"Let’s Close The Land Reform Chapter," Ex-White Farmer Tells ZANU PF

Former Vice President of the Commercial Farmers Union of ZimbabweZimbabwe, Trevor Gifford has said that Zimbabwe needs to close the land reform chapter and focus on developing the agriculture sector.

Speaking during a Zanu PF’s Third Business Breakfast Meeting held in Mutare on Thursday, Gifford, a white former commercial farmer, said:

It’s now 20 years after the land reform. Let’s close the chapter and give an opportunity to those who can fully utilise the land.

I am a citizen of Zimbabwe who also wants the same opportunity so that I can be an active participant in the nation and economic rebuilding.

Gifford was evicted from his farm in Chipinge in 2006 at the height of government’s fast track land reform program.

He observed that the country has “vast tracts of fertile land lying idle” which should be given to those “who can fully utilise” it “for the benefit of the nation.”

Zimbabwe which was at some point the breadbasket of Africa has for the past two decades been a basket case as it fails to produce enough even for local consumption with authorities blaming climate shift and sanctions.

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