Zimbabwe allows whites to lease farms

The government of Zimbabwe is reversing course to allow white farmers who lost their land to apply for government-owned farms.

The government of President Robert Mugabe wants to put a positive spin on the shift. Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told the BBC that the white farmers are "begging" for land.

But critics say that the change shows the total failure of Mugabe's land-reform program. The number of white farmers in Zimbabwe dropped from 4,000 to 300 between 2000 and 2006, and the country went from an agricultural surplus to famine.

Production of tobacco, Zimbabwe's major cash crop, dropped from 237 million kilograms (about 500 million pounds) in 2000 to 73 million kilograms (about 150 million pounds) last year.

Mugabe has acknowledged some corruption in the land reform program and a failure to provide guidance and training for blacks given what had been white-owned land. But he also blames European countries, accusing them of trying to sabotage Zimbabwe's economy.

Farmers who apply for land are not necessarily getting the property that was confiscated. The government is leasing the land for 99 years.

© Copyright 2006 by United Press International