HARARE
—
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
on
Friday
launched
a
new
policy
that
will
allow
beneficiaries
of
land
taken
from
white
farmers
under
contentious
land
reforms
to
sell
it
and
to
be
able
to
borrow
from
banks
using
it
as
collateral.
This
marks
a
major
shift
in
Zimbabwe’s
land
policy.
Previously,
the
resettled
farmers
couldn’t
transfer
ownership
of
land.
However,
ownership
of
the
land
can
only
be
transferred
between
“indigenous
Zimbabweans,”
a
reference
to
black
Zimbabweans,
and
will
need
government
approval
under
the
new
policy.
Tens
of
thousands
of
black
people
took
over
white-owned
farms
after
then
President
Robert
Mugabe
initiated
the
land
reforms
in
2000.
Mugabe,
who
died
in
2019,
justified
the
reforms
as
being
necessary
to
redress
some
of
the
wrongs
of
colonialism
that
put
most
of
Zimbabwe’s
fertile
land
in
the
hands
of
a
few
white
farmers.
But
the
new
black
farmers
weren’t
allowed
to
sell
or
transfer
ownership
of
the
land,
which
was
deemed
to
belong
to
the
state.
As
a
result,
banks
were
reluctant
to
advance
loans
to
the
resettled
farmers,
who
couldn’t
use
their
land
as
collateral.
On
Friday,
a
handful
of
farmers,
including
Mnangagwa,
received
title
deeds
to
the
farms
they
are
occupying.
Mnangagwa
also
announced
a
technical
committee
to
spearhead
the
process
for
other
resettled
black
farmers.
Speaking
at
an
event
held
at
his
farm
near
Kwekwe,
Mnangagwa
said
the
policy
would
help
“unlock
the
value”
of
the
land
and
make
it
“bankable
and
transferable.”
About
4,500
white
farmers
who
owned
the
majority
of
prime
farmland
were
removed
from
their
farms,
often
forcibly
by
violent
mobs
led
by
veterans
of
the
country’s
1970s
independence
war
more
than
20
years
ago.
Some
farmers
and
their
workers
died
or
were
seriously
injured
in
the
violence,
which
included
beatings
and
rape,
according
to
Human
Rights
Watch.
The
land
seizures
badly
impacted
commercial
farming,
forcing
a
country
that
was
a
key
regional
food
producer
and
exporter
to
rely
on
assistance
from
donors.
Zimbabwe’s
agriculture
sector
has
rebounded
in
recent
years,
but
droughts
are
now
the
main
challenge.
Securing
finance
has
been
another
problem
that
Mnangagwa
hopes
could
be
solved
by
the
new
policy
of
issuing
title
deeds
to
black
farmers.
Secure
land
tenure
means
“our
farmers
can
access
credit
facilities”
and
it
“lifts
many
out
of
poverty
into
prosperity,”
Mnangagwa
said.
In
October,
Finance
Minister
Mthuli
Ncube
said
that
Zimbabwe
would
compensate
local
and
foreign
white
farmers
who
lost
land
and
property
in
the
farm
seizures.
–
AP