<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Zimbabwe farmer hint wins support
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Since 2000, 75% of white farmers have lost their property
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->White farmers still in Zimbabwe have welcomed a suggestion by the central bank chief that some white farmers who have left should be allowed back.
Bank governor Gideon Gono suggested farmers forced off their land in controversial reforms could come back to boost flagging agriculture.
The white farmer-dominated Commercial Farmers' Union said Mr Gono's plan would need to be backed by government.
Since 2000 more than 75% of white farmers have lost their property.
A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Programme said Zimbabwe's food crisis could not wholly be attributed to the departure of white farmers.
"You have to remember that Zimbabwe was on an economic downturn for several years, and the drought then impacted on that, and you cannot forget the impact HIV-Aids is having on the population there as well," said Mike Huggins.
"There already is a weakened population, there is not enough adequate health care throughout the country to really deal with the pandemic, and that is also have a major affect on agricultural production," Mr Huggins told the BBC.
Tenure pledge
Gideon Gono, the main policy adviser of President Robert Mugabe, made his suggestion on Thursday as he delivered a raft of measures that included a 31% devaluation of the Zimbabwean currency.
Mr Gono was careful to stress that the suggestion did not represent a reversal of the land reform policy under which farms were forcibly redistributed from white farmers to blacks.
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This suggestion that white farmers could come back is an admission of [the government's] failure
John Worsley-Worswick,
Justice for Agriculture
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However, Mr Mugabe himself said in March he was disappointed that only 44% of the land seized from whites was actually in cultivation and warned that the remainder would have to be cultivated.
Mr Gono said: "In order to ensure maximum productivity levels, there is great scope in the country promoting and supporting joint ventures between the new farmers with progressive-minded former operators."
He said the whites would be given guarantees of uninterrupted tenure, backed by government security forces.
The government has not responded directly on the issue.
The deputy chairman of the Commercial Farmers' Union said he hoped white farmers would be able to participate in the agricultural recovery of Zimbabwe.
Stof Horgood told the BBC he found Mr Gono's message "encouraging" as it would mean "a security of tenure on the ground".
Political situation
Justice for Agriculture, whose stated aims are to secure justice and peace for the agricultural sector, dismissed Mr Gono's suggestion as a "puppet show".
Its spokesman, John Worsley-Worswick, told Britain's Guardian newspaper: "This suggestion that white farmers could come back is an admission of [the government's] failure, but I don't know anyone who would take them up on their offer."
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President Mugabe has expressed disappointment over land cultivation
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In addition to the devaluation, Mr Gono banned the imports of luxury goods, reduced interest rates for exporters and cut in half his forecast of the country's economic growth to 2.5%. Some analysts say Mr Gono's measures may fall foul of the political situation. Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of political lobby group, the National Constitutional Assembly, told Reuters: "Mugabe has staked his public pride on some of the policies that Gono says need to be revisited... and if there are any reviews Mugabe will want those to be done slowly."<!-- E BO -->
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4568851.stm
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->White farmers still in Zimbabwe have welcomed a suggestion by the central bank chief that some white farmers who have left should be allowed back.
Bank governor Gideon Gono suggested farmers forced off their land in controversial reforms could come back to boost flagging agriculture.
The white farmer-dominated Commercial Farmers' Union said Mr Gono's plan would need to be backed by government.
Since 2000 more than 75% of white farmers have lost their property.
A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Programme said Zimbabwe's food crisis could not wholly be attributed to the departure of white farmers.
"You have to remember that Zimbabwe was on an economic downturn for several years, and the drought then impacted on that, and you cannot forget the impact HIV-Aids is having on the population there as well," said Mike Huggins.
"There already is a weakened population, there is not enough adequate health care throughout the country to really deal with the pandemic, and that is also have a major affect on agricultural production," Mr Huggins told the BBC.
Tenure pledge
Gideon Gono, the main policy adviser of President Robert Mugabe, made his suggestion on Thursday as he delivered a raft of measures that included a 31% devaluation of the Zimbabwean currency.
Mr Gono was careful to stress that the suggestion did not represent a reversal of the land reform policy under which farms were forcibly redistributed from white farmers to blacks.
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John Worsley-Worswick,
Justice for Agriculture
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However, Mr Mugabe himself said in March he was disappointed that only 44% of the land seized from whites was actually in cultivation and warned that the remainder would have to be cultivated.
Mr Gono said: "In order to ensure maximum productivity levels, there is great scope in the country promoting and supporting joint ventures between the new farmers with progressive-minded former operators."
He said the whites would be given guarantees of uninterrupted tenure, backed by government security forces.
The government has not responded directly on the issue.
The deputy chairman of the Commercial Farmers' Union said he hoped white farmers would be able to participate in the agricultural recovery of Zimbabwe.
Stof Horgood told the BBC he found Mr Gono's message "encouraging" as it would mean "a security of tenure on the ground".
Political situation
Justice for Agriculture, whose stated aims are to secure justice and peace for the agricultural sector, dismissed Mr Gono's suggestion as a "puppet show".
Its spokesman, John Worsley-Worswick, told Britain's Guardian newspaper: "This suggestion that white farmers could come back is an admission of [the government's] failure, but I don't know anyone who would take them up on their offer."
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In addition to the devaluation, Mr Gono banned the imports of luxury goods, reduced interest rates for exporters and cut in half his forecast of the country's economic growth to 2.5%. Some analysts say Mr Gono's measures may fall foul of the political situation. Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of political lobby group, the National Constitutional Assembly, told Reuters: "Mugabe has staked his public pride on some of the policies that Gono says need to be revisited... and if there are any reviews Mugabe will want those to be done slowly."<!-- E BO -->
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4568851.stm
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