Zimbabwe struggles to revive formerly white owned land

And we continue with our special series on land reforms in South Africa. Well, today we ask what lessons can the country take from Zimbabwe. Nearly 20 years after it began repossessing white owned farms and resettling new black farmers on them, The country is still grappling to rebuild its once vibrant agricultural base which was disrupted by the programme. Farai Mwakutuya now reviews the impact of the reform programe.

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[dbergerac]

"Thieves struggle to use stolen property" - Fixed the title.

[nicobester]

By 1980, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) had established a good education system. Literacy and numeracy continued to improve for all people. Racial segregation was being systematically dismantled and universal suffrage steadily introduced. Malaria was gone, sleeping sickness was gone, agricultural production was up, life expectancy was increased, infant mortality had been halved, healthcare was being slowly but increasingly provided in even the remotest communities. But none of this matters to the left. After 35 years under Mugabe, we saw the murder of white farmers, food production declined, and starvation has reappeared. Malaria is back, sleeping sickness is back, unemployment stands at 90%, healthcare has disappeared, and we have even seen the return of leprosy! The currency is worth so little that banknotes are routinely used to light fires. From a forward-looking country with a bright future, dictatorial socialism turned a once great place into a corrupt, kleptocratic shit-hole run by the megalomaniacal baboon, Robert Mugabe.

Think this is an exception? Try the Congo, try Kenya, try Tanzania, try the CAR, try Trump is absolutely right. Shit-hole countries the lot of them!!

[keithdavies]

The growing competency of black farmers? Tobacco! Wow!

[jb]

what guarantee are there that white farmer's or any one who owns a farm who votes differently will not be thrown off the farms again??? nothing but empty promises!!

[rayray]

Here's the problem. A man wanted to be boss, but didn't realize what being Boss was all about. He gathered a gang & went about in a destructive manner, until he became Boss. But then, he didn't have a place to stay & there was no food. But, he was in charge. Proof Positive that "being Bright & being in Charge", might be two different things. When the last white man left Zimbabwe, the lights will go off without any effort being expended by that man. The Black Africans will cause the lights to dim & go out on their own. Back to the stone age....

[adamzaidi]

What comes around goes around. Never bite the hand that feeds you because karma discriminates on no one. Good luck feeding yourselves South Africa!

[verypoliticalhonkey]

I saw zero food in this video.
Interesting.

[peterschmidt]

All that broken down farming equipment, western farmers know how machinery works and can maintain and repair their equipment or bring in specialist mechanics that can. The internet puts all the operation and maintenance manuals at their finger tips. No one will fix this equipment because someone else should do it for free. Another symptom of socialism, no one owns the farm, no one owns the equipment so no one will take responsibility to keep it maintained. Now they want other people to invest in them to repair all what they destroyed.

[captainz]

I live by pretty simple rules, and one is... If you are mistreated, you don't go back for more later. Take my property and kick me out of your country... There is no chance in hell you'd get me to come back. Sorry, but to me you made your own bed and you live with the consequences... You couldn't pay me enough to come back.

[johnnymoore]

Good luck eating tobacco well at least you won't have worms

[lonw.]

International confidence will NEVER be re-established.

[Angels]

Shouldn't have drove them out. Bring the white Africans farmers here to the USA legally. We would be glad to have them here to help with our agricultural. Especially in California.

[electro]

no way would I go there to teach them how to farm.... let them reap what they sowed..(pardon the pun)

[lottiohnesorge]

The continent of no hope. Everything is the fault of others, never their own…..

[xsiri]

African don't eat tobacco. Stop this nonsense and start producing food for local people.

[luisemoralesfalcon]

What happened to the research and work done by the previous farmers?

[georgewilliams]

If the West is bad, why not go back to using tribal languages?

[pipsantos]

In short. They wanna sit on the land and want everything to fall from heaven.

[piontropechetrini]

Give the Land to the workers and you will get a Desert.

[johnlansing]

If you go back please do not look for help when the people you are helping turn on you again.