THE government has made a major climbdown and now allows farming joint ventures between new black farmers and white former commercial farmers.

NUNURAI JENA
OWN CORRESPONDENT

It now also allows contract farming.

Lands and Rural Resettlement minister Douglas Mombeshora said farmers were now free to choose who they wanted to engage in joint ventures and contract farming.

“Joint ventures can be black to black, black to white, black to yellow or red . . . as long people agree on terms of the contract, but we need to see the contract before it is signed because we want to protect both parties and we encourage fair play not manipulation of one party by the other,” he said.

Mombeshora said some people came to the government complaining that they had been chased away by resettled farmers after pouring resources on the farms.

Asked if this was a major U-turn on government policy on land, Mombeshora claimed they had always allowed this to happen.

“It is not true to say that the government ever disapproved contract farming and joint ventures, what the government didn’t approve of (and doesn’t allow) even now is sub-leasing of land,” he said.

But speaking at the installation of Chiefs Alfred Tome Beperere and Johannes Kanyoka Chidziva of Zvimba at Murombedzi growth point last year, President Robert Mugabe took a swipe at politicians harbouring whites.

“Don’t enter contract farming with whites, it’s a dangerous, dangerous arrangement that we don’t want,” he said then.

At Chipfundi in Mhangura last year, Mugabe again accused his lieutenants of “supping with whites” and promised to deal decisively with them.

“Some of my ministers are being mentioned here,” he said.

“They are refusing to remove white farmers from their constituencies.”

Mugabe seems to have lost the plot, as most Zanu PF bigwigs were denouncing contract farming and joint ventures publicly, while secretly engaging former white commercial farmers as partners.

A Mhangura farmer, who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation, confirmed that contract farming and joint ventures between whites and most top politicians were prevalent.

“They were already engaging white partners yet refusing us permission to go into partnership with whites,” the A2 farmer said.

“The big politicians are hypocrites; they now want to officially accept contract farming and joint ventures because they can no longer hide it, but they have been partnering white farmers for a very long time yet they would deny it to the president.”