Zimbabwe to lengthen white farmers' land leases to 99 years

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White farmers in Zimbabwe will now be given 99-year leases on their land like their black counterparts, according to a new government decree, signaling efforts to end discriminatory measures imposed by former president Robert Mugabe.

"Please be informed that the minister of Lands, Agriculture and Resettlement has directed that all remaining white farmers be issued 99-year leases instead of the five-year leases as per the previous arrangement," said the Agriculture Ministry circular, dated January 19 and seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Land ownership is one of Zimbabwe's most sensitive issues.

Fewer than 400 white farmers are still operating in the southern African nation, after Mugabe's government evicted more than 4,000 under an often violent land reform program.

A farmer addresses a meeting of white commercial farmers in Harare, Zimbabwe, February 5, 2010.

Those who remained were issued with five-year renewable leases compared to 99-year leases for black farmers, leaving their land vulnerable to expropriation by the government.

Under Zimbabwe's constitution all agricultural land belongs to the government.

After independence in 1980, colonialists seized some of the best agricultural land and much of it remained in the hands of white farmers, while many blacks were landless.

Twenty years later, Mugabe authorized the violent invasions of many white-owned farms, justifying them on the grounds that they were redressing imbalances from the colonial era.

Critics blame the land redistribution, which began in 2000, for the collapse in agricultural production that saw the former regional breadbasket become a perennial food importer.

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa looks on during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 24. /VCG Photo

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced the ousted Mugabe in November, has vowed to revive the moribund economy, boost investment and create employment after years of decline.

He has pledged to compensate farmers who lost their properties, but said they would not be given their land back.

Ben Gilpin, director of the Commercial Farmers' Union, reacted cautiously to the policy announcement.

"We have seen the letter and we are seeking clarification," he told AFP news agency. "People have gone to various offices and there hasn't been a uniform response."

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters