Main content

Is it time for white Zimbabwean farmers to return home?

In the early 2000s, at least 4,000 white Zimbabweans lost their farms as part of land reform. With the country struggling to feed itself, should they now return to farm there?

“For me to leave a place of security, a place that’s been good to me and my family, to go back and get harassed - I’m not prepared to do that.â€

In the early 2000s, at least 4,000 white Zimbabweans were kicked out of their farms to make way for their black counterparts.

Robert Mugabe, who was president at the time, argued only this could address historical injustices.

During the colonial-era, much of the country's arable land was reserved for the white population while black farmers were forced onto marginal areas.

But President Mugabe’s land reform policy triggered global sanctions, the impact of which is still felt by ordinary Zimbabweans, to this day.

Now, with the country batting food insecurity, should white Zimbabwean farmers, who are doing well in countries like Zambia, consider going back home?

Presenter: Alan Kasujja

Guests: Graham Rae and Prosper Chitambara

Release date:

Available now

17 minutes

Podcast