Government rolls out $20m compensation for farmers

Zimbabwe’s Government is to start distributing $20m as initial compensation to local black and foreign white farmers whose land was taken from them during the land invasions more than two decades ago. According to the country’s Finance Minister, the move is part of a broader effort by the government to revive the country’s agricultural sector. Africanews reports that the compensation is hoped to help pave the way towards reconciling losses incurred during farm seizures ushered in by former President Robert Mugabe. His government seized thousands of productive farms, the majority owned by white farmers whose ancestors had stolen land from black Zimbabweans over the course of the colonial period. As a result of the land reform programme in the early 2000s, the country’s agricultural output fell, and its economy suffered. A group of foreign white farmers and 400 black Zimbabweans will receive the initial compensation. The money is separate from a $3.5bn settlement reached in 2020 for thousands of white Zimbabwean farmers, an agreement which has been held off as a result of Zimbabwe's financial situation.

Full africanews report