An information from Zimbabwe

[anb-bia <anb-bia@village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS SPECIAL ISSUE of: 28-07-2002

INFORMATION FROM ZIMBABWE

A friend of ours in Zimbabwe sent us the following information about their 
impending famine. We were asked to spread this information as widely as we can.
If you like, you can reply directly to his own address: <bmacgarry@mango.zw>
Greetings
Paolo Costantini (anb-bia)


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Dear Friends

It seems necessary to write to everyone possible about our impending famine.

The situation is complicated by a number of factors. The rains have been 
bad. The total maize crop was less than 400,00 tonnes, between a half and a 
third of what the peasant farmers usually produce in a year. The commercial 
farmers, of whose problems you hear so much, normally produce much less 
than that; about 30-40% of the total crop. Removing them from the scene 
need not cause any problem in direct food production in a good year, but 
this was not a good year - in fact the worst since 1947. The disruptions 
caused by the land takeovers and the violence associated with the 
presidential election campaign must have contributed to the present problem.

But there has been no famine in history that was not man-made. The Irish 
potato famine of the 1840s is a well-documented case, with the country 
exporting wheat during the famine, while peasants, dependent on their 
potato crop, starved and left the country in their millions. In our case, 
the people in control of the state machinery (we don't have a government: 
the `results' of the presidential election this year were illegitimate, and 
the legitimacy of ZANU-PF's claim to have won a majority in the 
parliamentary elections of 2000 are still sub judice, while `president' 
Mugabe has not even appointed a new cabinet as the constitution requires 
since the presidential election in March) are planning to make people and 
communities who voted against them in March starve first. I doubt whether 
they have the capacity to limit the damage to that.

However, there are international factors connected with `globalisation' and 
its effect on food security. The Zimbabwe government, before the 2000 
elections, decided not to allow the import of genetically-modified seed. 
That was a right decision, given the proven danger of infection of non-GM 
crops. Our previously flourishing seed maize industry exported hybrid maize 
adapted to the African environment widely throughout the region, and if 
that became contaminated, we would lose that market. The whole region would 
become dependent on US genetically-modified seed.

In this light, we need to read the report from Reuters on 23 July that: In 
June the United States said it gave Zimbabwe 8,500 tons of maize but a 
further 10,000 tons was rejected because it did not have a certificate 
saying it had not been genetically modified. Despite the fact that Andrew 
Meldrum corrected this information in the London `Guardian' early in June, 
this story still circulates. The fact is that the 8,500 tonnes that were 
accepted were not grain, but meal. The later 10,000 tonnes were grain, i.e. 
GM seed. The US say in the same Reuters report that they only have GM maize 
to offer. If they are serious, they could mill the grain and send it as 
meal. That would be accepted.

If the food was made available, we would still have to deal with the 
problem of partisan distribution and targeted famine. It is most important 
that the US and the former colonial powers don't take the lead in putting 
any pressure that is necessary; the UN Food Programme is the proper agency 
to do that, along with private donor agencies, who have a right to see 
where their aid is going (we had a visit from the overseas director of 
Christian Aid last month for this purpose). International law limits what 
foreign governments can do.

I can only hope that, if the situation does get really bad, when the South 
African government does intervene they will be met with sympathy elsewhere. 
Famine here on the scale we expect would mean vast numbers of refugees 
fleeing to neighbouring countries, especially South Africa: in defence of 
their own economic security, they would have to intervene. The West may 
applaud such action, but they will not, on their record, offer any help in 
the appropriate way, to the country forc ed to intervene. Remember that, 
when Tanzania was invaded by Idi Amin's Ugandan army in 1979 and their 
defensive campaign led to their removing Amin from power, a move which was 
welcomed by all Uganda's neighbours, Tanzania did not receive a penny of 
aid from the West to compensate for the vast expense of such a war to such 
a poor country.

Please spread this information as widely as you can.

Brian MacGarry sj
Zambuko House
12 Fern Road
Hatfield
Harare
Zimbabwe
phone: +263-4 571174
e-mail: bmacgarry@mango.zw