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Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector is expected to decline by 4.2 percent in real terms in 2000, compared to a growth rate of 1.9 percent in 1999, Zimbabwe Financial Holdings (FINHOLD), the country’s main financial institution said in a report released on Monday.
Media reports said the decline in the production of crops such as wheat, cotton, soybeans, coffee and horticulture was caused by heavy flooding associated with Cyclone Eline, shortages of fuel and foreign currency and the disruption to farming activities due to the occupation of white-owned farms by liberation war veterans.
“The acquisition of some commercial farms by the government for resettlement purposes in the maize growing belt is likely to result in a reduction in areas under maize,” said FINHOLD in a review of the country’s economy. FINHOLD added that during the 2000-2001 season, production of flue-cured tobacco was likely to decline by about 20 percent due to inadequate land preparation, shortage of fuel and low tobacco prices.
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