Wednesday, February 01, 2006

The Gentle Rain From Heaven

But, in Zimbabwe it isn't twice blest...him that gives and him that takes:

Food crops in Zimbabwe have failed again despite ample rainfall.

Zimbabwe is expected this year to grow less than half of what it needs to feed the population and the rains have denied President Robert Mugabe his standard explanation of poor weather for slumping production.

Foreign exchange-earning crops, such as tobacco, flowers and coffee, are now almost too small to count.

More than 20 million acres of Zimbabwe's well-developed agricultural land has been confiscated from about 4,000 experienced white farmers since 2000 and handed to Mr Mugabe's cronies, senior civil servants and members of his extended family.

About 90 per cent of that land is now fallow and the infrastructure is destroyed.

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