ARAC UPDATE #10

1 July 2011

Dear Farmer,

Earlier in the month a group of farmers (not all men) attended the three day workshop that we had arranged with Foundations for Farming. It was a rewarding experience for all who participated and I would like to particularly thank Brian Oldrieve and his team for the dedicated effort they put into sharing their experience and vision. As one participant put it:”The last few days have been a like a breath of fresh air. Hope for our nation is not always so readily available.”

The course offered a unique insight into how a number of farmers have dealt with loss and how they have acquired a fresh perspective on how to make use of long acquired farming skills in a changed environment. I believe all those present learnt a great deal from the practical demonstrations on conservation farming. Certainly many farmers were aware of the technology but adoption was slow; for many of us we left thinking, given a fresh opportunity to farm we would do things differently next time around. One farmer presenter put things in a very relevant way: “What are you as a professional farmer doing to prepare yourself for the recovery of Zimbabwe?” For those there, the challenge, I am sure has set them thinking and turning things over in their minds ….. We were shown how various different bits of trash form the raw materials to make really top quality compost.

For many of us the parallels of trashed lives remolded into something new and productive is still hard to envisage. The processes, practices and paradigms espoused at Foundations for Farming offer much to our constituency and nation.

In this regard we are happy to announce that a further three day course will be offered to interested farmers on Tuesday 19th, Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21^st July. There is no charge; we will send full details on request.

We are also happy to announce that Foundations for Farming will host a Ladies Day for wives who accompany their husbands to congress on 26^th July. In addition to interesting presentations those who attend will be shown practical quality compost making, innovative gardening techniques and herb gardening. Let us know if you are interested in attending.

In recent weeks you have been made aware of efforts to engage with the Government and others with regards to increased commitment to the compensation issue. We have also been looking at the possibility of pensions secured against claims. Thus far nothing concrete has emerged.

It has been said that communication is at the heart of a relationship. How this is achieved is equally important, it has therefore been distressing recently to read on the zimbabwesituation.com web site much criticism regarding the current efforts by CFU and ARAC to service current and past members’ requirements. There is always the temptation to enter the fray with fists flaying when one feels affronted by innuendo or accusation, however generally there is limited point in doing that. On behalf of the ARAC team, I would like to reassure you all of our continued and sustained efforts to advocate for your rights. Progress at times may seem only incremental; there is clearly stress where expectations and achievement are not immediately matched. That however should not be used as an excuse to undermine one another. We are here to serve you, listen and inform. Please feel free to communicate directly with any query or request and I assure you we will do our best to provide a proper response.

Best regards,

Ben Gilpin

ARAC - Agricultural Recovery & Compensation

COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION OF ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 309800-19 ext 249

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The information contained in this email is strictly confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Written without prejudice. Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of either the sender, or the CFU. Requests for publication or forwarding may be obtained from CFU. If you receive this email in error please delete it and inform the sender.
Telephone 263-04-309800-16. Cell 263-712-861726

ARAC Update #2/2011

28 January 2011

Dear Farmer,

Have you ever heard the expression PBZ. I heard it for the first time yesterday and was impressed. Put simply it means “Plan B to Z” i.e. what you do when the first option, namely plan “A” fails. I have often heard of Plans “B” and “C “or even “D” but realise that our options are invariably only stifled by our ingenuity. Farmers have long utilized this facility and we in our changed circumstances continue to explore options to find a way forward. We receive correspondence from people with a wide variety of ideas… perhaps you have one that can stimulate dialogue… please share it.

Yesterday a group from the CFU visited Foundations for Farming and met with Brian Oldrieve and his team. We will soon be embarking on a mentoring process for farmers interested in extension work in conjunction with their team. In due course it will also result in the development of demonstration plots at in the grounds of Agriculture House. I was struck by the quality of crops that we saw there and realise that the upheavals we have faced over the last ten or so years in the farming sector have also occurred at a time when many would have been involved in a substantial shift in the way that we farmed and the paradigm of chemicals and the like. I suspect as the country explores recovery this will involve many fresh technologies pioneered by Brian and his team. If you are interested in the planned program please contact us at ARAC and we will keep you posted.

I will be out of office for the next couple of weeks and hope to engage with a number of stake holders in the UK.  In my absence I have asked Wynand Hart to send out a few notes on the documentation work that he is coordinating at present. We believe that it will be helpful in due course, initially to assist others who have already completed Loss Claim Documents to standardise these, but in addition much useful information can also be gained in verifying disturbance losses which will assist the overall compensation issue. I guess the fundamentals that Foundations for Farming use, namely:

1.     On time ,

2.    To a high standard,

3.    With minimum wastage,

4.    Do it with Joy!

apply equally to all that we endeavour and certainly this paradigm is being applied to the work on compensation and consequential losses that we are doing.

Some of you may be aware that John Laurie who has been so instrumental in furthering the Valcon process has been in CapeTown for emergency medical treatment. We have been advised that he will be out of hospital in a day or so. We wish him a speedy recovery and thank him for the considerable effort he has put in on all our behalves.

Take care,

Best regards,

Ben Gilpin

ARAC - Agricultural Recovery & Compensation

COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION OF ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 309800-19 ext 249

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The information contained in this email is strictly confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Written without prejudice. Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of either the sender, or the CFU. Requests for publication or forwarding may be obtained from CFU. If you receive this email in error please delete it and inform the sender.
Telephone 263-04-309800-16. Cell 263-712-861726

ARAC UPDATE No. 34

5 November 2010

Dear Farmer,

It seems the rains are at last truly here and I am sure for many of us off the land, the familiar smells of rain on earth evoke particular memories of past farming seasons. I have recently read a bit of information on identity and often reflect just how difficult it has been for many of us to make the adjustment from actively farming. On a trip to the UK a couple of years ago I was required to fill in a form on entry that needed details of occupation. I filled out FARMER and then put a line through it…. I was indeed just a crossed out farmer!  However the critical factor in the crossing out was another trait of my identity…whiteness!

I am sure there are many who felt the loss of occupation as a damaging loss of much more... our identity no less… Losing livelihood at the same time has been a real challenge and it amazes me how resilient people have been. What is extremely difficult is to speak with farmers whose rights have been so maliciously violated and be able to offer so little immediate hope of recovery and compensation. Nonetheless it is essential that you are aware that no opportunity to advance the issue is left unvisited. We are constantly meeting people and doing our best to articulate the urgent need that exists to unlock the debt owed to farmers and remove the blockage to opportunity of the current exclusion.

Today I received the transcript of the judgement in the case of Zimbabwean woman who sought refugee status in the UK. She has lost her appeal and will now have to face the consequences as is apparent from the following extracts from the court record:

 This case concerns crimes against humanity. Article 7 of the ICC Statute provides:

“1.        For the purpose of this Statute “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread  systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:…………………………

k. Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical heath.

This case is concerned with the responsibility of someone who, on her own evidence, used violence herself on black farm workers to help to drive them from their homes during two farm invasions, which were intended to remove those workers as well as the white farmer, so that his land could be taken by others, usually regime acolytes or its marauding supporters. She was not a ring leader, nor one of the hard core of the Zanu-PF youth militia, but she was one of the large group of militia members, one of the mob, who were taken to the farms to drive out the workers, burn their homes and ensure that they were too intimidated  ever to return. Of course, we accept that it is necessary to look at what she personally actually did, and with what intent. But we reject what seemed to be her defense suggestion that her personal acts and intent are the end of the matter, as if there were no context to what she did, as if she were not doing what she did as part of an invading mob which had a clear and violent purpose. This has to be examined to judge whether she was part of this joint enterprise.

The Appellant was not merely present.  She was on each occasion a voluntary, even if reluctant, actual and active participant in beatings; even taking her evidence at face value, beating many people hard as part of the aim of driving them away. She specifically tried to demonstrate her loyalty to Zanu-PF in her actions.

She is plainly criminally liable on a joint enterprise domestic law basis.

If there is an additional requirement that, in these circumstances, there be a substantial contribution to the crime, we consider that she provided it. That expression is not intended to exclude all but ringleaders and major participants. Each of those who guard extermination camps, for example, make a substantial contribution to genocide.

Active participation in mob violence which itself falls within sub-paragraph (k) makes a substantial contribution to that crime against humanity, and is a sufficient basis for exclusion from refugee status of those who actively and intentionally participated in the violence, seeking to achieve its purpose.

This appeal is dismissed.”

What is of interest to us is that the group dynamics used to mobilize and evict the farmers and workers concerned were clearly judged to be “crimes against humanity.” For those who participated intent was sufficient to deduce responsibility… clearly a ‘choice’ had been made and thus there was no basis for the appeal. Justice in this case has been done and indeed establishes precedent for the examination of so many other violations experienced by farmers and their employees.

The ‘choice’ to classify and exclude or include a sector of society has driven the land acquisition process and left our country morally and economically destitute. Only when the definition of identity becomes inclusive and seeks to draw all into the full enjoyment of the rights of citizenship will Zimbabwe recover. We may not become an African Tiger; perhaps we can become a Leopard Economy where there is room for diversity! In that there is great hope.

Best regards,

Ben Gilpin

ARAC - Agricultural Recovery & Compensation

COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION OF ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 309800-19 ext 249

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The information contained in this email is strictly confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Written without prejudice. Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of either the sender, or the CFU. Requests for publication or forwarding may be obtained from CFU. If you receive this email in error please delete it and inform the sender.
Telephone 263-04-309800-16. Cell 263-712-861726

ARAC UPDATE No. 29

24 September 2010

Dear Farmer,

What do we mean by recovery? Put simply,  the restoration of a desirable sustainable environment for the economic and social advancement of the people of Zimbabwe.

Just as Donkey repeatedly asks in the cartoon comedy “Shrek”, we also ask: “Are we there yet?” The answer is “NO!”

The question means different things to different people and it seems last week’s send out has aroused a number of opinions and queries in this regard. Amongst these are attitudes towards farmers on the ground who contribute to the country’s heralded recovery; perhaps their input should be looked at more in terms of disaster mitigation. Their impact is likely to remain relatively small so long as the essential financial resources required to drive economic activity remain scarce. In 2000, commercial agriculture borrowed +-1.87 billion US dollars for production, currently there are less than 100 million devalued US dollars available for inputs for agriculture through the formal financial sector, hardly the requisite requirements of a vibrant recovering industry! The purported rebound of the tobacco sector to around 121 million kilograms this season seems questionable. This would appear to be a significant over statement of production for a number of reasons; however we are unlikely to see an official revision of the figure. On the maize front the declared production of 1.4 million tonnes against a national requirement of around 1.8 million tonnes has done little to stem the average monthly import of around 100 thousand tonnes.

In reality, production deficits and the need to import essential commodities will remain a reality until fundamental issues are dealt with. This season’s domestic wheat production is a case in point, we are unlikely to produce more than a tenth of what we did in 2000.What this means is that current levels of production, which in some instances show marginal improvement over last year’s level, hardly constitute recovery. There may be some few farmers who have managed to continue farming throughout the period when the bulk of us have experienced eviction, for most this remains a highly stressful and tenuous existence. For most of us the trauma and sense of outrage at our treatment remains pretty close to the surface. We demand compensation or restitution and find it difficult to frame our needs in other terms or see these losses in the context of the economic calamity that has struck most citizens.  There remain many young men who would love to farm and who would dearly like to be a part of a recovery, for the majority this remains a dream as policies of exclusion deny them the rights all would experience in a recovered Zimbabwe.    

Resolution to the land question remains a fundamental obstacle to this.  We believe only when significant attention is paid to resolving the outstanding issue of compensation and an end to discrimination, will significant recovery become possible. Traditionally most agricultural lending was based on the track record of skilled farmers and secured on the legal respect for property rights. The supposed empowerment of new farmers has been limited, for although there has been a massive shift in access to land, this has not been accompanied by a transfer of secure tenure or skills. The upheaval has indeed caused much suffering in our constituency and also for well over a million farm workers and their families. The country will only recover when it finds space to engage its entire skilled people and this includes both experienced farmers and farm workers.

The perception that the constant flow of funds from donor countries is there to support the recovery is misleading. For the most part donor support has been injected to avoid further decline. This is certainly the case in the health and education sector. With regard to agriculture most support focuses on the need to provide inputs and extension to households that fall outside the areas where land occupation is a cause of conflict. Most foreign governments engage with Zimbabwe under less than satisfactory conditions. They remain constant in their desire to see the issues of governance restored to an acceptable level to permit the full re integration of Zimbabwe into the family of nations. They are looking for a win-win for the people of this country and have promised significant support for the recovery of the country when this happens. For our constituency it is important to focus our need for compensation in this context and find a way that enables the restoration of rights regarding citizenship and property to deliver empowerment to all farmers through fair access or transfer supported by legal transparent mechanisms that fulfill the requirements of justice. The challenges ahead are significant and we need your support and commitment to find a satisfactory outcome for us all.  We need all 4500 farmers lobbying with a common theme that attracts the right attention.

Please feel free to contact us at our ARAC offices for information on re-joining and becoming a part of our ‘team’ to take this forward.

Regards

BEN PURCELL GILPIN

MANAGER

ARAC - Agricultural Recovery & Compensation

COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION OF ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 309800-19 ext 249

The information contained in this email is strictly confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Written without prejudice. Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of either the sender, or the CFU. Requests for publication or forwarding may be obtained from CFU. If you receive this email in error please delete it and inform the sender.
Telephone 263-04-309800-16. Cell 263-712-861726

Dear Farmer

Here are some frequently asked questions from CFU Legal Affairs Department.

In order to explain to members what the CFU is doing on the Legal front we thought we would prepare a list of frequently asked questions and answers to those questions.

Let us know if you have other questions or concerns.

I am still farming how does CFU going to court help me? What legal issues are for my benefit?

    CFU has applied to the Supreme Court for a moratorium on the Land reform programme. We know and believe that in order for agriculture to be successful we need stability as regards land tenure. This is what we are fighting for.

    CFU is also very active in representing employers in Labour disputes and feeding into Collective Bargaining Negotiations. We know that badly handled wage negotiations can jeopardize the viability of the entire agricultural industry.

I am a displaced farmer what are the benefits of CFU’s legal actions to me?

    CFU has actively supported the Campbell case and the applications for contempt. The Campbell case provides a landmark judgment recognizing the illegality of the way in which land reform has been carried out in Zimbabwe.

    This gives all farmers whose rights have been lost hope.

    The CFU is focusing strongly on the issue of compensation. We have made alliances with other groups like Afri-Forum who have helped the cause of the Zimbabwean Commercial Farmer. Early this year Afri-Forum helped us to register the SADC Tribunal judgment in South Africa. This laid the way to potentially attach properties belonging to the Government of Zimbabwe in South Africa.

I am a young farmer I want to get busy on the land? What does CFU do for me?

    There are so many complicated issues that have come about as a result of Land reform. The ethical issues of using contested land without the original owner’s permission have caused conflicts amongst farmers.

Why focus on compensation?

     We believe that compensation will bring closure to many farmers and the land question and remove the conflict from the land issue.

    We want all farmers regardless of race, gender and political affiliation to be able to engage freely in the business of farming for the common good of our country. We want farmers to be empowered and successful in their agricultural ventures.

Why go to court? What’s the point even if you win you won’t get the judgment implemented?

    Even if court orders cannot be implemented it is important to leave an audit trail.

    It is also about creating pressure and being able leverage points of negotiation. They can be used to advocate and lobby both the Government of Zimbabwe and SADC neighbours.

What is CFU doing about the Prosecutions of Commercial Farmers? We don’t have money to continue these expensive prosecutions?

    We know that defending prosecutions for still farming is still expensive especially when a farmer’s livelihood is tied up in the business he is fighting for.

    Did you know that over the last year the CFU has spent approximately 270 000 US dollars on fighting legal battles in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the region. Some of these funds were secured.

    We have been active and had some success in searching for legal aid for farmers who are in need.

    We liaise with almost all lawyers handling land cases and ensure that heads are put together over legal strategy. We have ensured that the best in Africa are consulted about the issues. We believe that we have contributed to many of the acquittals of farmers.

The CFU belongs to farmers join up, get involved and have your say. We want to know what you need and we want to deliver.

ARAC - Agricultural Recovery & Compensation

COMMERCIAL FARMERS' UNION OF ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 309800-19 ext 249

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The information contained in this email is strictly confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Written without prejudice. Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of either the sender, or the CFU. Requests for publication or forwarding may be obtained from CFU. If you receive this email in error please delete it and inform the sender.

Telephone 263-04-309800-16. Cell 263-712-861726

ARAC UPDATE No 27.

3 September 2010

Dear Farmer,

The  response from a number of readers clearly indicates that the task of reconnecting CFU with some farmers still has a way to go.

The hurts are evident all over the globe and sadly the baggage that we all have is hard to deal with. I was one of those who walked away and it took a lot of heart searching before I came back to CFU to  look at how to start a process of rebuilding bridges; working for and with farmers can be both difficult and rewarding! We all need to engage in a process that will bring about a more inclusive approach to finding a just solution. Many of us have  a very traumatized set of memories  and these are sometimes an obstacle to serious reflection and a balanced perspective.

Forgiveness is giving up the right to resentment towards past hurt and taking steps to forge a different relationship with both the hurt and the persons responsible. A Ugandan Judge appointed to the South African  TRC commented that reconciliation was about restoring relationship between friends after a breakdown but  observed, “What is it called when there was no relationship prior to the break down?”  Here I don’t know, however I believe amongst us as a constituency of farmers, “Reconciliation” is both desirable and achievable. The reality is that both the leadership of the CFU and the organisation they are driving has changed. Perhaps for those who are out of the country this movement is not apparent. The current close look at the structure, policy and strategy will in the next couple of months deliver real assurance that we as farmers have an organisation that is transparent and accountable to its members. We believe that a clear policy will ensure the issues that affect us will be dealt with in a principled and determined way.  I am sure that the concerns that people have over recovery and compensation will find the right balance.

At congress a year ago the Union agreed to push compensation as a significant part of its agenda,  it has done this and made enormous headway. The difficulty in achieving this is clearly a reluctance and denial  of Government to take responsibility and an associated disinclination by donors to pick up the tab, after all, why should they pay when a neighbour burns down his own house? At the same time  I believe there is a danger that we confuse recovery with opportunism. Clearly when we speak of recovery we are concerned with the restoration of property rights and an  end to discrimination, it is in this context that the Union through ARAC seek to drive recovery and achieve compensation. Our task is clear... we must  recover  in many ways; our losses are not confined to property but also extend to human rights and the need for an end to discrimination. We have been treated as lesser subjects and demand to be treated a s citizens and investors of value.

We need a strong and united body to define and bring about these goals. “Jambanja” caused untold havoc with our personal lives as well as with the structures of commercial farmer representation. There were once over 70 Commercial FAs and all these had sufficient membership to sustain and provide representation. We now have around 250 actively or partially farming members and for sure there is ample evidence to suggest that the vast majority of FAs have actually collapsed.  I would encourage all farmers to engage as we try and find a way forward.

Best regards,

Ben Purcell Gilpin

Manager

ARAC - Agriculture Recovery & Compensation

Commercial Farmers Union

Tel: (263) 04 309800-19 ext. 249,283

Tel: (263) 04 309867 (Direct line)

email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The information contained in this email is strictly confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Written without prejudice. Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of either the sender, or the CFU. Requests for publication or forwarding may be obtained from CFU. If you receive this email in error please delete it and inform the sender.
Telephone 263-04-309800-16. Cell 263-712-861726

Dear Farmer,

There has been a flood of email correspondence from all corners of the globe over the last weeks. We are delighted at the interest that is being generated  and as far as possible we endeavour to reply to each letter personally. It is indeed gratifying that correspondence is reaching so many, however we are aware that out there are still others who are not yet connected to our communication network.

 Many letters commend us for the fresh and inclusive angle now being taken with regards to all farmers, such comment is deeply appreciated and motivates your team a great deal. From others there is still much that focuses on the past and to an extent on the consequences of constitutional failure in the times of transition that we have gone through. The attrition of an active farming based membership to a largely non farming dispossessed constituency is a challenge for any organisation to survive, that those people are spread all over the globe exacerbates that. Both constitutional and policy issues are currently being dealt with and the end result will be a more accountable and transparent union that serves its members. For those that left the ship and have concerns with this process of renewal, we welcome your input.

Others have expressed concern that there is much expertise out there that is being excluded from the process of achieving  our common goals. Together everyone achieves more, is something we have all heard, this certainly is the case where focus and a clear understanding exists between all players, it is not something easily achieved, however we are aware of those parties and individuals and every effort will be made to enhance success through a shared and inclusive agenda. Some of the entities involved are principally commercial and others more farmer focused, all parties are concerned to improve communication. The planned Presidential group visit to UK will most definitely involve a coordinated  approach through both the local embassy protocols and those who are already working through established channels in the UK.

A cross-cutting concern is a perception that CFU is only interested in a quick fix. The imperative of advancing age and diminishing or exhausted resources is clearly something that concerns a considerable group of farmers, their predicament is clearly understood. On the other side there are those who are anxious to see no time line imposed for the sake of expediency. There are differing expectations across a broad spectrum , in achieving resolution we are guided by the FAO guide lines which we have previously communicated. These will be endorsed in the revised policy document.

Membership dues and how and where to pay for those outside the boarders, and the level at which these are set is another frequently asked question. We are investigating satisfactory coordinating  mechanisms and contact persons for those who are not well served by the current arrangements. I am sure you will be contacted by the relevant people once this is done. There will be a resolution at congress as to debate  and set the fee structure for the coming period. We have already received considerable comment on this.

Two  other common queries are :

1.       Concern that farmers may have left companies in moth balls and an uncertainty as to the way forward on this situation ,

2.       Concerns as to the procedures in regard to deceased estates where acquired titled property makes up a part of the estate,

There have been previous opinions on these matters and we have asked for fresh legal opinion, in view of changed legislation here and will communicate the details within the next couple of weeks.

Last night a few of us were  able to  see the excellent documentary ‘Mugabe and the White African’ which together with the farm worker driven documentary, ‘House of Justice’  does much to promote true understanding of what farmers and their workers have gone through and are still going through over the past 10 years.

We congratulate Ben Freeth on his recent inclusion on the UK Honors’ list with an MBE.  We commend him and others for their resolute commitment towards the restoration of all citizens’ rights in Zimbabwe.

Best regards from the ARAC Team.

ARAC - Agriculture Recovery & Compensation

COMMERCIAL FARMERS UNION OF ZIMBABWE

Tel: +263 4 309800-19 ext 249

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.