Government to seize tea, coffee farms and resorts

Zimbabwe’s government has targeted the country’s best-known tea and coffee estates as part of its controversial land reform programme, the ‘Zimbabwe Independent’ newspaper reported on Friday.

“Included in the 374 farms gazetted recently is land belonging to the Tanganda Tea Company, Busi Coffee Estates, Petronella Coffee Estates and Chipinga Coffee Company,” the weekly newspaper said. The government had also fast-tracked seizure of holiday resorts, including land that is home to some of the country’s best known
hotels and lodges, the paper said.

Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party has targeted more than five million hectares of the 12 million held by Zimbabwe’s white farmers for redistribution to the country’s landless blacks. The state-owned Herald newspaper on Friday listed details of 40 farms that were under compulsory acquisition orders from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlment.”We are not in a position to comment publicly at present as the matter is being dealt with through the appropriate channels,” Tea Growers Association chairman Martin Cameron told the paper.

Coffee and tea production, an important source of hard currency, have been hit since self-styled war veterans began a violent seizure of white farms during parliamentary elections last year which left 31 dead. Heavy rains and drought have also impacted crop yields. Zimbabwe produced 21,800 mt of tea in the 12 months to June, 2000 of which three-quarters was exported. Major tea producers include Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Tanganda and Eastern Highlands plantations.