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Africa: Subsaharan
Zimbabwe farmers not planting much
2004-12-28
Farmers in Zimbabwe have ploughed and planted less than a quarter of the targeted agricultural land, raising fears of food shortages next year, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made has announced. Quoting Made, state radio Sunday said that "due to the shortage of tillage equipment, farmers have planted crops on 977,694 hectares (2.4 million acres) this season, compared to the anticipated four million hectares". The minister added that "no one can assess the impact of what the 977,694 hectares planted so far -- instead of the targetted four million hectares -- will have on the output of maize (staple grain) as it is in the middle of the agricultural season." A senior official in the agriculture ministry, Shadreck Mlambo, last week warned that "time is running out".
While let's see, 1 million out of 4 million is about, oh (carry the seven, plus the square root of 48, minus two toes ...) 25% of the land is planted. Therefore I surmise, using my keen powers of observation and foruth grade math, that they'll have at most 25% of the maize. At most because there are plenty of ways for them to reduce the yield between now and harvest-time. That wasn't so hard, was it?
Made told ZIANA state news agency at the weekend that the country needed at least 50,000 tractors to meet its agricultural requirements. A team of engineers and officials left on Christmas Day for Iran which has offered to help Zimbabwe set up a tractor manufacturing plant. Fewer than half of the 733 tractors in the country are currently operational due to shortages of spares. Made urged farmers to use animal-drawn ploughs as tractors are in short supply and said farmers should not adhere to the traditional strict planting days as the rainfall season has "slightly changed".
Posted by:Seafarious

#17  You decide:New Math or "Hey it sounds like a good excuse"?
50% tractors broken,75% less land planted.

Seriously,what a f***up. The country has less than 800 tractors,and the government says they need 50,000. If every tractor was working they expected them to plow over 540,000 acres each?
Must be nice to have the power to change the Earth's rotation. Otherwise saying the rain season has "slighty changed" is a desperate attempt to throw seeds at the ground and hope they actually bear usable crops.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-12-28 10:32:53 PM  

#16  I see a new Despair Inc. poster forthcoming...

COMMUNISM: It may be that your nation's only purpose for existence is to provide case studies for Thomas Sowell's next book.
Posted by: BH   2004-12-28 7:26:41 PM  

#15  Hiya Mark! Hope you're prospering. I see Cocoa going up 50.00 then down some and back up, then maybe down a little, depends tho. :)
Posted by: Shipman   2004-12-28 4:50:20 PM  

#14  ... we still trucked out 13.9 Million in USAID last year to Zimbabwe.

Boy howdy, that's a great big heaping helping of displeasure. I sure could do with a dose of that kinda displeasure myself. Where do I sign up?
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-28 3:53:02 PM  

#13  Mark E! We've missed you...should we go long on grain futures? ;-)
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-12-28 3:09:12 PM  

#12  I bet a lot of Zimbabwe's farmers would like to 'plant' arch-dictator Robert Mugabe, six feet under.



Make that seven to be sure.

Posted by: Mark Espinola   2004-12-28 3:07:44 PM  

#11  Zimbabwe outlaws NGOs.
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-12-28 3:06:39 PM  

#10  While it's true that the US has acted politically to show displeasure with Bob, we still trucked out 13.9 Million in USAID last year to Zimbabwe.
Table 2, page7
Also, the United States provides aid to Africa indirectly through international financial
institutions (IFIs) and United Nations agencies.IDA disbursements to Africa totaled $2.6 billion in 2002, or about 39% of the total. Since the United States provided $792.4 million to IDA in FY2002,it could be calculated that about 39% this amount, or approximately $309 million, went indirectly to Africa through IDA. Also the African Development Fund (AfDF) has been another major channel for indirect U.S. aid to Africa. In the mid-1990s, the United States and other donors became concerned over AfDB lending practices and the effectiveness of Bank management,but these concerns have been largely resolved. Consequently, the United States is participating in the replenishment programs of both the Bank and the Fund.
See table 4 p.11
p.13 Skeptics of USAID’s programs...note that two leading recipients, Uganda and Ethiopia, have recently been involved in armed conflicts, as have
some lesser recipients, including Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, and Angola.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/24678.pdf

But Bob is a fox. He's grown weary of having to bribe and threaten NGO workers for his share of the foreign aid pie. So Bob introduced new legislation in December to make sure foreign aid $ goes through his paws.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2004-12-01-voa41.cfm
"Zimbabwe Children Left Hungry After Foreign Food Aid Personnel Forced to Leave" 12/01/04
President Robert Mugabe told donor nations earlier this year that they should stop funding food imports as Zimbabwe has grown enough to support itself. Many foreign humanitarian organizations say they applied in good time for renewal of their staffs' work permits. They say they do not know why so many have been delayed to the point that the workers will shortly find themselves illegally in Zimbabwe. A new law to ban foreign funded non-governmental organizations involved in human rights and governance is expected to win final approval by parliament on December 9.
Posted by: joeblow   2004-12-28 2:56:11 PM  

#9  This harness hurts.
Posted by: Tired Barbie   2004-12-28 2:34:32 PM  

#8  Actually JB, the US and UK are in the forefront of trying to make Bob behave. While we haven't sent in the 101st Airborne, we're at least using diplomatic and economic muscle to go at him. A damned sight more than anyone else is doing, that's for sure.
Posted by: Steve White   2004-12-28 1:59:52 PM  

#7   at least Bob and all his cronies can sit smugly on their ill-gotten land and starve
Wouldn't that be nice? Unfortunately, the US State Dept will charge over on white horses to Bob's palace the minute he announces he has lost a pound ( on Dr. Atkins Diet) begging him to take our tax dollars ( pretty please) to buy ... more... tractors from Iran?
Posted by: joeblow   2004-12-28 1:28:50 PM  

#6  Zimbabwe indeed. I got married in Harare when it was still called Salisbury and went through Great Zimbawe ruins on my honeymoon. A predestined name.
Posted by: SwissTex   2004-12-28 12:48:49 PM  

#5  Well, at least Bob and all his cronies can sit smugly on their ill-gotten land and starve. Oh, wait, that's what the little people are for.
Posted by: Zenster   2004-12-28 12:41:13 PM  

#4  This would be laughable if it weren't so sad. How did all that land get planted before your thefts "reforms" Bob? It's amazing what 733 tractors can do in the hands of farmers who know how to use them efficiently.
Posted by: Spot   2004-12-28 12:06:02 PM  

#3  Glorious Tractor factory.

I see something coming for whitey.

Whitey (circa 2004) eq Kulak (circa 1931 )
Posted by: badanov   2004-12-28 12:03:18 PM  

#2  Planting? I thought whitey was supposed to do that?
Posted by: Farming B. Hard   2004-12-28 11:58:27 AM  

#1  can't afford to fix the tractors you have, so you sign a deal with the Mullahs to build a tractor-manufacturing-plant?
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-28 11:51:23 AM  

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