(Ecofin Agency) - Zimbabwe’s government, attempting to get back international community’s favor, opened a compensation fund for white farmers who were dispossessed of their lands as a result of land reform implemented at the beginning of the 2000s. The government plans to finance the fund by levying a fee on the families now occupying these lands.

The new occupants however, mostly, with not much knowledge in farming, said they could not pay government the money it is asking. “Are farmers able to pay? I will say no. Is the land being productive ? I will say no again,” said Victor Matemadanda, secretary general of a group of war veterans who led the government’s land seizure initiative then.

Abdul Nyathi, President of Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union sharing Matemadanda’s opinion said: “Most of the farmers face viability issues, the government will have to look at other ways of raising money”

Government considers a possible failure of its initiative quite inconvenient given that Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, last March 9, announced a number of reforms, one of which is related to farm’s size.

More than 5,000 white farmers were forced off their lands in the framework of land reform. As a result, international community stopped funding Zimbabwe.

Aaron Akinocho