AFRICA NEWS DIGEST
Zimbabwe Farmers Union Offers Plan To Train New Farmers
The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has called on the government to set aside a farm in each province for use as a training and research center by newly resettled farmers, many of whom have never farmed before, according to the Zimbabwe daily, The Herald. ZFU president Silas Hungwe made the call over the weekend when he addressed the organization's annual general meeting for Matabeleland North province.
"Agriculture training institutes in the country cannot accommodate all the farmers, and the only way we can assist them is to have a farm in each province which would be used for training them," Hungwe said. He noted that most of those who benefitted from the resettlement program were new in the agricultural sector. "As indigenous farmers, we have a dream of making sure that Zimbabwe regains its status of being the bread basket of the Southern African region, and that can be achieved when all the players in the field have been equipped with the necessary skills." The ZFU president noted that the government has already allocated such a farm in Manicaland province.
Speaking at the same farmers meeting, Matabeleland North Governor Obert Mpofu said he thought that the members of the ZFU, mostly small-scale commercial, communal, and resettled farmers, had the potential to produce, eventually at least, sufficient food for the country, if given adequate resources.
ZFU has been holding smaller meetings in all the country's provinces in preparation for its annual congress, to be held in Harare next week.
Say New African Coordination Needed To Maintain Continent's Non-Alignment
The newly formed African Union must begin contemplating a common foreign, as well as defense, policy, one that safeguards the continent's non-alignment in a fluid geopolitical environment, suggests Francis Kornegay, Program Coordinator, Center for Africa's International Relations, University of Witwatersrand, in discussing the machinations around increased U.S. interest in shifting from Middle East oil dependence to Africa. Kornegay analyzed the significance of the interface between Africa, the U.S., Israel, the African Oil Policy Initiative Group, and oil, in Business Day Aug. 13, in a piece titled "Superpower in Search of Alternatives to OPEC." He said the "connecting point is the emergence of an Israeli-based thinktank called the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS) with a lobbying office in Washington."
As EIW has previously reported, IASPS which has taken the point in trying to push Nigeria to leave OPEC, to fill more of the United States' oil needs is a racist, far-right Israeli Likud front. According to information being analyzed by EIR, IASPS created the African Oil Policy Initiative Group (AOPIG,) to pressure Nigeria and others to leave OPEC.
Kornegay adds additional information, and insists that "The oil policy initiative may be a wake-up call for the African Union to begin contemplating a common African foreign as well as defense policy." He continues: "Slim though it may be, the prospect Africa could be so engaged as a result of the policies of oil, as a dimension of the Middle East conflict, is a reflection of the continent's vulnerabilities."
Kornegay notes that except for Nigeria, sub-Saharan producers are not members of OPEC (for example, Angola and Equatorial Guinea). "This would place quota constraints on their crude output, running counter to their economic and development imperatives; pressures also experienced by cash-strapped Nigeria." A U.S.-African oil alignment, in the Initiative's view, could be cemented by Washington declaring the Gulf of Guinea "an area of vital U.S. interest." Kornegay notes that this is coupled with a proposed new South Atlantic military command to "permit the U.S. Navy and armed forces to more easily project power to defend American interests and allied in West Africa." He adds: "Note the eerie resemblance to the old pro-apartheid South Atlantic Treaty Organization project."
Kornegay concludes: "Sub-Saharan Africa's dilemma is how to balance its being an alternative to Arab oil while safeguarding its nonalignment. This, in turn, poses challenges for the Arab world in being responsive to Africa's needs." He notes the lack of a partnership between African and Arab oil producers for accommodating Africa's urgent economic needs (though inter-Arab North African cooperation is reflected in the Egypt-Libya joint oil and gas company).
U.S. Going After Nigeria Because It Won't Unhook from OPEC?
The National Association of Indigenous Petroleum Explorers and Producers (NAIPEC) has linked the United States' recent classification of Nigeria as an "unsafe" place for its citizens to visit, to Nigeria's refusal to quit OPEC. The chairman of the association, Chief Tunde Afolabi, made this charge when briefing journalists about NAIPEC's upcoming 10th anniversary seminar in Lagos, according to the Nigerian daily Vanguard Aug. 16. He said that the "unsafe" classification, coming on the heels of Nigeria's refusal to bow to U.S. pressure to leave the cartel, was indicative that the U.S. is now trying to divert investment from Nigeria.
The U.S. warned its citizens against travellng to Nigeria the first week in August. The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the U.S. move Aug. 12, dismissing the U.S. appraisal as a smear campaign against Nigeria. Then, on Aug. 13, the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, released a report claiming "serious problems remain" in Nigeria's human-rights record.
Some of Nigeria's press have been having a field day over the row. Perhaps it was put most strongly by an op-ed in Lagos daily This Day Aug. 16, written by Udochi Nwaodu "America should first and foremost clear the mountain before it in order to see clearly to remove little grains of sand in the eye of other countries.... America has deceived the world for too long, but it will not continue to deceive the world forever. It will certainly go the way of ancient Roman and British Empires. There is a time for everything. The end may not be too far away for America's hypocrisy."
Zimbabwe Land Seizures: No Resolution Yet
About 2,900 of the remaining 4,500 white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe were ordered to leave their farms by midnight Aug. 8, but a large number remained, hoping for some more favorable solution from President Robert Mugabe on his return to the country. Some of them made the point that their commercial-scale operations which won't be duplicated immediately by their successors can play a major role in bringing southern Africa out of the current famine. Mugabe finally spoke on Aug. 12, and said, "the order stands."
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) president, Colin Cloete, in a press statement July 15, had written that "as farmers we have always stated that an internal solution [i.e., one not imposed by outside powers] is the way forward. We are resolute and determined to find a solution. It is still not too late, and we appeal to our State President for an audience.... Our State President has clearly supported the 1998 Land Donors' Conference, Abuja Agreement, and the Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative. Unquestionably, the ideals of all these initiatives have been to show the way forward. Implementation however, ... has not been forthcoming. Instead, the result has been transitional confusion due to varying interpretations of the original criteria. This confusion is in total contradiction of our State President's policy on Land Reform."
Cloete also referred to "The non-response [of government] to numerous offers made by farmers on a collective or individual basis for a pragmatic solution to coexist. These offers have been based on a non-emotional, workable, good sense approach in any given situation viability for the old and new farmers being the main criterion." He concluded with an appeal to the government for a "jointly inspired solution."
In the wake of Mugabe's statement, according to CNN, "Cloete ... said it appeared Mugabe had toned down his rhetoric, but that his message on redistribution had remained consistent. 'It could have been worse,' he told Reuters. Cloete and other farm sources said they were confused by Mugabe's comment that no farmer would be left landless, adding that many had been ordered to surrender all their land. Mugabe said he was pursuing a 'one farmer, one farm policy' with a place for 'well-meaning white farmers who wish to pursue a farming career as loyal citizens of this country.' "
Jenni Williams, speaking for the Justice for Agriculture organization, told Reuters, "We as farmers accept that land must be redistributed, but we do feel our political leaders must understand that in land reform you can't compromise production or you will have starving Zimbabweans."
Ben Zietsman of the CFU in western Matabeleland province interpreted Mugabe's speech to mean that "there won't be a mass avalanche of evictions," according to Associated Press.
Thus, there is no actual resolution at present.
South Africa in Quest To Combat Apartheid Property Relations
South Africa will step up its quest to empower blacks who are still victimized by the remnants of the apartheid power structure, despite the pain this process might bring in some quarters, African National Congress figures said Aug. 13. Justice Minister Penuell Maduna was quoted as saying: "We are changing reality and nothing will stop us." Maduna, who heads the party's security and peace department, was speaking as discussion papers were released for the ANC's 51st national conference.
Max Sisulu, ANC head of economic transformation, said the struggle against apartheid had been about a better life. "If there is need for legislation to open areas that have been closed so far, so be it," he said. "There is massive inequality and unemployment in this country."
Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe was quoted as saying: "The commanding heights of the economy are still in the hands of whites. This government must change the apartheid property relations, otherwise we will not have stability."
Maduna added: "We should not be surprised if masses of people revolt if their living conditions are not addressed." No one in his right mind would want millions of people to continue living in misery. "There is no other way but calculated intervention by the government. We invite people to join us in tackling this mammoth task," Maduna said.
Sisulu said unemployment would be a major focus of the conference. On this topic, the discussion paper said: "It is clear that the fight against unemployment is our central challenge. The need for jobs is glaring."
Frightened by Environmentalist Lies, Starving Zambia Rejects Donations of Genetically Modified Maize
The Zambian government has announced it will not accept donations of genetically modified (GM) foods for fear they may be toxic, a fear that has been whipped up by the Malthusian environmentalists and zero-population-growth fanatics.
Meanwhile, as 15,000 tons of U.S.-donated, genetically modified maize sit waiting, Zambia does not have enough food for its starving people; indeed, many of the country's 9 million people are "on the verge of death," said one Zambian chief Aug. 12 victims of a drought extending from South Africa to Senegal.
The decision followed a debate in Lusaka's Mulungushi International Conference Centre Aug. 12, where numerous influential figures expressed fear of genetic modification, including the president of the opposition Heritage Party, Brig. Gen. Godfrey Miyanda; Women for Change Executive Director Emily Sikazwe; and Dr. Mwananyanda Mbikusita-Lewanika of the National Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (NISIR).
Speaking for acceptance of the GM maize were the University of Zambia's Dean of the School of Natural Sciences, Luke Mumba, and Simon Zukas, national chairman of the opposition Forum for Democracy and Development Party.
Also urging acceptance, in an Aug. 9 appearance in Lusaka, were U.S. Congressmen Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.) and Eva Clayton (D-N.C.), who emphasized that Americans eat the corn every day.
There is no danger from genetically modified maize. The modification of the genes of maize takes place in nature through cross-pollination; so-called genetically modified maize is different only because there is human supervision of which of the naturally occurring possibilities are permitted.
The science of GM foods was laid out in 2000 by Dr. Channaputra Prakash of the world-famous Tuskegee Institute in his article, "Genetically Engineered Crops Can Feed the World!" in 21st Century Science & Technology magazine. The full text is available at www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/biotech.html His own web site, www.agbioworld.org, includes an extensive response to the myths about GM foods.
Interestingly, a leading environmentalist, Greenpeace founder Dr. Patrick Moore, cited by Prakash, has broken ranks to write that "the campaign of fear now being waged against genetic modification is based largely on fantasy and a complete lack of respect for science and logic."
|