FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 06/00 - ZIMBABWE* (5 June)
Increasing political violence continues to disrupt economic and agricultural activities. Despite an improvement in growing conditions for this year's main maize crop, harvesting activities, normally undertaken from May to June, are being interrupted by the invasion of 1 500 commercial farms and the seizure without compensation of 804 by the government. Increased theft of grains is also reported. This has created a climate of fear amongst the commercial farmers, many of whom have abandoned their farms and left livestock unattended and fled to the relative safety of urban areas. A disruption of harvesting could result in a reduced maize output, with serious repercussions for food security and the economy as a whole.
Agricultural production is undertaken by two categories of farmers: large scale commercial farmers located mainly in the north and east and small scale communal farmers in the south and west. Large-scale commercial farmers, currently numbering around 4 000, contribute some 30-40 percent of maize production, surpassing communal farmers� output in drought years, such as in 1992 when they accounted for 68 percent of total production. Yields on commercial farms are on average four times higher than on communal farms, in part due to inherent differences in land quality, but mainly because of facilities for supplementary irrigation, greater use of improved technology and management practices, as well as better access to working capital. Furthermore, Zimbabwe has been over 60 percent self-sufficient in wheat, a crop produced entirely on commercial farms. These farms are also the dominant contributors to tobacco and horticultural (cut flowers) production for export, as well as livestock production for meat, milk, and other dairy products.
Currently, the country is faced with a severe economic crisis, with severe fuel shortages, due to an acute shortage of foreign exchange caused mainly by large external debt problems, the suspension of international loan disbursements for failing to adhere to agreed conditions, the involvement of the country in the DR Congo war, and falling export earnings. The shortage of foreign exchange is also seriously disrupting industrial production due to erratic power supply and inadequate supply of raw materials, due to blocking of credit lines to the country�s firms. Thus, should there be a large drop in food production necessitating substantial amounts of imports, Zimbabwe�s currently low import capacity would seriously constrain its ability to cover the shortfall commercially.