"But inflation has not come down. It has instead risen to a record 2,2 million percent at the end of June. Dr Gono said the only answer to curbing inflation was increased production, especially in agriculture." - it follows therefore that the collapse of production (especially in agriculture) in the first place was the root cause of the hyperinflation that Zimbabwe is currently suffering from.

Are there any Selectors, Akapfundes or Djosers out there who can explain to me how the West can be blamed for the collapse of Zimbabwe's agricultural productivity? I mean apart from the usual platitudes about illegal sanctions; how did the West go about removing the skilled and experienced base that existed there and replace it with 'telephone' farmers?

The MDC demand from a proper audit of the land allocation process is absolutely necessary if Zimbabwe is going to recover. That does not mean handing farms back to whites; it does mean ensuring that the land is worked only by Zimbabweans with the proper desire and ability to be real farmers.

Appeal for increased agricultural productivity, an idea coming from Gono - the very person who invented the 10 billion Dollar note?

Either he is blindly following marching orders from his master or his place ought to have been in a psychiatric institution!! He suddenly discoverd that a billion figure does not fit into calculators only a week after introducing the note!! Then he made a U-turn. I tend to believe Gono thinks he is in a circus!!

One million Zimbabweans have sought refuge in neighbouring countries and a majority of them are waged farm workers, formerly employed in the very farms that have gone to Mugabe's cronies. Gono Knows that! Gono also knows that Mugabe diverts invaluable resources to stacking arms than investing in better acces to roads and other facilities farmers need in order to evacuate perishable goods to markets. The arms are to terrorize his opponents.

Gono should know that one should make a choice: either to spend a country's scarce resources to acquire arms to continue to cling to illegitimate power or invest in infrastructures to enable people to unleash their initiatives to improve their lives.

Gono should be on the list of those Mugabe cronies who should never receive any pardon; let him come before a commission to divulge how he was constrained to collude with Mugabe to deny the people the expression of their will;

katz if you have time visit this website "http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s107-494" read sec 6 (3) and tell me how you can impose economic sanctions on an individual?

easy... why are you so dumb today? you freeze their assets and stop thier travel. This is like kindergarten!

awt...ha ha ha..that made me laugh out loud. At least we can now understand why it is impossible for basic facts to sink into the dense brains on here...ha ha ha.

I hear ya. So people are just too far gone

katz...spot on!!! Are they honestly going to lower the price of a loaf of bread to 5cents??? If that is the case I will fly to zims and do my monthly groceries there whilst catching a bit of sun!! ha ha ha

Yes, Katz if you do understand how the West responded to land redistribution you are thinking alright. Only if you can't link all the hammering to include declared sanctions and all. The truth of the matter is the West think Mugabe's regime is setting a precedence where the white supremacy will be undermined. Only if you are too blind to notice that Zimbabwe's attention isn't worth the devoted media scrutiny it is getting then you could go all the way to suggest it was all Mugabe's regime's fault. Sometimes as a people you forego short term gains for the grand plan of true sovereignity. That's how I see the current status in our beloved Zimbabwe. If Morgan were to take over he was still going to deal with the land ghosts that bore the MDC for it was purely white farmers sponsorship that saw it come on board. Whose interests you may ask were they representing? So Katz until you become a true Zimbabwean to love even those in the rural communal areas you may never understand why.

Bambofather. Please tell me how these 'declared sanctions' have a link to the 'hammering' of the Zim economy? I shall remind you that the only declared sanctions are those on travel for govenment ministers and an arms embargo to stop what happened in Sudan. So please, enlighten us with your wisdom....

"Bambofather" you may be, I remain "Bamboozled" by your answer! Platitudes I am afraid. The sad truth is that instead of placing the formerly productive farms in the hands of competent farmers (of which I am sure there are many indigenous Zimbabweans who, with support and training, would readily become highly skilled as farmers) the farms were handed out as political patronage to rogues and thieves who are too lazy, too corrupt and way too incompetent to ever make a go of proper farming. Hopefully a new MDC government will get rid of these parasites.

Hi katz, I hope you're well.

"...how the West can be blamed for the collapse of Zimbabwe's agricultural productivity? I mean apart from the usual platitudes about illegal sanctions; how did the West go about removing the skilled and experienced base that existed there and replace it with 'telephone' farmers"?

The Zim situation is not isolated to failed agriculture. It is many-fold and includes independent influences on the economy. The collapse of agriculture and the economy is as much the result of local mis-management as it is the result of deliberate contrivance and intervention by non-Africans.

First off, it was rightly anticipated that at the change from white to black rule, some monies would leave the local economy as local and foreign investors shifted monies abroad, or converted Zim dollars to alternative currencies whilst they awaited political stabilisation. The IMF was on hand to help cope with this planned exedous of funds. Despite initial stability, the economy worsened as Zimbabweans became restless about pre-independence pledges regarding land re-distribution and the country's government called on the British to honour pledges of financial compensation to white farms losing land in redistribution.

After nearly twenty years of patient waiting for the Brits to honor pledges that it became apparent were never going to be honoured, the Fast Land re-form programme was started in order to catch up with years of delay.

Those white farmers and other investors who had money in the local economy started to leave the country in droves, with their money leaving Zimbabwe with two real issues, an agricultural expertisee gap and a financial gap together with a currency not backed by much (most currencies are backed by foreign reserves and gold and such and it was precisely these reserves that were dwindling as investors lost faith in the government's ability to overcome the impasse with Britain).

Importantly, and this is critical, the IMF and world Bank stopped backing the Zimbabwe government, this move was purely political in support of the British who were wholly oppossed to the Fast Track land reforms - it was not economic. So Zimbabwe was hamaeorraing (sp?) losing agricultual expertisee, real cash money - foreign currency and the support of the IMF who became an adversary instead of a backer.

The plan was to get Mugabe out of the picture but this backfired as African nations rallied to Zimbabwe's temporary defence as did China, of course. They too will have had their own best interests at heart but better the devil you know. They were also not interested in the politics of the country.

There was also a general brain drain from worthy politicians to good teachers that flooded out of the country as the economy worsened.

So white farmers had been dis-incentivised not to stay on and pass on knowledge (there was no compensation - nothing in it for them) and the Central Bank's coffers were fast emptying.

There are good sites to fill in the gaps for yourself but to skip forward to today, the amagamation of Britian's failure to compensate, poor management by the local government and deliberate attempts by international financial institutions and allies to the Brits see the Zimbabwe we witness today.

The external, non-African Western efforts are to get rid of Zimbabwe and reverse land reforms, and the local government and Mugabe's efforts are to retain newly acquired land as well as further lands. Don't forget much of the land in Zimbabwe is still controlled and managed by whites.

Indeed, the position isn't simply who manages the agricultural land but who owns it also. This is teh crux and nub of the Zim issue and the West has already pledged that if Mugabe goes with his land grab expectations, the Western community will come togethers wiftly to rescue Zimbawe's economy and agriculture.

The current talks in SA are an attempt to overcome the impasse that has worsened over the last ten years; to bring stability to the economy including agriculture without completely giving the country back to those who injudicially owned the land at the point of independence.

Rant over....I'll have to fill you in more at a later time. I hope this helps for now - typos and all!

Guidance and Peace.

Selector,

you may be surprised to hear this, but I actually enjoyed reading your rant. and I think you make a lot of good points as to the cause of the downfall of the zim economy. The problem I have is more to do with Mugabe beating and murdering his own people to keep power. But some questions for you. I'm keen to hear your thoughts on solutions. what do you see as the best way forward for Zimbabwe? To solve the inflationary issues?

awt,

I am surprised that you didn't try to rip my contribution to shreds, line by line. Thanks. :-)

"I'm keen to hear your thoughts on solutions. what do you see as the best way forward for ..."

I have a lot of faith in the current talks. Whilst I'm not so naive as to expect overnight solutions, I see the current talks as the first stepping stones to positive action.

No country/economy can exist in isolation in the 21st century. Each country has resources that need to be sourced externally and, hopefully, resources that can be provided to third parties. Zimbabwe is no exception and I am still of the opinion that, as a country, properly managed, it has more to offer than it needs in return/more to export than import. By rights, the country should have a positive trade balance and it is shameful and sinful that this is not the case.

There will be no meaningful improvements until Zimbabwe is no longer a pariah in international arenas. This necessitates effort and movement from current entrenched positions from both the current administration and the international community.

Again, my own hopes are in the current talks. At this time I can't see many alternative avenues for improved relations leading to constructive solutions.

Couldnt agree more. The current talks are the key. Has Mbeki really pulled a cat out of the bag and cornered Mugabe into negotiations that will lead to power slowly being taken away from him? I truely fear that Mugabe will not budge from his pedestal of power, which is bad for Zimbabwe because no one will want to invest with him there. Mbeki could really restore peoples faith here. Maybe he is more clever than people give him credit for.

Woow what more can one say?

The question is, do you agree with me, that the beating torture and murder of MDC supporters and intimidation on a massive scale changed the result of the election to Mugabe's favour in the run off?

There is much much more that one can say!

Under a democratically elected regime Mugabe would not have been booted out only, he would have been dragged to a criminal court and be severely judged by civilian jurors for having acted against the higher interest of his people!

Remember? He is God-annoited and God does not commit mistakes. Your type of empty headed followers make him believe that indeed he is God-annoited!

Has any of you been able to check Mugabe's personal bank accounts? While Zimbabweans are suffering acutely by becoming destitutes under Mugabe's catastrophic management of the economy, rumours are afloat that he and his cronies have stashed wealth in neighbouring countries, Malaysia and some offshore banks.

The judiciary In Zimbabwe is a laughing stock. While judges are sentencing to long term jail commoners who steal a bread to survive, they are accomplices to Mugabe in closing eyes to the flight of considerable funds recently. Tsvangirai will not only find an empty coffer, but also piles of debts.

If the ideas of Selector & company goes round extensively, the world may soon get discouraged to support meaningful change in Zimbabwe. Thanks to the vigilance of CSOs the rotten situation inside Zimbabwe is getting rightly exposed.

Mugabe has to be given marching orders. The people cannot continue to bleed further. Remember Mandela? Who has got the cheek to denounce him when he said Mugabe was a shame to Africa.

Hi Selector - I am well, thanks for asking.

I very much appreciated your response to my question. I learnt far more from it than I would have from the sort of dismissive rhetoric (left and right wing) that we often see on this site. You raised some issues which I feel compelled to say I either disagree with or which can be interpreted in a different manner. I'll quote some of these

"The Zim situation is not isolated to failed agriculture. It is many-fold and includes independent influences on the economy." - no arguments here, there can no doubt that the withdrawal of external balance of payments support has severely impacted upon the Zimbabwe economy. The issue is was Zanu-pf right to expect that the West would continue to bankroll their administration? It is after all the West that funds the World Bank and IMF. From a purely economic point of view, the rejection of the ESAP policies and the ex-gratia payments to war vets, both of which preceded the land appropriation issue, gave the bankers in Washington and Brussles severe cause for concern. Even without the politics of the Land Issue, zanu-pf was rash to assume continuing support. "After nearly twenty years of patient waiting for the Brits to honor pledges that it became apparent were never going to be honoured, the Fast Land re-form programme was started in order to catch up with years of delay" - please excuse an old cynic, but zanu-pf really only got going with the land reform programme after the 2000 referendum & election when it became apparent that the MDC was a force to be reckoned with. It was obvious to the electorate then that the growth years post independence were over and people were looking for new ideas and leadership. That was never to going to be forthcoming in an administration built on a personality cult. The succession question was never addressed by the politburo when it should have been.

Whilst the land question is entirely valid and the ownership of the land should, and must, remain predominately in indigenous hands, the management of this question was driven by a populist agenda. Instead of sticking to the original stated objective of removing multiple ownership and allowing those white Zimbabweans who were making an invaluable contribution to the country to retain one farm (and assist the new farmers at the same time), the quantum of patronage soon outgrew the available land stock and total mayhem ensued to the detriment of all. When the Government threw out the rule of law (such as prosecuting violent offenders)all hope of flows Foreign Direct Investment went with it. That is common business sense, not Western politics.

"Those white farmers and other investors who had money in the local economy started to leave the country in droves, with their money leaving Zimbabwe with two real issues, an agricultural expertisee gap and a financial gap" .. I find it implausible in the extreme that even had the UK compensated the white farmers they would not have left in droves given the violent and racist attitude of the government towards them. Their sin was not simply that they were very unjustly sitting on all of the best land ( and for their short sightidness they were rightly punished - {I am sure that they would have done things differently if they could have seen the future then}) but of equal importance they were the (a) the employers of 400,000 thousand farmworkers and their families and (b) seen by the Government to be MDC backers.No ways could zanu-pf allow that 'hot bed of sedition'in their electoral stronghold. Mugabe politics, not statesmanship, at work here.

"Importantly, and this is critical, the IMF and world Bank stopped backing the Zimbabwe government, this move was purely political in support of the British who were wholly oppossed to the Fast Track land reforms - it was not economic." - no question politics played a big part here; but which banker do you know lends money to a borrower who has just burnt down his factory? Money given to Zimbabwe means less money available for Mozambique, Chad, Laos, Bolivia etc etc. Zimbabwe needs to compete with other deserving cases for assistance. It would have been very simple for the technocrats to turn down requests for assistance from Zimbabwe. In any event, George Bush is a politician and his electorate does not want him giving US dollars to such a hostile administration.

"There was also a general brain drain from worthy politicians to good teachers that flooded out of the country as the economy worsened." - and here, my friend, I am truly worried. No amount of foreign aid is going to make up for the total annihiliation of Zimbawe's human capital.I foresee a country populated by ex-pats, NGOs and UN personnel, all meaning well, but none of whom are truly connected to the country.It will take decades, not years, to repair the damage done during the last 10 years. Few people will remember how sophisticated and capable Zimbabwe was between 1980 and 1995.

"The external, non-African Western efforts are to get rid of Zimbabwe and reverse land reforms"- nothing could be further from the truth. Not even the most lunatic right wing fringes of Western society envisage a return to Rhodesia. Mugabe has made many enemies for himself in the West, but there is a great deal of sympathy and affection for everyday Zimbabweans. Mugabe also happens to be the very public face of the "Old Order" at a time when Africa is moving to a new and brighter future. His timing to act in the way he has was very poor indeed.

"Don't forget much of the land in Zimbabwe is still controlled and managed by whites."- well you surprise me there,I didn't know that. You have excluded residential homes in making this assertion?

"Indeed, the position isn't simply who manages the agricultural land but who owns it also. This is teh crux and nub of the Zim issue..." I agree fully, land has a deep spiritual meaning to Zimbabweans. I think though, that some white farm ownership of farms would pay enormous dividends to the economy, especially if it was tied in with skills sharing and capital support of new farmers.

A very long winded post from me, but I respected your response to my question and wanted to do it justice.

Keep well.

katz

"The external, non-African Western efforts are to get rid of Zimbabwe and reverse land reforms"- nothing could be further from the truth".

Indeed... that was meant to read, "the external, non-African Western efforts are to get rid of "Mugabe" and reverse land reforms..." - shame!

I also noticed I spelt 'expertise' in a strange way a few times.

In the meantime, I'm afraid I work demands my time this morning but I am most grateful for your long winded response as well of those of other contributors such as awt and timberwolf.

Briefly though, "I am truly worried. No amount of foreign aid is going to make up for the total annihiliation of Zimbawe's human capital.I foresee a country populated by ex-pats, NGOs and UN personnel, all meaning well, but none of whom are truly connected to the country.It will take decades, not years, to repair the damage done during the last 10 years"....

I am equally worried and agree that it will take decades to repair the damage of the last ten years. I am ever hopeful, regardless.

"I think though, that some white farm ownership of farms would pay enormous dividends to the economy, especially if it was tied in with skills sharing and capital support of new farmers".

I absolutely agree.

Problem is I cant really see any white farmers wanting to return to Zimbabwe, not exactly the safest place to be a white farmer, and a pretty volatile policital and economic climate. I had hoped the land reform could have been handled better, with white farmers incentivised to educate their farm hands in the ways of farming so that in time these farm hands could run the farms and then take ownership in smooth transitional process. But this hasnt happened.

Like you say selector, this will take along time to get the farms back up and running to full productivity. I think its time to stop pointing the finger of blame at people for the situation that Zimbabwe is now in, and start thinking of solutions to solve the problem. Time to look forwards and not backwards.

I still think this involves getting rid of Mugabe. He has a terrible record against his people and has too larger chip on his shoulder against the west to have a positive impact on Zimbabwe. If Zim wants to start fresh and build a prosperous future, this has to start with removing the barriers to growth and give people optimism. Mugabe has to swollow his pride, take a graceful exit and leave the government of Zimbabwe to those that have the best interests of Zimbabwean people in their hearts.

Its not about fighting the british now, its about helping the people and Zim develop. And the west wont help if Mugabe is in power. Plain and simple. Mugabe is a liability to the people of Zimbabwe.

Selector, my respect for you has just been restored, excellent take on the current situation (even though it was a little one sided in places, but you have your faults, as do I ..... and at least we both know it)

The two points I will raise on this are:

Your comment on the Brits failing to follow through on their compensation for land promises: These were actually working (albeit at a slower pace than Mugabe was willing to accept) all the way through the 1980s, they were withdrawn in the first round of land grabs with violence due to the methods they used to reclaim the farms, so that was a moot point, as both sides were technically at fault.

The second point: "So white farmers had been dis-incentivised not to stay on and pass on knowledge (there was no compensation - nothing in it for them) and the Central Bank's coffers were fast emptying."

Which is technically pointing at another point that I have been trying to make for a month or so, and have been shouted down on it on almost every occasion (at least the ones where it was not ignored completely), and that is the point of cooperative farms, giving the white farmers that held the farms a minority stakeholding in the reclaimed farms (rather than ejecting them outright by violence) would have given them at least some incentive to stay on and share the knowledge they had, but that idea was lost in the policy of 'total empowerment' (industrial as well as agricultural), which was short sighted at the very best, and has in itself led to a large proportion of the economic problems faced today.

Personally I don't believe that it is too late for the cooperative ownership strategy to work, and at least it would have a chance of kick starting the economy to the point where Zimbabwe has a chance at becoming self reliant again.

Timberwolf

"Personally I don't believe that it is too late for the cooperative ownership strategy to work, and at least it would have a chance of kick starting the economy to the point where Zimbabwe has a chance at becoming self reliant again".

I agree that the demands of the ruling party vs the demands of detractors have led to the current impasse. For the sake of the country and the good people of Zimbabwe, a middle ground seems the only sensible and 'possible' way forwards.

Exactly the point I've been trying to make to certain people for quite a while ..... there should be no demands from either ruling party or detractors, especially not the sorts of demands we have heard from those quarters in recent months. Rather than wasting time and energy arguing one side of things endlessly while Zimbabwe and the people slip further into the mire, that same time and energy would be far better spent in getting heads together and figuring ways out of it (which is why, although I don't hold out much hope from a personal view, I really hope the GNU talks work ..... without slipping back to the original ZANU PF/PF ZAPU situation.)

Katz...you wrote: "rogues and thieves who are too lazy, too corrupt and way too incompetent to ever make a go of proper farming"...you forgot to add "or ever successfully governing a country too"...LOL

'Sometimes as a people you forego short term gains for the grand plan of true sovereignity". At least there are those who are awake and understand what it takes to bring true empowerment.

Obviously you are not awake and aware, because to bring true empowerment to a country requires ALL people within that country to work as a single entity ..... not just the black or white people, the Shona or Ndebele, the Catho;ic or Methodist, but ALL people ..... and that is something that Mugabe has been blocking.

If you get everyone who wants to see ZIMBABWE succeed together and allow them to work as one then ZIMBABWE will succeed, if you create a racist state, much as Rhodesia was, then you are no better than they were, so look at the facts in an unbiased light and choose, lest you become exactly the ideal you claim to fight against.

One of the best statements on here by far timberwolf. We have been trying to get the people on here to recognise that but instead we are rewarded with abuse and name calling along the lines of ex rhodies, racists..etc...when all we would like to do is return to our homeland and restore it to what it once was..a prosperous thriving country...but in these people's minds what that equates to is a hankering after Rhodesia...and in that they condemn themselves because they are acknowledging the Rhodesian economy was better run than the current! But in no way does that make any of us rhodesians anymore than a love of chimps makes you an ape...But I fear our words fall on deaf ears!