Staff ReporterZimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly said that his government has started taking back farms from those who have multiple farms.
According to the state-owned Chroniclenewspaper, Mnangagwa said his government would be transferring the farms to young people who would use the farms to realise optimum yields.
He said that the government would also embark on a downsizing programme that would enable more people to get land.
“Those that have multiple farms, we are going to repossess that land and redistribute it. We have started doing so. We are also going to be downsizing farms that exceed the recommended sizes. We want fairness in the distribution of land. We want our farmers to be productive,” Mnangagwa was quoted as saying.
Thousands of white commercial farmers and their employees were displaced and left without sources of income during the fast-tracked agrarian reforms that were masterminded by ex-president Robert Mugabe’s administration in 2000.
According to the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union, more than 4000 white farmers were affected by the often violent farm invasions.
Some of the white farmers that were kicked out of their properties during the agrarian reforms have now set base in neighbouring countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
