Masvingo farmers lose property worth over US $910,000

Property worth over US $910,000 was lost on commercial farms in Masvingo province through thefts and vandalism by farm invaders, the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) said on Sunday. CFU regional chairman Mike Clarke said commercial farmers in the province had lost cattle through thefts, while property worth thousands of dollars had been stolen or vandalised, the ‘Daily News’ reported.

Scores of war veterans and Zanu PF supporters moved on to the farms and disrupted operations following the rejection of the government-sponsored draft constitution. “Farmers continue to lose their livestock to farm invaders every day and police are doing nothing to arrest the thieves.
About US $182,000 worth of cattle have disappeared from the farms. The losses commercial farmers have suffered are very huge and well over US $910,000,” Clarke was quoted as saying. Wildlife losses to the tune of about US $510,000 were recorded in the province, while fence valued at about US $273,000 had been lost, the report said. The animals were found dead or snared by poachers.

On the country’s food security, Clarke said Zimbabwe faced serious food shortages because agricultural production was heavily affected by the farm invasions. He said commercial farmers in Masvingo did not grow maize, the country’s staple food, because of disruptions on the farms. “Commercial farmers managed to grow maize for stock feed and not for sale. There is going to be starvation due to serious food shortages in the country,” he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, about 600 000 people already faced serious food shortages. Masvingo provincial administrator Alphonse Chikurira said the most affected areas were the Chiredzi and Mwenezi districts, where thousands of families had not recovered from the effects of the Cyclone Eline floods.