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Agriculture
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2007-44
Monday November 5th - Sunday 11th 2007
November 16, 2007

The official media obscured evidence of government's chaotic farming plans with official assurances that preparations were on schedule. For example, while they presented the authorities as striving to ensure a successful outcome to what they have dubbed the "mother of all farming seasons", mostly through the provision of inputs and machinery, they did not provide convincing proof of this. Thus, except for publicising the occasional distribution of farm equipment to chiefs under government's mechanisation programme, the official media barely provided corroborative evidence that the country was indeed ready for the farming season. The superficial manner in which the government media handled the matter was aptly illustrated by the official Press' lopsided coverage of the Supreme Court ruling empowering the state to seize farm equipment belonging to former white commercial farmers whose farms had already been seized under its controversial land reforms. Their three stories were either passive reports of the court's ruling or interpreted solely through the eyes of beneficiaries of the reforms, who predictably welcomed the development.No independent opinion was aired.

Although The Herald and Chronicle (6/11), reported Godfrey Chidyausiku's "landmark ruling" dismissing the application by a group of former white commercial farmers challenging the acquisition of their equipment, no effort was subsequently made to assess the negative impact of the court's ruling on Zimbabweans' constitutionally guaranteed rights to private property. The papers did report the court's finding that there "was no conflict between the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Act complained of", after the farmers had argued that the seizure of their equipment under the Acquisition of Farm Equipment Act was "invalid" because it failed to comply with the Constitution, particularly Section 16. And they reported the court's dismissal of the farmers' claim that the Act did "not provide for the payment of fair compensation within reasonable time" on the basis that the constitution did not prescribe whether payment "will be in one lump-sum or instalments". But the papers subsequently made no effort to explain what Section 16 of the Constitution deals with (the "protection from deprivation of property"). And they didn't set the compensation ruling against the reality of Zimbabwe's hyperinflation.

Notably, all ZBC stations ignored the court ruling.

Meanwhile, the official media gave the impression that government had sourced enough inputs for farmers, but then carried piecemeal stories that unwittingly contradicted the authorities' claims exposing preparations as being behind schedule.

For example, although ZTV, Spot FM and Radio Zimbabwe (6/11, 8pm) and The Herald (8/11) reported Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo saying they had "secured" 30 000 tonnes of maize seed from seed houses out of the targeted 50 000, it remained unclear whether the seed was actually available for distribution. In addition, no attempt was made to establish whether the imported 12 000 tonnes of seed from Zambia had actually arrived in the country, or how "soon" the government would import the additional tonnage to offset its shortfall.

Similarly, The Herald (10/11) merely quoted Vice-President Joice Mujuru promising farmers that she had met with seed houses and got an "assurance that there was enough seed to meet demand this farming season". In both cases, these media did not verify the official claims with the seed houses.

The government media also carried several indicators of poor farming preparations such as shortages of fuel, pesticides, transport and machinery, among others, without reference to their impact on farming preparations. In addition, The Herald (7/11) portrayed the participation of the British Ambassador, Andrew Pocock, in the vetting of the World Food Programme's food aid beneficiaries in "remote" Shurugwi as political meddling, instead of explaining that Britain is one of the biggest donors to the WFP's feeding programmes and would naturally be interested in seeing how British taxpayers' money was being used. These reports were part of the 79 stories that the government media carried on the topic. Of these, 47 appeared on ZBC and 32 in government papers. The government media's reliance on official statements was reflected in their sourcing patterns (Figs 1 and 2).

Fig 1: Voice distribution on ZBC

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the government Press

The private media gave more informed coverage of developments in the country's agricultural sector, characterised by continued disruptions on the few remaining white-owned farms, dwindling production and shortages of inputs and equipment.

They carried 17 reports on the topic (six in the electronic media and 11 in the private papers). For example, the Zimbabwe Independent (9/11) critically assessed the Supreme Court's endorsement of the state's seizure of former white farmers' equipment.

It questioned why private property should be seized "to fill a gap created" by the state's own "lack of proper planning . . . in the resettlement programme", and why the court's finding that a "section of the public" was "so vague that mainly those closely-connected to politicians benefit from private property seized in the name of 'the public' generally". It also questioned the vagueness of the court's finding that compensation be paid within "a reasonable time" in view of the country's hyperinflationary climate.

"In sum, the ruling shows that Zimbabwe's constitution is an inadequate guarantor of private property rights", the paper's editorial stated, adding, "it is a huge deterrent to private investment and we can thank the white commercial farmers for helping expose this."

Earlier, ZimOnline (8/11) reported the Commercial Farmers' Union arguing that the Supreme Court judgment "would legalise the wholesale theft of farming equipment". As if to confirm this, the Independent reported the looting of equipment at some white-owned farms following the judgment.

In one incident, it reported that 15 soldiers who had invaded Grand Parade Farm in Karoi "despite the existence of a court order" allowing the owner to stay, had now "taken over irrigation equipment at the farm . . . " and were also threatening to take over the dairy cows and processing plant. However, there was no confirmation from the affected farmers.

The private media continued to expose the precarious food security situation with Studio 7 (5/11) reporting the Famine Early Warnings System Network stating that the country faced a "widespread food security crisis" if the government does not meet grain import targets, or if international food aid is delayed in the next few months. Contrary to government claims, SW Radio Africa (9/11) reported agricultural expert and opposition official, Renson Gasela, claiming a "big percentage" of farmers had failed to get maize seed and fertilizer. He said that although government claimed it had distributed 30 000 tonnes of maize seed, "we don't see it".

The private media's sourcing patterns are shown in Figs 3 and 4.

Fig 3: Voice distribution in private papers

Fig 4: Voice distribution in private electronic media

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