Zimbabwe is facing serious food shortages due to price controls imposed earlier this month by the government in a bid to control runaway inflation.

According to reports in the independent Zimbabwean media, price caps on basic foodstuffs have forced many producers to operate at a loss, leaving them with no choice but to go out of business.

The baking industry, which has been losing an estimated $33,000 a day, has been hit particularly hard.

Rationing now in force

Basic goods including bread, wheat, maize, cooking oil and soap are reported to be becoming increasingly scarce as a result, with rationing now in force in many areas.

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Daily News

War vets impound maize

10/26/01 7:37:45 AM (GMT +2)


Farming Editor

Suspected war veterans and the police are impounding maize from travelers
from rural areas, and ordering them to sell it to the Grain Marketing Board
(GMB).

Passengers and bus conductors yesterday complained of police harassment,
saying the maize they carried was in small quantities and had been given to
them by their relatives in the communal areas for their own consumption.

“We have dropped hundreds of passengers at roadblocks where they are forced
to sell the maize they have to the nearest GMB depot,” said conductor Laston
Katungunde, whose bus plies the Harare-Chiweshe route.

“As conductors, we have also been affected as we also bring maize from the
rural areas for our families in Harare.”

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena refused to comment.

Joseph Chinotimba, the Harare leader of war veterans, said the veterans were
only impounding maize from cross-border traders intending to export the
commodity illegally, not ordinary travellers. The veterans were on the
lookout at Zimbabwe’s border posts, he said.

“It is not true that war veterans are confiscating maize from travellers,”
he said. “If there are people who are harassing rural travellers, then they
must be criminals.”

But Katungunde’s colleague, Patrick Dombo, maintained the situation was
particularly serious in Mashonaland as war veterans had joined the crusade
of harassing travellers with maize in their luggage, saying all the maize
now belonged to the government.

“No reports are written and people are told just to surrender the maize to
the war veterans. Where there are GMB depots, people are ordered to pay
fines of about $400 and the maize is confiscated,” Dombo said.

Shacky Mativenga, a conductor on the Harare-Gokwe route, said: “It is very
unfair that they say they are giving us land to produce maize, but we are
not allowed to eat it or even carry it to our families in urban areas.”

In Mt Darwin, a war veteran identified only as Kambanje was said to be
terrorising travellers and bus conductors, charging that urban residents
must be denied the maize because they supported opposition parties.

The government declared maize a controlled product in July and made the GMB
the sole buyer and seller. The order outlawed maize sales countrywide,
including trade in small quantities of maize among villagers.

Travellers, who for years cut costs by supplementing their needs with maize
secured from their rural homes, were caught in the net. Hundreds lost out to
the war veterans and police officers at roadblocks.

Nyasha Chinyama, a conductor on the Karoi-Harare route, said 36 of his
passengers lost an unspecified quantity of maize to war veterans camping at
Magunje last month.

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Daily News

Shortage of basic goods hits Harare

10/26/01 8:36:22 AM (GMT +2)


By Takaitei Bote Farming Editor

MOST retail shop shelves that are normally stocked with washing soap and
cooking oil are empty, heralding what looks set to become a serious shortage
of basic commodities in Harare.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries warned early this month that there
would be food shortages in Zimbabwe following the gazetting of price control
regulations on specified basic commodities.

A Daily News survey in Harare yesterday revealed that products whose prices
are now controlled such as cooking oil, washing soap and salt were out of
stock, with shelves empty in most supermarkets.

TM Supermarkets’ Nelson Mandela Avenue branch did not have the popular Panol
and Olivine cooking oil brands on its shelves but had an unfamiliar product
called TM Super Saver Cooking Oil costing $148,23 for a 750ml bottle.

However, there were less than 10 bottles on the shelves.

Familiar soap bars such as Dolphin, Brilliant, Sunlight and Big Ben were all
out of stock in TM as was the case at OK as well. The few soap bars that
were available were of unpopular brands.

There was no Panol and Olivine cooking oil in OK Supermarket either.

Another unpopular 375ml cooking oil brand costing $208 was available, but
supplies were also very low. The government stipulated price for a 750ml
bottle of cooking oil is $148.

A TM Supermarkets spokesperson said suppliers were producing limited
quantities of cooking oil and washing soap and suggested this reporter
direct further questions to the suppliers.

The major producers of basic commodities, Olivine Industries and Lever
Brothers, were not available for comment yesterday.

Industry sources said producers of soap, cooking oil and bread had reduced
their output because they were now operating at a loss following the
government directive to reduce the wholesale prices of basic commodities.

The government introduced the controls as a measure to counter rampant price
increases. Prior to the move, the prices of basic commodities were
increasing on a weekly basis as manufacturers passed on the high cost of
production to the consumers.

Manufacturers say they have reduced their prices in line with the government
directive but they are making huge losses as the prices are below their
input costs.

Bakeries said while it cost them $54 to produce a loaf of bread, they were
now forced to sell it at $48.

Some bakeries have started producing lower quality bread, saying producing
standard bread would force them out of business.

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Invasions Threaten Peace Park


Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)

October 26, 2001
Posted to the web October 25, 2001


Experts warn that south-eastern Zimbabwe is sitting on a foot-and-mouth time
bomb, reports Jenny Sharman

In the excitement about the formation of the Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou
trans-frontier park, a looming problem has been overlooked: land invasions
in the Zimbabwe section of the park.

The planned "peace park" includes Zimbabwe's second-largest game park, the
Gonarezhou National Park and its wildlife environs, along with Kruger park
and a large slice of state-owned land in Mozambique's Coutada 16
conservation area - a total of 35 000km2.

Last November, as the agreement was being signed to establish the park,
sections of Gonarezhou were being occupied, cleared and set alight by
residents of neighbouring villages and "war veterans".

The invasion of Gonarezhou is the latest in a line of crises to hit
Zimbabwe's wildlife since the current "fast-track" resettlement programme
moved into key conservation areas.

As a member of a proposed peace park, it is ironic that historically
Gonarezhou has rarely been at peace. In Shona gona-re-zhou means "abode of
elephants", but for the elephant it has not been a safe abode; poaching has
long been prevalent in this south-eastern corner of Zimbabwe.

In the late 1960s large-scale agriculture began encroaching on the area, and
poaching, coupled with tsetse fly controls that included bush burning and
shooting, resulted in the destruction of 55 000 large animals. In response,
Alan Wright, a local district commissioner, helped establish a wildlife
refuge and a poaching control corridor along the Mozambique border. About
5,000km2 of prime wilderness was designated as a reserve, and in 1975 this
corner of Zimbabwe was declared a national park.

The local Shangaan people were forced to resettle outside the park's
boundaries - an act that has caused major discontent in the area ever since.

The formation of a park did little to stop the unnatural deaths of the
resident elephants. During the war of independence Gonarezhou was landmined
extensively and elephant and buffaloes are still being maimed by the mines.

In the 1980s and 1990s poaching by Mozambican guerrillas, fighting their own
civil war across the border, also took its toll. It is estimated that
between 1987 and 1988 alone nearly 1,000 elephants and 200 black rhinos were
poached from the park. It is not surprising that elephants in Gona-rezhou
respond to the presence of humans with either fear or aggression.

Now Josiah Hungwe, the Governor of Masvingo, who is already responsible for
the invasion of privately owned wildlife conservancies, has been encouraging
families of the previously evicted Shangaan, as well as opportunistic "war
veterans", to take over 11 000ha within Gonarezhou, north and south of the
Runde river.

The situation escalated as Agritex (the Agricultural and Rural Extension
Department) began demarcating and pegging out plots for allocation within
the park.

The invasion appears to have been carried out without the permission - or
knowledge - of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. In fact environment
minister Francis Nhema initially denied it: "What has happened is that some
cattle strayed into the park but our guys from parks are working on that.
There are no people physically within the park at all," he said as news of
the invasion began to spread.

It soon became apparent that Nhema was wrong. A senior national parks
officer wrote the following in a letter to his headquarters shortly after
the takeover: "The Agritex officer stated that his teams pegged some 520
plots but the area had capacity to take 750 settlers ... Cattle are being
grazed daily inside the park. The numbers are never less than 500 in the
park per day. The cattle fence has been put down, allowing free movement of
cattle in and around the park."

The removal of fencing and driving of cattle into buffalo land could result
in a serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Mike Clark, regional
chairperson of the Masvingo Commercial Farmers' Union, says "we have no
foot-and-mouth vaccine due to the forex shortage. We are therefore sitting
on a foot-and-mouth time bomb."

Clark has found evidence of cattle in the park and substantial destruction
of natural habitat.

"When we followed one of the cattle trails we came across people building
elaborate Shangaan-style huts, about 6km into the reserve."

Raoul du Toit of the World Wide Fund for nature's Zimbabwe office has said
that the issues involved are more complex than simply a threat to the
integrity of the national park. The Shangaan people do have a serious land
claim to this area but, Du Toit says, "the issue needs to be assessed in the
context of the land crisis which is engulfing the nearby conservancies".

"The biodiversity value of the basalt plain that has been invaded within
Gonarezhou is relatively low. If this land claim is to be resolved, this may
act as a pressure-relief valve that would reduce the land invasion threat in
conservancy areas with higher biodiversity value. However, the resolution of
this land claim within Gonarezhou must take into account the constraints on
dry-land agriculture and a wildlife-based land-reform model must be
considered.

"The other crucial factor to take into account is that any resettlement must
not cut off the wildlife corridors between the park and adjacent private
wildlife areas such as Malilangwe and Save valley."

There has been extensive poaching in the neighbouring Save and Chiredzi
conservancies since the government's resettlement programme began more than
a year ago. The poaching is clearly commercial in nature and, it would
appear, politically motivated.

Recently, in response to the arrest of nine poachers for having abducted a
game scout, the war veterans began dropping off poachers by vehicle
throughout Save.

"One must remember that this is not a spontaneous groundswell, but totally
orchestrated by the party [Zanu-PF]," says Clark.

Malilangwe, Save and Chiredzi are key areas adjacent to Gonarezhou. They,
and the communities involved in various Communal Areas Management Programme
for Indigenous Resources and trust projects, all stand to benefit from the
peace park as long as the corridor that joins them with the park remains
free of human settlement. Once the peace park is operational, there is
enormous potential in creating a wider trans-frontier conservation area
extending into these private and communal lands. The entire economy of
south-eastern Zimbabwe could benefit as a result.

However, these issues are clearly not being debated - or even considered -
in Zimbabwe's political scramble for land. Instead of limiting the invasion
to a controllable area, it has now been extended along the park boundary,
and along the boundary with Malilangwe. Derek de la Harpe, Malilangwe's
director, reports that these plots have already been extensively cleared. He
says that "any development isolating Malilangwe and the conservancies from
the park will in the long term be to everyone's detriment. Malilangwe is
committed to assisting with restocking the park once our own wildlife
populations have been restored to an acceptable level. This will not be
possible if the connection between the two areas is cut."

Residents in the Chizvirizvi resettle-ment area were hoping to involve
themselves in a wildlife and hunting/ tourism project based on the proposed
peace park. If their land does not adjoin the park there is little chance of
it happening.

The Zimbabwe government publicly abandoned its plans for resettlement in the
Gonarezhou National Park in July after a meeting of the trans-frontier park
ministerial committee. However, fires and bush clearing within the park and
along its boundaries continues unabated. Hungwe continues to insist that the
demarcated plots will be settled, despite official promises to the contrary.

There are already suggestions that the removal of the fence has been
disastrous for the region's livestock. Clark has heard reports that "several
hundred head [of cattle] have died from suspected theileriosis, as there are
no dipping facilities. Through my experience this is transmitted by the
tick, Rhipicephalus zambeziensis, which occurs through buffalo/cattle
transmission.

"The ownership dispute should urgently be addressed by government so that
effective disease control barriers can be erected."

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Daily News - two items.....

Land invaders assault Nyabira farm workers

10/26/01 7:40:15 AM (GMT +2)


Chief Reporter

A GROUP of about 60 invaders yesterday stormed Umzururu Farm in Nyabira and
beat up workers before stealing two tractors.

The invaders demanded to see the farmer, Alister Smith, “dead or alive.”

However, Smith was away when the group besieged the farm.

The gang then beat up Maggie Christian, a worker at the farm, security
guards, the gardener and the maid.
One of the invaders was armed with a pistol while others wielded axes and
hoes.

Christian said: “Yes, we were attacked, but I do not want to say much and
put myself to further risk.”

The farmer’s 18-year-old daughter escaped the attack.
Sources said the invaders drove into the farm in a mini-bus and a truck at
around midday.

They demanded to see Smith. On being told that he was away, they started
throwing stones at the house, shattering about 40 window panes.

Christian then called the Nyabira police but failed to get immediate
assistance.

The invaders then beat up Christian, the gardener and the maid.

One of the workers, who had a heart operation about five years ago, is
reported to have trudged the 4km to Lilifordia School to seek help.

Back at the farm, the invaders drove away in two tractors saying they were
heading for their base at Lilifordia Farm owned by businessman, Sam Levy.

Armed policemen later went to the farm but the invaders had already left.

The police promised to recover the tractors.

Umzururu Farm is said to have been taken off the designation list and Smith
had continued with farming operations.

The farm has one of the biggest dairy herds in the country.

The invasion of Umzururu Farm took place at a time when a Commonwealth team
is in Zimbabwe to assess whether the Abuja Agreement signed on 6 September
is working.

Under the agreement, the Zimbabwean government undertook to curb lawlessness
and remove invaders from undesignated farms.

In turn, the British promised to provide money to compensate farmers whose
land would have been expropriated by the government.

However, farm invasions and attacks on farmers and their workers are
continuing.

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Ministers snub Bindura farmers

10/26/01 7:38:54 AM (GMT +2)


Staff Reporter

MORE than 100 commercial farmers in Mashonaland Central Province, who had
gathered in Bindura yesterday for a meeting with government ministers over
the continuing disruption of farming operations, left the town a
disappointed lot.

The ministers failed to turn up.

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Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Media Update # 2001/42
Monday 15th October to Sunday 21st October 2001

CONTENTS
1.  Summary
2.  ESAP & Price Controls
3.  Land Abuja
4.  Political Violence
5.  Some Missing Evidence- from a subscriber


1. SUMMARY

ª   The President's official announcement that his government had
    "dumped" ESAP dominated Zimpapers and ZBC during the
    week, but none of them explained that government had
    effectively abandoned the policy years ago. The government
    owned media supported the President's sentiments by
    portraying ESAP as an unworkable economic prescription
    imposed on developing countries by Western nations anxious to
    protect their neo-colonial interests. They provided no
    independent experts to support this view and linked the failure of
    ESAP to the need for price controls.

ª   The private Press almost ignored Mugabe's announcement,
    except to say that it was an admission of failure and
    demonstrated the president was prepared to do anything to hang
    on to power at any cost. The private Press was replete with
    stories predicting economic disaster as a result of price controls
    and the president's threat to nationalize loss-making companies
    that closed down.

ª   The survival of the Abuja agreement also found considerable
    space in the media ahead of a visit this week by the
    Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. The government owned
    media sought to accuse Britain of undermining the accord, while
    the private press reported continuing violence on the farms, the
    scale of the economic damage it was causing and that the
    agreement was all but dead. Notably though, reports of political
    violence declined significantly during the week. The Daily News,
    for example, only carried six (6) stories on the topic compared to
    fifteen (15) the previous week.


2. ESAP AND PRICE CONTROLS

President Mugabe announced the death of ESAP during the funeral
of Clement Muchachi at Heroes' Acre (ZBC, 15/10, 8pm). While
describing ESAP as dead, the President re-affirmed his
government's re-introduction of price controls and threatened to
take over any businesses that closed due to the controls. In the
four minutes that ZTV and Radio1/3 gave to his speech, the
President was quoted as saying, ".those companies which
want to withhold products or close down may go ahead and
do so.We will, as the state, take over any businesses that are
closed.They are our businesses anyway. We will re-organize
them with the workers and .the socialism, which we had
wanted, can start."
Despite the fact that the funeral took place in the morning, no
comment was sought from the business community or independent
economists on the implications of the President's promise to return
to socialism and his threat to nationalize private enterprises.
It was only at the other end of the week that ZTV (21/10) quoted
CZI president, Jacob Dube saying on its Insight programme,
".ESAP has been dead for a long time. After ESAP we got
ZIMPREST. Then after ZIMPREST we got the Millennium
Recovery Programme."
Immediately after the programme, ZTV's 8pm news bulletin
continued to celebrate Mugabe's announcement by devoting four
minutes 45 seconds to a report that "some Zimbabweans have
welcomed the announcement by Robert Mugabe that ESAP is
dead". Relying on Mugabe's original speech, viewers were only
treated to the reporter's propagandist analysis of ESAP's demise,
citing well-known critics of the policy, Tafataona Mahoso and Jane
Mutasa, but without directly quoting anyone. This lengthy opinion
piece passing as news ignored the fact that the government had
abandoned ESAP years ago and made no attempt to explore why
government had adopted ZIMPREST and later replaced it with the
Millennium Recovery Programme.
In fact, none of the media provided any useful historical analysis of
Mugabe's announcement, although the private Press devoted many
column centimeters to discrediting the socialist ideal of a
commandist economic policy, its failure locally and globally, and
the disastrous effects of price controls.

Zimpapers exonerated the government of any blame for ESAP's
failure, which was attributed to external factors. The IMF and World
Bank were accused of imposing ". a simplistic economic
model on far too many countries" (The Herald, 17/10). The local
business sector was also accused of benefiting from ESAP at the
expense of the majority.
According to The Herald comment ". the structural adjustment
programmes that became the rage in the 1990s were not
tailored to suit individual states and societies and did not take
into account special local programmes".
It pointed out that the "free market" encouraged by the IMF was
inapplicable to "small landlocked countries like Zimbabwe".
And it concluded by saying: "Finally you dump theories and
look for pragmatic solutions to your own real problems.
Zimbabwe is starting to think seriously, and to act, to chart its
own way forward. We need to look at our problems, and then
fix them ourselves rather than submit to the text-book writers
of the IMF."
The following day The Herald (18/10) carried a commentary
criticising ESAP as being a neo-colonialist weapon in the hands of
Western countries to keep Zimbabwe underdeveloped. The same
edition carried a simplistic analysis of ESAP, saying: "On the
whole, the programme has been a disaster that brought more
suffering to the people." But it didn't analyse whether this was
actually true compared to the previous decade of commandist
economic policies, or why ESAP had failed, beyond sourcing a
comment from economist John Robertson, who claimed the
government had failed ESAP because it did not stick to the terms
it had agreed with the IMF.
The story sought a semblance of balance by reporting ZANU PF
businessman Phillip Chiyangwa dismissing Robertson's criticism
as "rhetoric" and expressing his dismay "at how manufacturers
and retailers had teamed up with financial institutions to
continuously and unjustifiably increase prices.
"No wonder (the) pricing of goods has now become a serious
political issue." Chiyangwa was quoted as saying.
The next day, The Herald (19/10) reported that government was
establishing a panel of experts to chart a new economic policy to
replace the IMF's reforms, but made no mention of Zimprest, the
country's "indigenised" version of ESAP, and the Millennium
Recovery Programme that was supposed to replace it.
The story also dwelt at length on ESAP's faults, quoting
"economic analysts" as saying the policy had major structural
defects ".which made it least susceptible to market dynamics
because it is dominated by oligopolies."
It quoted unnamed sources saying: "What is needed.is to bring
indigenous people into the mainstream economy through
empowerment." But the article didn't ask what had happened to
the government's affirmative action policies. The only named
commentator was Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, who
misinformed The Herald's readers when he said: "The Labour
Party is