Agriculture Zimbabwe

Twenty-one white farmers accused of attacking black squatters occupying local farms were released on bail Wednesday after spending more than two weeks in jail. Despite fears that their release would ignite a new wave of violence and looting in the Chinhoyi district 70 miles northwest of Harare, the capital, the men walked out of prison and past a crowd of about 100 onlookers without incident.

Twenty-one white farmers accused of attacking black squatters occupying local farms were released on bail Wednesday after spending more than two weeks in jail. Despite fears that their release would ignite a new wave of violence and looting in the Chinhoyi district 70 miles northwest of Harare, the capital, the men walked out of prison and past a crowd of about 100 onlookers without incident.

Zimbabwe is suffering through its deepest economic crisis since independence in 1980, but officials who gathered at a recent conference here disagreed on how to solve the central problem: forced land redistribution. If the country's downward spiral is not reversed, analysts attending the summit on the economy of southern Africa warned, Zimbabwe could drag down the entire region.

Zimbabwe is suffering through its deepest economic crisis since independence in 1980, but officials who gathered at a recent conference here disagreed on how to solve the central problem: forced land redistribution. If the country's downward spiral is not reversed, analysts attending the summit on the economy of southern Africa warned, Zimbabwe could drag down the entire region.

Violence that has been raging for a week throughout a rich agricultural district of northwestern Zimbabwe eased Wednesday as regional leaders offered to intervene and police moved against militants who had ransacked dozens of white-owned properties. But tension remained high in white farming communities, and about 100 families who had been evacuated from their homes last weekend were still unable to return.

In the midst of drought and famine devastating much of Africa, Zimbabwe has managed to feed its 8.7 million people through three difficult years, and in this terrible drought year there is even food to export. But industrial development has all but stalled in this southern African nation--under the impact both of the natural disaster and as a result of Zimbabwe's own economic mistakes. Long-term growth could be further jeopardized by political instability.

Kuda Shumba goes at one speed: fast. He prides himself on being able to get hold of almost anything, and he's open for business day or night. That's what it takes to be one of Zimbabwe's black-market cowboys. Shumba spends his days on a motorbike sniffing out almost- impossible-to-find items such as sugar, cooking oil, bread, margarine or cellphone SIM cards, risking years in a dank prison if caught. His markup: 500%-plus. His cellphone is his lifeline.

Seven summers ago a black Marxist prime minister, Robert Mugabe, took up residence in Government House, a victor after 15 years of barbaric civil war. Each day since has been a day of amazing grace for the shrinking white minority, now numbering barely 100,000 out of a population of more than 8 million. Politically and militarily they are impotent. Psychologically, many remain disoriented and confused by their loss of power.