Absence of white farmers not the reason for Zimbabwe's food shortages

Zimbabwe's food production ability was not destroyed by taking white farms. Commercial farmers were only responsible for producing 30% of Zimbabwe's staple, maize. 70% was produced by communal farmers (villages working on small plots averaging about 6 hectares).

What destroyed Zimbabwe's agricultural productivity was the idiosyncratic economic policies of the Mugabe government. The first was price control. The government decreed the price of agricultural commodities. The second was market restriction. The government decreed that only the government owned Grain Marketing Board could buy maize. In conjunction with this decree they banned the transportation of maize to anywhere other than GMB depots. Thus producing the staple simply became unprofitable and communal farmers simply resorted to producing just enough to feed their families.

The production of maize is very much dependent on annual rainfall patterns. Years with good rains would see bumper harvest enabling the government to put some into reserve stockpiles. Price controls meant that there were several years without reserves being replenished hence the government lost its ability to supplement grain supplies in drought years. Also at play was the monetary mismanagement which wiped out foreign currency reserves. The government was unable to import maize on its own.

The fact that white farmers were chased of their farms was merely a coincidence. In fact this was not even the first time that Zimbabwe had had to import maize for food. In the 1982/83 season there was a serious drought and the government imported yellow maize which was derisively referred to as 'Kenya' by locals. The consistency and taste of sadza (ugali) made from yellow maize is not that same as that from white maize. I do not know for what reason yellow sadza came to be referred to as Kenya.

The food aid that was distributed during that drought came to be commonly referred to as 'chibage chaVaMugabe' (Mugabe's maize). In the subsequent years Zanu-PF became so popular that at one point they won 117 out of the 120 seats in parliament. This is one of the reasons why donors and Western governments are now making a huge effort not to have food aid being associated closely with the government. The fact that this  leads to unnecessary waste and duplication of resources, is ignored.

There was another drought around 1991/92 and the government again had to import maize, this time mainly from SA and Zambia. During both these major food shortages white commercial farmers were in full unhindered operation, yet that did not prevent the weather from playing havoc on food supplies.

As we speak last year (2010/2011 season) the rains were relatively good and we didn't hear anything about food shortages in Zimbabwe. This year the rains have not been so good but some regions of the country have reasonable harvest. Food shortages will hopefully not be serious.

Weather, not the race of farmers, is the chief influence upon food security in Zimbabwe. I grew up among Zimbabwean villagers and the chief worry in terms of food security has always been 'are the rains going to be good this year?' (Mukati nhaka mvura inonaya zvakanaka?)

Of late seasons of low rainfall have become more frequent, and rains are persistently coming late. Thus the other possible reason for Zimbabwe's growing food insecurity is climate change, not the absence of a particular race of farmers.