The Former Bread Basket of Africa

Zimbabwe used to be known as the bread basket of Africa. Today the country relies on imported goods mostly from neighbouring South Africa. My neighbours, Mr and Mrs Whiteman, used to possess large areas of land outside of Harare. Since President Mugabe's land reform started in 2000 they have been forced off their land. Today they struggle to find the means to survive in a small apartment in Harare. The lack of productivity in the country is also often said to be a result of land reform. The land, it is argued, has been given to people who do not have the means to cultivate the land. Yet the problem is not as black and white as it is often perceived in media. The fact remains that land has not been distributed fairly in the past. Question is, however, how far back one should go in time when determining how land ought to be distributed. Moreover, the land reform which was meant to benefit land less poor has mostly been given to high level government and military officials. In the words of the founder of the Green Belt movement and Nobel Price winner Wangari Maathai “As long as there is no trust and confidence that there will be justice and fairness in resource distribution, political positioning will remain more important than service.” I believe this is true also for Zimbabwe.