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Exiled white Zimbabwean farmers have begun farming in Nigeria's western state of Kwara a year after they were invited to resettle from Zimbabwe where they lost their farms in controversial land reforms.
ABUJA (Reuters) - Exiled white Zimbabwean farmers have begun farming in Nigeria's western state of Kwara a year after they were invited to resettle from Zimbabwe where they lost their farms in controversial land reforms.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo invited the farmers to resettle last year to encourage large scale commercial farming in Africa's most populous country, which is rich in fertile land but imports large quantities of food.
The head of a 15-man delegation, Alan Jack, said the farmers had started work on 15 plots of 1,000 hectares each, which will comprise five dairy farms and 10 farms producing maize, soya, rice and other foods.
"Everything is in place, the certificates have all been sorted out, and we've started work on the farms, drilling boreholes and laying the foundations for houses," he said by phone on Friday.
The total investment for the farms, land lease and equipment will be around 15 to 20 million dollars, said Jack, and will be financed through private loans from commercial banks with some assistance from the government.
"We hope to have everything paid back by year four, and be turning a profit by then," said Jack.
Hundreds of white Zimbabwean farmers have fled to southern African countries, such as Mozambique and Zambia, since President Robert Mugabe began redistributing white-owned farms to landless blacks in 2000. Once the bread-basket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe now relies on food aid to feed millions.
Nigeria has been eyeing the technical expertise of the Zimbabwean farmers to revitalise its ailing agricultural sector, which was neglected by successive governments during the country's oil boom.
Investors say Nigeria, which is one of Africa's largest economies, has the potential for commercial agriculture but is often hampered by poor infrastructure and red tape.
But the Zimbabwean farmers are optimistic that the Kwara state government will give them the necessary equipment, saying they expect more exiled farmers to join them once they start producing.
Jack, who is a member of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) in Zimbabwe, said that their efforts in Nigeria had been noticed by other countries in Africa who have contacted the union to offer similar deals in their countries.
"There is a whole host of other African countries that have been in touch with us, keen to get on the bandwagon," he said.