KWEKWE
–
In
a
field
of
paprika
plants
in
the
heart
of
Zimbabwe,
fourth-generation
farmer
Daniel
Burger
and
relative
newcomer
Miriam
Mupambawashe
discuss
the
quality
of
the
crop.
Burger,
36,
and
Mupambawashe,
59,
are
neighbours
and
partners
in
efforts
to
revive
the
country’s
once-flourishing
agriculture
sector
cut
down
by
a
ruinous
land
reform
drive
in
the
2000s.
The
reform
distributed
land
from
the
white
minority,
which
still
owned
most
of
the
best
farmland
20
years
after
independence
in
1980,
to
the
black
majority.
Around
4,000
white-owned
farms
were
confiscated,
some
with
deadly
violence.
Mupambawashe
was
among
thousands
who
received
land.
Though
she
initially
knew
little
about
farming,
her
small
subsistence
plot
now
thrives.
Other
farms
failed
or
were
abandoned,
with
some
new
tenants
unschooled
in
agriculture
and
others
—
including
politicians
who
were
handed
land
—
uninterested.
There
were
food
shortages
and
Zimbabwe
soon
required
international
aid.
“There
was
a
bit
of
a
tough
period
through
the
2000s
and,
unfortunately,
I
think
it
sort
of
refuelled
racial
tensions
to
an
extent,”
Burger
told
AFP.
“But
being
so
passionate
about
farming
was
the
motivator
for
me
to
move
forward,”
he
said.
Mupambawashe
moved
to
the
area
from
Bulawayo,
around
200
kilometres
away.
“When
we
first
came
here
in
2001,
it
was
a
forest
and
there
was
nothing
built,”
she
said.
“Some
of
the
white
farmers
were
angry
but
we
managed
to
talk
to
each
other
in
good
faith
and
move
forward.”
“They
never
let
us
down
and
said,
‘You
grabbed
the
farm,
let’s
see
if
you
can
do
it’.
But
instead
they
brought
their
own
tractors
and
equipment
to
come
and
help,
which
we
felt
was
a
nice
gesture.”
It
was
hard
in
the
beginning,
especially
after
irrigation
equipment
was
stolen,
and
the
early
failures
were
“embarrassing”,
Mupambawashe
said.
But
today
her
plot
does
so
well
that
she
only
needs
to
buy
in
sugar
and
cooking
oil.
Burger
leases
land
from
her
and
lends
tractors
and
expertise.
His
family’s
land
was
among
the
few
hundreds
that
were
not
seized
in
the
2000s.
Nonetheless,
“For
a
long
time
we
became
wound
up
in
compensation,”
said
Burger,
vice-president
of
the
Commercial
Farmers
Union
of
Zimbabwe
(CFU)
that
represents
mostly
white
farmers.
“But
it
wasn’t
our
purpose.
Our
purpose
was
driving
agriculture
and
current
agricultural
affairs
forward,”
he
said.
Compensation
frustration
This
year,
some
farm
owners
whose
land
was
confiscated
received
the
first
compensation
payments
after
decades
of
waiting.
The
process
has
been
complex
and
divisive.
The
government
committed
to
compensation
as
part
of
an
effort
to
settle
arrears
and
reform
the
economy
in
order
to
be
able
to
regain
access
to
international
credit
lines
cut
two
decades
ago.
It
announced
in
2020
the
creation
of
a
fund
that
would
pay
out
US$3.5
billion
for
infrastructure
on
farms
but
not
the
land,
which
it
says
was
taken
by
force
by
colonial
settlers.
Unable
to
raise
cash,
the
government
in
2023
changed
the
offer
to
one
percent
in
cash
and
the
remainder
in
US
dollar
denominated
treasury
bonds.
In
April,
the
first
payments
were
made
to
378
of
780
farmers
approved
for
this
scheme.
Deon
Theron,
who
represents
the
Compensation
Steering
Committee
group
of
former
white
farmers,
says
the
introduction
of
the
bonds
has
annulled
the
original
deal
and
negotiations
need
to
start
over.
The
bonds
are
“unsecured”
and
there
is
“limited
recourse
in
the
event
of
non-performance
by
government,”
he
told
AFP.
“The
general
feeling
amongst
the
farmers
is
firstly
frustration
that
after
20-odd
years
we
still
have
not
received
anything,”
Theron
said.
But
the
Property
and
Farm
Compensation
Association
said
its
members
would
take
what
is
on
offer.
The
bonds
are
under
international
guarantee,
said
leader
Harry
Orphanides,
adding
that
“digging
in”
and
seeking
more
from
the
government
would
be
futile.
Mupambawashe
and
Burger
are
encouraged
by
another
major
government
announcement
—
the
granting
of
land
ownership
rights
to
beneficiaries
of
the
2000s
land
reform.
The
tenure
announced
late
last
year
replaces
99-year
leases
and
means
the
new
owners
can
deal
with
the
property
as
they
wish,
including
putting
it
up
for
sale.
“It
makes
us
feel
settled,”
Mupambawashe
said.
“No
one
could
come
and
tell
us
to
move
off
the
land
or
take
it
away
from
us.”
“It
is
just
going
to
catapult
us
forward
as
a
nation
and
an
economy,”
Burger
said.
“We
used
to
be
the
breadbasket
of
Africa
and
we
lost
it
somewhat.
But
I
just
look
at
where
we
are
now.”
–
AFP