Feudalism – the real problem with Zimbabwe’s agriculture

Feudalism – the real problem with Zimbabwe’s agriculture

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By Tendai Huchu
Posted to the web: 30/01/2009 15:12:51
ZIMBABWE’S agricultural output has fallen sharply to an unprecedented level and most commentators have directly concluded that this is because of the land redistribution programme which saw land transferred from white owners to the landless black peasants. This spiral has taken the rest of the economy down with it.

This conclusion is simplistic and fails to take account of the central problems that are leading to the new farmers’ failure to produce sufficiently for the country’s food needs.

The idea that land redistribution is sorely responsible for the slump in output is dangerous in that it leads to the fallacious hypothesis which states that the only way for Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector to be revived is for a reversal of the land redistribution programme.

The real reason behind the agricultural failures that have plagued the nation is not the ineptitude of black farmers but lies behind a government policy which has led Zimbabwe from commercial agriculture to a system of feudal serfdom unheard of and unseen since medieval Europe.

Within a feudal system, land belongs to the wealthy landowner who has serfs indentured on his land, who tend his fields and their own fields while the landowner reaps the benefits. The serfs have no choice since they are tied to the land and in effect belong to their lord. The very same conditions have been created in 21st century Zimbabwe, but on a grander scale.

When the new farmers had been resettled on what were once the productive white farms, the government promised assistance with seed, fertiliser, equipment and financial loans. This happened to an extent and the farmers made a go at things. They farmed tobacco, maize and cotton among other key crops.

The central government policy which is destroying agriculture is what happens after harvest. The new farmers are forced by law to sell their produce to state monopolies like the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the Tobacco Auction Floors. The gazetted prices factoring in hyper-inflation fall far below the production costs. The produce is largely paid for in Zimbabwean dollars at official exchange rates by cheques which take a long time to clear into banks which cannot pay-out cash, so the farmer is stranded.

In the case of tobacco, the government then profits by procuring foreign currency which it desperately needs from the proceeds. This abnormal system is unsustainable given the fact that the government makes anything equivalent to what it would have made had it charged a 50 – 80% rate of tax. By selling, the farmer is actually worse off.

When the next growing season comes, the farmer is forced to appeal once more for government aid, often late in coming, for production to continue. In this, the farmer becomes a serf needing the benevolence of the master in order to carry on. This has a demoralising effect because agriculture is a business and if one cannot make a profit then the business is unsustainable.

It is crucial for the government to shift from feudalism to a fairer capitalist model if the agriculture sector is to be fully revived. The farmers must be respected as businessmen and paid a fair price preferably in US dollars as the Zimbabwean dollar is now largely useless. This will lead to farmers being able to reinvest in their enterprises which has a knock on effect on other sectors of the economy dependent on agriculture for survival.

Open markets must be established and the government must revert to accepting its stake is only viable in taxation. To a degree, it is these conditions which allow other farmers around the world the success they enjoy. Such a reversal in what has been longstanding policy is the only thing that can halt this present decline.
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