← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Petr
Thread ID: 20666 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2005-10-16
2005-10-16 13:18 | User Profile
[I]Now this is pathetic, even [B]they[/B] don't want to touch this loser.[/I]
[url]http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=12940[/url]
[FONT="Arial"] [SIZE="5"]China turns down Mugabeââ¬â¢s farm offer[/SIZE]
[B]author/source:Zim Online (SA) published:Wed 12-Oct-2005 [/B]
[SIZE="3"][I]Chinese officials were convinced that the Zimbabwean environment did not provide enough security nor a conducive business atmosphere [/I][/SIZE]
Harare - China has turned down an offer by President Robert Mugabeââ¬â¢s government to take over farms seized from whites apparently because Beijing feared there was no guarantee that such an investment would be secure in the long term, authoritative sources said.
Zimbabwe has since last April attempted to hammer a joint-venture deal with China that would enable resource-rich farmers from the Asian giant to enter into partnerships with the Harare government to farm land seized from whites and help resuscitate the southern African countryââ¬â¢s collapsed agricultural sector. But sources said China has developed cold feet on the planned deal worried by Harareââ¬â¢s ever shifting land laws and policies in particular a controversial constitutional amendment last month that virtually nationalises all agricultural land.
"There is unlikely to be a deal. The government was desperate to bring the Chinese over, but complications have arisen in light of the new laws nationalising farmland," said a senior official in Zimbabweââ¬â¢s Ministry of Agriculture, who is privy to the negotiations between Harare and Beijing.
The official said the Africa Agriculture Development Centre (AADC) - a subsidiary of the China State Farms Agribusiness Corporation (CSFAC) ââ¬â that was leading negotiations with Zimbabwean authorities was also unhappy that Harare had failed to produce a comprehensive plan to revive its agricultural sector.
"The Chinese officials were convinced that the Zimbabwean environment did not provide enough security nor a conducive business atmosphere compared to other African countries where China is involved," said the state agriculture official, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the Press.
[B]China is involved in farming projects in other African countries such as Tanzania and Togo, while also making inroads in Zambia and Mozambique[/B].
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who also oversees land reforms, said he was not able to take questions on the matter when contacted by Zim Online last night. "I am sorry I cannot take questions at the moment," he said before switching off his mobile phone. Thousands of once productive former white farms are lying fallow chiefly because the Harare government does not have money to buy inputs for black villagers settled on the farms or to equip them with the skills required to maintain production.
[B]As a result, food production has plummeted by an estimated 60 percent since 2000 when Mugabe began seizing farms from whites and giving them over to landless blacks.[/B] [B]For example, an estimated four million people face starvation this year unless more than one million tonnes of food aid is urgently provided.[/B]
Under the stalled deal, the Chinese government-owned CSFAC would have entered into a partnership with the Agricultural Rural Development Agency (ARDA) to revive several of the derelict former white farms and boost agricultural production. The ever loss-making ARDA is owned by the government of Zimbabwe. The government was going to repossess farms from new black owners who have failed to utilise them and hand them over to ARDA and CSFAC under the plan.
Harare was also planning to seize more land from the few remaining white farmers and give it over to the firms. Mugabe has pursued a Look-East policy since falling out with traditional trading partners in the West over his farm seizure policy, alleged human rights abuses and other governance issues. [/FONT]
2005-10-17 02:34 | User Profile
Wow, trying to "outsource/onshore" the farming because the blacks he stole the land for can't do it. Chinese may be commies but that good ole capitalist spirit shows them a bad deal when they see it.
2005-10-17 02:48 | User Profile
Why am I scared that even more US taxpayer funds are going to end up in the hands of that NEGRO mugabe?!
Let them throw spears at each other.