782% i inflation, 70% arbejdsløshed... sådan går det når de sorte bliver
racistiske overfor dem der holder landet i live - de hvide farmere.
***
"A well-placed aid community source told Reuters
on Thursday that Zimbabwe's overall maize needs
could drop to 1.4 million tonnes from 1.8 million
this year - but only because Aids and emigration
are reducing the population."
--------------------------------------------------
Zim sees 'dismal' crop harvest
17/03/2006 18:50 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe expects a "dismal" harvest
of the staple maize grain this year, with farmers
likely to produce less than half what the country
needs because of lack of key inputs like fertiliser,
a farmers group said on Friday.
Once a net exporter of grain to southern Africa,
Zimbabwe has suffered food shortages for five
years as the farming sector was hit by drought
and disruptions linked to President Robert
Mugabe's controversial land reforms.
On Friday the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) -
most of whose members were targeted in the
government's drive to forcibly redistribute white-
owned land to blacks - said Zimbabwe expected
another poor maize harvest of 795 000 tonnes
against domestic needs of around 1.8 million tonnes.
"Despite the good rains received in 2005/6 season,
the crop forecasts remain dismal. This is mainly due
to the grossly inadequate state of preparedness for
the growing of the current summer and the
forthcoming winter crop," the CFU said.
"The 'ghost' of the land reform program launched in
2000 has continued to haunt agriculture as uncertainty
to tenure continues to dog both new and old farmers
to embark on long term investments to increase
productivity," it added in a report to neighbouring
South African farmers made available to Reuters.
"With the constant threat of forced disruption and
eviction, no commercial farmer is guaranteed that
what he has sowed he will be able to reap."
Mugabe's government has not yet put out any crop
forecasts for the current November-April season,
but earlier this month state media reported a dry
spell in various parts of the country was likely to
reduce an anticipated bumper harvest.
The central bank says Zimbabwe imported a reported
$135m worth of grain last year to make up for a food
deficit which has left an estimated 4.3 million Zimbabweans
in need of food aid through at least the beginning of April.
The agriculture sector was estimated to have declined by
12% in 2005, mainly due to drought, inadequate supply
of inputs such as seed and fertiliser and low productivity
arising from farming disruptions, said the CFU report,
which was jointly prepared by the Zimbabwe Farmers
Union grouping mainly black communal farmers.
"Projections for 2006 indicate that performance of the
sector is going to be negative arising from below par
performance of maize, wheat, tobacco, soya beans
and horticulture."
The industry had also been hit by erratic supplies of
electricity and fuel, part of a broader economic crisis
also showing itself in foreign exchange shortages, the
highest rate of inflation in the world at 782%, and
unemployment of over 70%.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in
1980, denies critics' charges that he has misruled the
country, and in turn accuses opponents of his land
reforms of sabotaging Zimbabwe's economy.
A well-placed aid community source told Reuters
on Thursday that Zimbabwe's overall maize needs
could drop to 1.4 million tonnes from 1.8 million
this year - but only because Aids and emigration
are reducing the population.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_1900344,00.htm
l
--
regards, Peter Bjørn Perlsø
http://haxor.dk
http://liberterran.org
http://haxor.dk/fanaticism/