White Farmers Forge Ahead
Zambians welcome great trek by white farming pioneers

29^th March 2003

The decision to extend Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth means nothing to Brent and Venessa Greatorex, from Darwindale north of Harare. Their land was invaded two years ago by rampaging war veterans. Along with scores of other white farmers, they have turned their back on Zimbabwe and joined the white exodus to neighbouring Zambia, in search of new lands to begin farming again from scratch.

"We just couldn't take it any more," Mr Greatorex, 34, said. "We had 42 families re-settled on our farm by President Mugabe's Government. They subjected us to constant harassment and abuse. It was more trouble than it was worth. So we decided to pack it in and come here."

After visiting Zambia five or six times in search of suitable land, Mr and Mrs Greatorex found Kokoma, a 300,000-acre farm in the Chongwe district east of Lusaka, which had been allowed to go to ruin.

"It was a state-owned dairy farm," Mr Greatorex said. "But when we found it, less than half of 1 per cent was being used to grow tomatoes. It was just lying here idle," he added.

Equipped with a ten-year lease and a six-year £360,000 loan, Mr and Mrs Greatorex have begun the work of making Kokoma productive again.

"It's daunting, I know," Mr Greatorex said. "But we have got to make a go of it. I have already started borrowing the money."

An estimated 120 white Zimbabwean farmers have relocated, or are in the process of doing so, to Zambia, with hundreds more waiting to join the new generation of pioneer white farmers trekking north.

Although Zambia is blessed with five rivers, a high water table and vast expanses of rich red soil, less than 15 per cent of its 100 million acres of arable land is cultivated. The Zambian Government has welcomed the new pioneers, eager to use their know-how to boost declining agricultural output.

Mr Greatorex plans to grow around 250,000kg of tobacco. At that rate, it would take only 16 white farmers to double Zambia's current annual production of four million kg. Hundreds of white farmers could transform the agricultural economy, enabling Zambia to eclipse Zimbabwe's former status as a major tobacco grower.

Peter MacSporran, a former Zimbabwean farmer whose lands were also seized under Mr Mugabe's land reform programme, has set up Agricultural Advisers International, specialising in helping Zimbabwean farmers to move to Zambia.

"We are aiming at the young farmer, who has the necessary experience, and wants to stay in Africa," Mr MacSporran said. "We have already helped to establish around 21 new farms, and more will be set up during the year. By September, they will have created about new 6,000 jobs."

International tobacco companies and financial institutions have been financing the operation. "We have been trying to get funding from Britain, but the British don't want to touch us. It's the stigma of compensation," Mr MacSporran said. "We are farming totally on debt, without equity and without any assistance. But Zambia is now our new home. We have to make it work."

The Times UK - From Michael Dynes in Chongwe, Zambia