Fruits of Zimbabwe's agriculture reforms turn sour for farm laborers

Fruits of Zimbabwe's agriculture reforms turn sour for farm laborers

Farm laborers complain that many Black owners, who years ago seized land from white farmers, force them to work without wages

By Jeffrey Moyo

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe (AA) – In 2000, when Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe started forcibly removing white farmers and giving their land to Black citizens, many hailed this as a major agricultural reform.

But more than two decades later, and nearly five years since the late President Mugabe relinquished his rule, many farm laborers employed on these lands complain that their new owners have turned them into virtual slaves by failing to pay them proper wages, or any at all.

The scheme, meant to redress the legacies of British colonialism in practice, not only brought down agriculture production due to the lack of farming skills of the new owners, but in some cases their treatment of farm laborers also created havoc.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, farm laborer Dambudzo Mukwichi said that two decades ago along with his family he moved to work on a farm seized by Agrippa Nhepura, a Black war veteran in the western Masvingo province.

“But in all these years, I have never gotten wages from the employer, even as we are toiling hard to grow maize in the fields,” he said.

Many farm laborers who joined Mukwichi to work in the fields have now abandoned work and sit idle or switched to other jobs to earn a livelihood.

Mukwichi said that before the reforms he used to work in fields owned by white farmers.

“Life was far better and working conditions were better under white farmers. I used to get all my wages on time,” he said.

He said now he gets just a 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag of maize from his employer as wages and then a long list of excuses over what he is owed.

“The boss always has answers ready and I don’t have any place to go. I’ve spent my whole life on farms working as an agriculture laborer,” said Mukwichi.


- Owner’s defense

Defending his failure to pay wages, employer Nhepura told Anadolu Agency on the phone that he gives food to laborers on his farm.

Some activists say that over the years the indigenous Black farmers have turned into new “slave masters,” as they deny wages to agriculture laborers like Mukwichi and his family.

Nixon Chata, a Zimbabwean labor rights activist, said the laborers who are actually get wages are grossly underpaid, less than $1 a day.

Currently $1 is equivalent to 379 Zimbabwean dollars, less than the price of a single loaf of bread.

The white farmers used to pay higher wages – two decades ago, workers like Mukwichi used to pocket at least $90-$120 monthly.

According to the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), before the violent takeover of farms in Zimbabwe, an estimated 350,000 farm laborers were employed on commercial farms owned by about 4,500 white farmers.

Since then, only about 65,000 farm laborers are working on farms taken over by indigenous farmers, according to figures provided by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.


- Migration of laborers

Due to low wages, many agricultural laborers have migrated to seek greener pastures in South Africa and elsewhere.

Ndumiso Gwande, 48, who spoke to Anadolu Agency from South Africa, said he was not paid for a long time by the owners of Zimbabwean farms.

Human rights activist Elvis Mugari alleged another offense, saying: “It has now become a common trend to employ children at the farms.”

“Few people talk about this rot whereby resettled farmers have resorted to hiring underage children on their farms whom they pay very little or never pay at all,” Mugari told Anadolu Agency.

Mathias Mungoni, 33, who is working at a farm in Goromonzi in Zimbabwe’s eastern Mashonaland province, alleged that his Black employer has beaten him for demanding his wages.

The Progressive Agriculture and Allied Industries Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PAAWUZ) has been asking the Zimbabwean government to regularly revise farm laborers’ wages to match inflation trends.

Inflation has climbed past 190% in Zimbabwe, and with little or no wages, farm laborers employed by resettled farmers are suffering.

“The seizure of farms from white farmers and replacing them with Black resettled farmers hasn’t changed old class relations between the owners and laborers. The oppression of farm workers has worsened,” said Claris Madhuku, director for Platform for Youth and Community Development (PYCD), a civic organization based in Zimbabwe.


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