Output of leaf at 114-million kilograms is likely to be double last year’s, but is still far below that of year 2000, writes Godfrey Marawanyika
DOUGLAS Mhembere had only a plastic bag in hand when he took over a farm eight years ago under Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s land reforms.
“I arrived here with nothing, just buns and a drink in a plastic bag, and I sat down on that log over there to have my food,” Mr Mhembere says, pointing to a felled eucalyptus bough at his farm, 70km west of Harare. “There was nothing here. Nothing.” To get him started, a neighbouring white farmer lent him a tractor to prepare land to grow maize and tomatoes.
With time, he tried commercial tobacco farming.
The white farmer declined to be interviewed, but Mr Mhembere says the gesture put him on a path to success, placing him among a new generation of farmers who have increased Zimbabwe’s tobacco output for the first time in eight years.
“I have so far managed to buy two new tractors and some irrigation equipment,” says Mr Mhembere, who once ran a grocery kiosk but now has a 300ha holding and 40 workers.
This year Zimbabwe expects to reap 114-million kilograms of tobacco, worth more than 320m, nearly double last year’s harvest. That is far below the 236-million kilograms recorded in 2000 when Mr Mugabe launched land reforms to resettle blacks on farms owned by whites.
Mr Mugabe said the scheme was needed to correct the legacy of colonialism, but the reforms were marred by deadly political attacks against farmers, who saw their land turned into militia bases for ruling party attacks on the opposition.
Hundreds of thousands of black farm workers were forcibly evicted, while Mr Mugabe’s top aides seized prize land. Small farmers like Mr Mhembere were often left with little support to finance their operations. Production of food and cash crops plunged, leaving Zimbabwe dependent on food aid.
But this year, officials say harvests increased — because of good weather and donor support for food production.
Private merchants also stepped in to boost tobacco, the top foreign currency earner a decade ago, offering incentives that nearly doubled the number of growers to 51000 this year.
Only about 130 white tobacco farmers are left, according to the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association.
For nearly a decade, the government failed to help the resettled farmers , with a select few benefiting from handouts from the central bank, while their meagre incomes were ravaged by hyperinflation.
Now that the local currency has been abandoned in favour of US dollars, prices have stabilised and farmers can budget.
Most farmers like Mr Mhembere are contracted to grow crops under a scheme whereby merchants buy fertiliser and seed . Farmers sell their harvest to the merchants to pay off the debt. While others have had to fight off land claims , Mr Mhembere’s property has not been a source of friction.
* Sapa-AFP
