PDA

View Full Version : Socialism at work...



Jerk
10/2/2007, 05:19 PM
or poetic justice? Bono will be pleading for handouts soon.

BBC NEWS
Zimbabwe 'running out of bread'
Reports from Zimbabwe say bakeries have run out of flour and there will be no bread in the foreseeable future.

The Agriculture Ministry has confirmed that this year's wheat harvest yield of 145,000 tonnes is only one third of the country's requirements.

Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo is quoted as blaming the shortages on the failings of what he called the "new farmers" created by the land reforms.

Last week, the government announced it would import 100,000 tonnes of wheat.

But even that would still leave Zimbabwe short of its 400,000 tonne target for this year.

And it appears that a shortage of hard currency has already stranded a shipment of 35,000 tonnes of imported wheat at the Mozambican port of Beira.

Last week, Zimbabwe's main bread producer Lobels Bread said it had scaled back its operations by 80% and had only two days' supply of flour left.

The AP news agency says stores across Zimbabwe are now telling customers that bread will not be available until further notice.

The blame game

The Sunday Mail newspaper in Zimbabwe reported that this year's production was badly affected by erratic power supplies that resulted in some farmers completely abandoning their crop at germination levels because of the failure to irrigate.

Other reports quoted the agriculture minister as pinning the blame on farmers.

Speaking last Thursday at the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU) national congress in Masvingo Minister Gumbo said: "I am disappointed that our new farmers have proved to be failures since the start of the land reform programme in 2000."

"In spite of all the support government has been pouring into the agricultural sector, productivity and under-utilisation of land remain issues of concern," he added.

And he admitted that he was "painfully aware of the widespread theft of stock, farm produce, irrigation equipment and the general vandalism of infrastructure by our new farmers".

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union director Mr Phillip Tavuyanago told the Sunday Mail the failed harvests meant wheat farmers would be heavily affected in terms of paying back loans accessed during the winter programme.

Critics have blamed President Mugabe's policies, especially the seizure of farms from their former white owners, for ordinary Zimbabweans' hardship.

A foreign currency crisis has helped push inflation to record levels in recent months.

Government price controls have been blamed for worsening shortages.

For his part, President Mugabe has accused foreign governments of trying to interfere in Zimbabwe's affairs - saying some businesses had raised prices without justification as part of a Western plot to oust him.

Can you still get hold of bread in Zimbabwe? Tell us your experiences using the form below.

Name
Your E-mail address
Town & Country
Comments
Here are some of your comments:

"There is virtually nothing in the country not bread, let alone clothing. All the main shops are empty. Bread is only found at the State House."
Bee Nyikayedu, Rusape


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7022653.stm

Published: 2007/10/01 17:08:43 GMT

© BBC MMVII

This nation was once known as the 'bread-basket' of Africa.

TUSooner
10/2/2007, 05:38 PM
I don't think "socialism" is the most accurate description of the mess in Zimbabwe. I'm no socialist, but even blind-eyed, wool-brained, card-carrying socialists don't deserve to blamed for Mugabe-ism.

Jerk
10/2/2007, 05:43 PM
I don't think "socialism" is the most accurate description of the mess in Zimbabwe. I'm no socialist, but even blind-eyed, wool-brained, card-carrying socialists don't deserve to blamed for Mugabe-ism.

Close enough. It usually involves theft from one group to give to another by gov't.

crawfish
10/2/2007, 05:49 PM
That's called "stupidity".

They're pretty much screwed when there's no more assets left to steal.

I'm all for giving them billions of dollars of aid...if they execute their entire government first. :mad:

soonerscuba
10/2/2007, 05:51 PM
Close enough. It usually involves theft from one group to give to another by gov't.

All governments take from one section of society and give to another. That doesn't make them socialist.

OklahomaTuba
10/2/2007, 06:35 PM
Mugabe = Kim Jong.

That is flat out evil what is going there. Socialism this is not.

Jerk
10/2/2007, 06:52 PM
Socialism this is not.
Okay there, Yoda;) "Land reforms" sound vaguely familiar to what happened in the early stages of the Soviet Union.

tommieharris91
10/2/2007, 08:02 PM
Basically, in order to pay off debts, Zimbabwe just prints more money, devaluing their currency. And with that, their currency becomes better and better for wiping their collective asses with.