US embassy cable - 03HARARE2415

UNCLAS HARARE 002415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EAGR, PGOV, ZI, Land Reform 
SUBJECT: "GREEN BOMBERS" JOIN THE RANKS OF LAND 
BENEFICIARIES 
 
REF: IIR 6 926 0018 04 
 
1.  Summary.  Minister of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural 
Resettlement, Joseph Made, recently announced that two farms 
in each province will be set aside "for utilization by 
graduates of the National Youth Training" program.  Now, the 
notorious youth militia graduates -- commonly known as "green 
bombers" -- join the ranks of soldiers and prisoners as "new 
farmers" in this brave new world.  End summary. 
 
2.  This new initiative of allocating farms to paramilitary 
units closely follows the GOZ's decisions to allocate entire 
farms to its military organizations and prison system.  In 
the case of the National Youth Training Program, it is less 
clear who will actually be operating the farm.  In the case 
of some previous military and prison allocations, the farms 
would allegedly be worked to  provide food for soldiers or 
prisoners, respectively.  In the case of the banana 
plantation recently seized by Zimbabwe Defense Industries 
(ZDI) (ref), the implication was that ZDI only wanted to 
siphon cash from the operation.  Although the purported aim 
of the program is to develop "national and self-development," 
it is difficult to imagine the curriculum producing dedicated 
subsistence farmers or farm laborers. 
 
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Comment 
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3.  The logistics, as well, are difficult to envision. 
Although the news report states that input support will be 
provided to those who are "given the land," it is highly 
unlikely that two farms in each province (18 farms total) 
will even begin to appease the wave of underemployed youths 
churned from the program.  It is also not clear whether the 
farms will be operated as training centers (for youths who 
have ostensibly already graduated from training), or will be 
carved into small plots for private use.  This points out one 
of the key false notes in the entire Land Resettlement 
program.  If all Zimbabweans have a right to own land, how 
will the GOZ accommodate the future waves of Zimbabwean 
claimants?  It also underscores the inherently chaotic nature 
of the program, in which the GOZ makes up rules as it goes 
along -- with no rhyme, no reason, and no vision of what 
agriculture will look like when the program is complete. 
SULLIVAN