[I wonder if Whites in Africa can truly trust Blacks anywhere. The land they are living on is only leased to them. They won”t own it. So the Blacks can kick them off one day.

I believe we Whites need to stick together – in the end, we will have to rely on ourselves. Jan]

Shonga – A group of white farmers whose land was seized by the government in Zimbabwe sowed their first crops on new land leased to them thousands of miles to the north in Nigeria.

Governor Bukola Saraki of the west-central state of Kwara flagged off the first phase of the programme on Friday at Shonga, some 110 kilometres north of the state capital Ilorin, expressing high admiration for the Zimbabweans.

“This is a dream come true. I must thank our farmer friends from Zimbabwe for the commitment and the faith they have demonstrated on this project, which I must say have surpassed even our own expectations,” he said.

The 13 displaced farmers, who relocated to Kwara at the invitation of the government, have said they will train local youths and make Nigeria into a net food exporter.

On Friday they sowed maize and soyabeans on 1 510 of the 15 000 hectares leased to them by the government, while expressing regret at difficulties they were having in obtaining bank loans.

“Make Nigeria self-sufficient”

They left Zimbabwe after the government of President Robert Mugabe embarked on its controversial land redistribution programme in February 2000, seizing prime farmland owned by some 4 500 white farmers and handing it over to the landless black majority.

Governor Saraki said the aim of the programme was to generate substantial marketable surplus in food and cash crops that would encourage development and expansion of local agri-processing and agricultural exports in the state.

He said farm extension activities would also be provided to transfer knowledge and techniques into the small scale subsistence farming sector.

“The objective is to turn Kwara into the food basket of the country and to subsequently make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production,” he said.

“We project that investment in dairy production alone will yield five million litres of milk per annum and will take care of domestic needs which is currently characterised by shortfalls, high prevailing prices, and the importation of up to 98% of domestic consumption,” the governor said.

He said production of broiler chicken was projected to yield 125 000 hens per annum, dry land rice at 15 000 metric tonnes and irrigated rice at 8 500 metric tonnes.

“With all these, projected growth in dairy output in Kwara State alone, excluding growth in other sectors (rice, maize and poultry) will generate a potential $21m saving in foreign exchange,” he added.

The governor said under a deal with the farmers, the government has leased the 15 000 hectares to them for 25 years and has also granted each farmer a $25 000 interest-free loan.

Source: News24.Com
URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2…br>