Keypoints:
- Farmers lobby US over delayed compensation payments
- Zimbabwe struggles to fund $3.5bn settlement
- Ageing claimants face growing financial hardship
WHITE Zimbabwean farmers displaced during controversial land seizures more than two decades ago are again appealing for United States intervention, as frustration mounts over delayed compensation promised by Harare.
More than 25 years after farms were taken during Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, many former commercial farmers say advancing age and financial hardship are intensifying pressure for a settlement. Farmers’ unions have now turned to Washington, hiring a US lobbying firm in late 2025 to push their case before President Donald Trump’s administration, according to AFP.
Compensation deal still unresolved
Zimbabwe’s government agreed in 2020 to compensate roughly 3,500 dispossessed farmers with a $3.5bn package covering infrastructure and improvements made on seized farms — a key step in efforts to rebuild confidence after Zimbabwe’s land reform crisis.
The agreement, known as the Global Compensation Deed, excluded payment for land itself, which authorities argue was appropriated during colonial rule.
However, implementation has stalled.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, weighed down by an estimated $21bn national debt burden, revised the payment structure in 2023. Under the updated offer, farmers would receive just one percent in cash, with the remainder issued as US-dollar-denominated treasury bonds carrying two percent interest — part of broader attempts to stabilise Zimbabwe’s debt restructuring efforts.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told AFP that nearly 1,000 farmers have signed onto the revised arrangement, and several hundred received partial payments last year. Yet many beneficiaries complain the process has been slow and unclear, while others have rejected the terms outright.
Ncube acknowledged external lobbying efforts, saying international pressure was not unwelcome.
‘We are committed to paying,’ he said, adding that the government would prefer to accelerate disbursements but faces fiscal constraints.
Lobbying push in Washington
According to filings submitted to the US Department of Justice, four organisations representing former commercial farmers retained Mercury Public Affairs to advocate for full compensation. The lobbying campaign aims to persuade US officials and international financial institutions to help unlock funding for the outstanding balance, reflecting growing attention to US–Zimbabwe diplomatic relations.
The groups hope Washington could support financing mechanisms through bodies such as the World Bank, potentially enabling Zimbabwe to meet its obligations.
Harry Orphanides of the Property and Farm Compensation Association told AFP that many claimants are now elderly and struggling financially.
‘It’s a serious strain on the farmers, especially those who relied entirely on agriculture for their livelihoods,’ he said. ‘Some of them are really desperate.’
Legacy of a divisive land reform
Zimbabwe’s fast-track land reform programme began in the early 2000s under late president Robert Mugabe, aiming to redistribute farmland from white commercial farmers to Black Zimbabweans following decades of colonial inequality — a policy still shaping southern Africa agricultural reforms today.
Around 4,000 farms were seized, often violently and without compensation. Several farmers were killed during invasions, while critics say many properties ultimately ended up controlled by political elites rather than small-scale farmers.
The upheaval devastated agricultural production, once the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy, contributing to food shortages, economic contraction and international isolation — developments widely analysed in discussions about Africa’s food security challenges.
Efforts to rebuild the sector have since become central to Mnangagwa’s economic reform agenda, as the government seeks to re-engage international lenders and restore investor confidence.
Geopolitics shapes prospects
Analysts say the farmers’ appeal to Washington reflects shifting global diplomacy and the evolving direction of US Africa policy under Donald Trump.
Rights lawyer Siphosami Malunga told AFP that success may depend on whether the Trump administration sees strategic benefit in supporting the issue.
‘US foreign policy in Africa is becoming more transactional,’ he said, suggesting negotiations could involve broader political or economic interests.
South Africa-based political analyst Nicole Beardsworth warned that external involvement could carry risks, particularly if linked to Zimbabwe’s vast mineral resources — an issue increasingly debated within Africa resource diplomacy debates.
She said any intervention might come with conditions that produce ‘unintended consequences that far exceed the compensation they are seeking’.
Meanwhile, opposition politician Trust Chikohora cautioned against applying excessive pressure on Harare, arguing the government’s financial limitations make rapid payment unrealistic.
‘It is not sustainable to force the government to fulfil obligations that are currently impossible,’ he said.
For many displaced farmers, however, time is becoming the most pressing concern. As negotiations drag on, ageing claimants continue to wait for compensation promised years ago — uncertain whether international lobbying will finally deliver a resolution.
