AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT GROUP

Our Zambezi river canoe safari group consisted of just myself (middle), Matt (left), our two black Zimbabwean guides (not shown) and the above white farming family (right) also from Zimbabwe.

There aren't many other tourists in Zimbabwe these days. I rarely saw any and if I did see some, it was only a handful of white Zimbabweans on vacation in one of the most treasured fishing rivers in the whole of the country-the Zambezi river. I emphasize white Zimbabweans because Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, was once ruled by the white minority like many other countries in the southern region of Africa. A civil war mostly in the 80's between the whites and the blacks, with Robert Mugabe as one of the leaders of the black rebel group, restored the power in Zimbabwe to the blacks. Robert Mugabe was elected the leader of Zimbabwe and praised for his democratic ideals and the country with all of its mineral and gem wealth seemed to hold much promise. That is until Mugabe decided to reclaim the majority of the land from white farmers, who yes did own an disproportionate amount of land, (whites comprised only 2% percentage of the population and held 70% of the arable land), however these farmers were responsible for the bulk of Zimbabwean agricultural exports, and production of locally consumed food. Mugabe sent his loyalist military cronies to seize the farms and forcefully evict farmers that did not hand over their land to the government. Some were murdered or brutally beaten. The results were disastrous for the country. Many of the white farmers fled the country taking with them their wealth, and farming expertise. The Mugabe cronies who took over the farms were not adept to farming. The farms weren't run properly and many were abandoned once the farms failed. International investments dried up as Mugabe's government continued to target the white's and seize their assets. Inflation skyrocketed to the highest level of any country in the world, famine spread and the country began a steep descent into chaos.

Despite all of this the family above decided to stay in Zimbabwe and continue farming against all odds. In order to keep their farm, they told me stories of how they had to pay off army generals with constant bribes, and hire patrols to keep landless blacks from settling on their lands. In Zimbabwe once someone intrudes on your land and settles there, they are almost impossible to remove, especially in the current political climate. Even with the bribery, death threats and the possibility of losing their farm, that had been in their family for generations, is just a part of every day life. In spite of all of this, the family was pro land reform, proponents of fair land re-allocation to the blacks and harbored no resentment towards anyone in Zimbabwe. With our black guides, we had very candid nightly discussions about life in Zimbabwe.

The son on the right is a different sort of character. His hobby is to hunt wild boar on his land at night, barefoot and with nothing but a knife ( big knife), occasionally encountering a lion or a leopard along the way. The family's way of life struck me as a chapter ripped from the life of a typical 1800's family that settled in the wild west, Montana, Wyoming or somewhere similar. There was definitely a pioneer mentality to this family that I couldn't help but to admire. I wish them well wherever they are right now..

A typical country farm road skirts the edge of the Agricultural Hall and a recreated nursery with its high picket fence. The nursery pays homage to the experimental work of Canada's first apple breeder, Francis P. Sharp.

Kings Landing Historical Settlement on the banks of the St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada.