Businessmen in extortionist barter deals with Masvingo villagers
The Standard
Saturday, 12 June 2010 18:45
MASVINGO — Villagers in lowveld areas of Chikombedzi and Mwenezi have resorted to exchanging cattle for a few bags of maize as hunger begins to bite.
The districts received very little rainfall during the just-ended season resulting in some villagers failing to harvest anything from their fields.
During a recent visit to the areas, The Standard learnt that desperate villagers were at times forced to give away a beast for only a 50kg bag of maize after going for days without a decent meal.
Normally a cow costs between US$200 and US$300 while a 50kg bag of maize is sold for about US$40.
Some unscrupulous businessmen have camped in Chikombedzi and Mwenezi to cash in on the desperation by the villagers.
The businessmen allegedly buy maize and maize meal in bulk from neighbouring South Africa to exchange for livestock.
They sell the cattle to butchery and supermarket owners at business centres across the province where they make a killing.
“Our children are starving and we can’t watch them dying that is why we end up engaging in these barter deals,” said Shalati Baloyi of Mhlanguleli village in Chikombedzi.
“But they are not fair for us in terms of the value of our cattle if you take into consideration cattle prices.”
He said their wealth was in livestock since the area was not conducive for other farming activities.
Other villagers said they used to get assistance from humanitarian organisations, which have since been forced to halt their activities because of constant attacks by Zanu PF supporters who accuse them of having MDC links.
“In times of a crisis like this, organisations like Care International, Christian Care and several others would come to our rescue with food aid,” said another villager who requested anonymity.
“But this time it’s different because they are no longer allowed to help us.
“Zanu PF leaders here ordered them to stop after accusing them of campaigning for MDC by distributing food to the needy.”
Felix Chikovo, the provincial administrator said government was in the middle of a study to establish the extent of the food shortages and was not in a position to comment on the plight of the villagers.
“I can’t comment effectively right now because we are carrying a vulnerability assessment programme district by district,” he said.
“So we are still waiting for the findings from our teams who are yet to present their reports but I think they will be done next week and I will be able to comment effectively.”
But Headman Chilonga warned that if his area does not get immediate assistance people will starve to death because they were about to exhaust their livestock.
“If these people do not get help from government and other institutions they will exhaust their cattle and subsequently starve to death,” he said.
“We don’t know what is happening now, in the past we could buy maize from GMB as a government measure to deal with a dire situation or from NGOs but its now a thing of the past.”
Government has been failing to provide assistance to the villagers through the Grain Marketing Board citing financial problems.
BY GODFREY MUTIMBA