Scene set for stand-off over land acquisitions

From midnight on Thursday almost 3,000 farmers in Zimbabwe will have to leave their land under the government's controversial fast track land reform programme which aims to transfer ownership of land from white farmers to landless black people. Farmers who received a Section 8 notice on or before 10 May this year were forced to down tools on 24 June and start winding up their affairs. If farmers ignore the order to leave they face a fine of Zim $20,000 (US $375) or two years in jail, or both. "We hope there will be no force involved," Commerical Farmers Union Director (CFU) David Hasluck told IRIN. "There are not many [farmers] who are intending to leave their property unless they are told to. People won't move unless they are pressured." He said that of the 3,000 Section 8 notices, about 1,000 fell due on Friday. He said there had also been indications at local government level that several farmers would not have a problem and would be able to stay on their land, although the way this was decided appeared to be random, he said. President Robert Mugabe's land reform programme has been cited as one of the factors contributing to critical food shortages in Zimbabwe. A World Food Programme (WFP) report said that disruptions to farming saw agricultural production drop dramatically. Combined with drought and rising food prices, this left up to six million Zimbabweans facing hunger and the cash-strapped government unable to buy the stock needed to fill the food gaps. Hasluck predicted another decline in production for the coming season saying that in addition to the land reform disruptions, the government's control over the sale and purchase of grain were further obstacles to production. "Prospects for farmers are not good," he said. John Worswick, Vice President of the newly formed Justice for Agriculture, which represents farmers who intend challenging their notices through the courts, said: "This weekend is a damp squib. The majority of farmers have grounds to challenge the Section 8 orders." An example of which was the latest High Court ruling stating that the government could not seize mortgaged or bonded farms without first informing the lenders. Worswick said: "Many have brought action in court and if they are targeted it will only highlight the illegality of the land reform programme." News agency AFP reported that Zimbabwe's Vice President Joseph Msika addressed a CFU convention on Wednesday night and urged cooperation for agrarian reform. However, he also sounded a warning. "The protagonists of this unfortunate approach [challenging Section 8 notices] should be warned that the laws of the country are paramount and will be enforced without any hesitation and with no regard to any external influence." It was not immediately clear where the farmers and up to 300,000 farmworkers and their families would move to. Some had chosen to emigrate overseas or settle in neighbouring countries while others were being accommodated through a CFU programme which had a database of people worldwide willing to help, Hasluck said. However, some had no idea where they would go. "Where must we go? We are Zimbabweans?" asked the sister of a farmer who has had his land confiscated.