africa Confidential editor Patrick Smith, based in London, said nationalizing land could theoretically lead to greater transparency and accountability, if properly administered.
"If it's not done properly, it will cause a new layer of chaos," he said.
