IRIN interview with commercial farmers' head Colin Cloete

Life has never been bleaker for Zimbabwe's beleaguered white farmers. After months of farm occupations that have led to major disruption to commercial agriculture, this week those whose land has been earmarked for acquisition learnt they face eviction from their farms within 90 days. President Robert Mugabe issued a decree late last week amending the Land Acquisition Act so that white commercial farmers can be forced off their land without recourse to the law. IRIN spoke to Colin Cloete, president of the Commercial Farmer's Union (CFU) that represents the country's white farmers. Question: If this move is implemented as reported what will be the impact on commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe? Answer: Well, it's going to be absolutely devastating, not just for our members but for the whole country. Commercial farming is the economic life blood of this country, and further strangulation is going to have an enormous impact on Zimbabwe's ability to earn foreign currency. Of course it will lead to further unemployment as more farm workers are evicted and it will have a serious impact on the manufacturing sector - half of which is agriculture-related. There are big shortages of basic foods, evicting hundreds of commercial farmers and replacing them with subsistence farming is only going to lead to worse shortages. Obviously at this stage we are in a watch and wait mode, it does depend how it is interpreted by the government. Q: This move amounts to a slap in the face for commercial farmers, how are you going to respond? A: Resistance is not an option, the CFU has never wanted confrontation with the government, we remain committed to dialogue in resolving the land issue in this country. But if negotiation fails, then we will pursue the possibility of legal action. We've taken legal advice and we're pretty sure that this decree is unconstitutional on at least two counts so we feel we have a strong case. Q: There are reports that CFU members have already stopped farming as a result of the decree, is that the case? A: No, as far as I know nobody has stopped farming, farmers are waiting to see how this scenario develops, it's too early. Besides, farmers cannot just stop, they have crops and animals to maintain, you can't just stop farming one day and go back to it in a few weeks, it doesn't work like that. Q: Government has said it implemented what amounts to eviction notices against your members because of your intransigence over the land issue and because of your use of the courts to frustrate it's fast-track land reform programme. A: Look, we've shown good faith and we've always been open to negotiation with the government. It's not true that we have been using the courts to hamper their land reform programme. Yes, we have brought cases to court, but that's where the government hasn't even seen fit to follow it's own laws. On 23 May this year we thought we had a deal with government. We offered them one million hectares of land and an undertaking that we would bring no more court cases. The government rejected this. Q: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is sending an assessment mission to Zimbabwe this week to try and come up with a land programme satisfactory to all stakeholders. Is there a role here for UNDP to play a mediating role between yourselves and the government? A: Yes, we've already met UNDP this week in order to try and resolve this. I've also spoken to foreign diplomats in Harare who are unhappy about this decision by Mugabe, some are calling it another nail in the coffin of Abuja (the agreement signed in September where Zimbabwe pledged to end illegal and violent land occupations in exchange for British funding of an orderly land reform programme). Q: As an organisation could you not have done more since independence in 1980 to try and redress the enormous imbalance in land ownership in Zimbabwe? A: The CFU wants to see genuine, peaceful land reform. Since independence more than 3.6 million hectares of farm land have been acquired by government from CFU members on a willing-seller willing-buyer basis. In 1998 at the UNDP land conference here we committed ourselves to giving over another five million hectares of land. Since 1988 every farmer in Zimbabwe has been obliged to sell their land to the state before it can be offered on the open market. Since then we have had 6,000 certificates of no interest. This means that the government has no interest in purchasing the farm. So the government could have acquired all the land it wanted to but it hasn't. Q: Isn't that because the government could not afford to pay market prices for your members' farms? A: No, I don't believe so. At the Lancaster House talks that ushered in independence Britain earmarked millions of pounds for land reform but it was never a government priority here. Lately it has been turned into a political issue by government and we get the blame for supposedly holding-up reform on the land. Also, government spent funds that could have been used to buy productive farms on paying large pensions to war veterans and on the costly ongoing war in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Q: Thousands of farm workers are now destitute after having been evicted from commercial farms. The CFU is championing their cause. Is there not an element of opportunism on the part of your members who have been criticised in the past for paying poor wages to farm workers? A: I think amongst the older generation of farmers there was a degree of arrogance towards workers from some farmers. But that is changing and younger farmers are much more aware that their destiny is intertwined with those of their workers. We're not against a minimum wage, the best solution is peace on the farms that will lead to increased productivity and better wages. Q: You say the land issue has been politicised, with the presidential election four months away what do you think the government's strategy is? A: They want to get as many of their supporters on the land before the poll, and this decision to evict farmers is an attempt to speed-up this process. Note farmers have to be off designated farms in 90 days, well before the election, that's the problem.