| Battle for the Land |      |
 |
|
| Battle for the Land | |
|
|
   bb-zwe-410.jpg Tobacco growers; all the names are invented due to the request of the farmers for protection of the source. Larry and Marry started growing tobacco after they broke as cotton and maize producers at the beginning of seventies. Their problems started 19 month ago when they lost one out of two farms they owned and squatters moved to their land and settled in front of their colonial house. Now they manage to produce and to live on 500 hectars of land, out of which 140 hectars of arable land, and they produce tobacco on 60 hectars under irrigation. They started the early planting of tobacco before the rainy season with borrowed saplings from the neighbouring growers. Each of the tobacco growers who’s production wasn’t disturbed or they didn’t experienced a stoppage of production planted 10 percente more seeds to produce planting material for other less fortunate tobacco growers. Even Larry shown solidarity towards one of the neighbours, let’s call him Garry and his son. Larry gave to Garry part of his land to grow tobacco, because his neighbour suffered a complete stoppage of production and the squatters occupied his whole land except the tobacco drying houses and his colonial house surrounded with an electric fence and armed guards at the gate. Immediately behind the fence the settlers built up their hut village. Larry and Marry employ 70 permanent workers and 45 to 50 more for selection of tobacco. When the squatters, as Larry called the uninvited guests or so called war veterans on his land, the situation for both tobacco growers changed. First a verbal conflict started. Later on both were forced to stop the cultivation. Larry and Marry are filling in a death certificate for a farm worker they lost. They have to arrange even the burials in times when more and more workers are getting weak and ill due to AIDS epidemic. |
||
|
|
| Tobacco growers | 1/34
|
