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Geography, agriculture and the economy

Geography

The Republic of Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa, bordered by Zambia to the north, Botswana to the west, South Africa to the south and Mozambique to the east. It has a total land area of 390,580 km² and a population of 13.0 million, which is growing at an annual rate of 0.6 per cent. Most of the population (98.8 per cent) is of African origin, and there are two main ethnic groups: the Shona and the Ndebele.

The country is situated on a high plateau, crowned by a higher central plateau, with mountains to the east. The Zambezi River forms a natural boundary with Zambia. The tropical climate varies according to altitude, which ranges from 600 to 1,500 m across the country. Zimbabwe’s natural resources include fertile land, wildlife and minerals.

Zimbabwe obtained independence in 1980 when the liberation movement seized power from white settlers. President Robert Mugabe has been the country’s only ruler since then. In the late 1990s Zimbabwe began to experience prolonged political crises accompanied by economic and social decline. Poverty, disease, food insecurity and unemployment have soared since then. Frequent droughts and precarious international relations, leading to a sharp decline in development assistance, have aggravated an already critical situation. Political and economic conditions show signs of further deterioration.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled their country, moving into South Africa and other neighbouring countries in search of better economic opportunities. The sudden influx of refugees and competition for jobs has led to tension and hostility within South Africa.

Agriculture

For years Zimbabwe’s fertile land made it a major tobacco producer and the bread basket of southern Africa. The country’s main agricultural products are corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee and sugar cane.

At independence, Zimbabwe inherited an agricultural and land ownership structure that was highly skewed in both racial and economic terms. A handful of white commercial farmers owned half of the agricultural land, while black smallholder farmers owned five per cent of the land or occupied communal territories. The present government’s land resettlement programme, launched in 2000, has sought to redress this imbalance by expelling white farmers from their land, with catastrophic results for the commercial farming sector. This process of radical restructuring has led to a sharp decline in production, critical food shortages and the collapse of the agricultural sector.

Since 2000 agricultural production has fallen by more than 30 per cent, and exports (especially of tobacco and horticultural crops) have declined by more than 50 per cent. Maize production halved in the period from 1995 to 2003. Up to a third of the population is now dependent on food aid.

Overall the situation remains unstable, but some new enterprises and supply chains have emerged. In years of adequate rainfall agricultural production has improved. Substantial support is needed to sustain new emerging structures and achieve greater economic growth. If growth is fostered with sensitivity, and if credit, inputs and training are made widely available to help stimulate commercial production and activate new market chains and support systems, a vibrant agricultural economy will almost certainly emerge.

Economy

Zimbabwe has a far more diversified economy than its neighbours, with the exception of South Africa. As a landlocked country, however, it bears high transport costs. Access to the nearest port is by rail and road through Mozambique to Beira, about 590 km from Harare, the capital.

Macroeconomic mismanagement, the government’s land reform programme and the subsequent collapse of the agricultural sector, which was once the country’s main source of exports and foreign exchange, have precipitated a prolonged economic crisis in the country. Gross domestic product (GDP) declined by nearly 35 per cent between 1999 and 2006, and external debt reached US$4.7 billion at the end of 2006. Inflation continues to soar. The country is now a net importer of food products.

The economic decline began with the country’s costly involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and has been accelerated by the government’s large-scale demolition of illegal settlements and businesses, and by the land reform programme. The economy remains highly unstable.

Source: IFAD