Zimbabwe Land Grab for elite, ordinary farmers and workers lose out.

The seizure of most of Zimbabwe's white-owned land has cost nearly $12bn (£7bn) in lost production since 2000, the respected Commercial Farmers' Union says.   CFU head Deon Theron said agricultural production had fallen by 70%.  He also said that President Robert Mugabe and his family now "owned" 59 farms and that ordinary Zimbabwe citizens have got "almost nothing"

Mr Theron blamed the land seizures for the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy over the past decade, saying it had destroyed the country's tax base, with most of the economy now in the informal sector.

"If the aim of the land reform was to evict whites and replace them with blacks, then it can be deemed a success," Mr Theron said.  "However, if the aim was that it should benefit the majority and not only a chosen few, then it has been a failure."

In his report Mr Theron said land had become a tool for dispensing political patronage and also names five other close allies of Mr Mugabe whose families have taken control of at least five farms each.

Breadbasket to Basketcase

• Maize - 2000: 2m tonnes; 2010: 819,000
• Wheat - 2000: 250,000 tonnes; 2010: 7
• Tobacco - 2000: 244,000 tonnes; 2010: 123,000
• Cotton - 2000: 353,000 tonnes; 2010: 200,000
• Groundnuts - 2000: 191,000 tonnes; 2010: 51,000
• Sugar - 2000: 538,000 tonnes; 2010: 300,000
• Dairy - 2000: 187,000 tonnes; 2010: 31,000
• Beef - 2000: 605,000 animals slaughtered; 2010: 230,000

Source: CFU

The CFU head said that Zimbabwe used to produce enough to feed itself and even to export but this was no longer the case.  On Tuesday, the UN said 1.4 million Zimbabweans needed food aid following crop failures.  After years of economic meltdown, Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in 2009 and now uses mostly the US Dollar and South African Rand.  Mr Theron estimated that production of maize, a staple food largely grown by smallscale black farmers - the people supposed to gain most from land reform - is this year estimated to be just 50% of the 2000 levels.

Cotton, seen as a cash crop for smallscale farmers, has fallen by 45%, while tobacco, one of the country's main export earners and previously dominated by largescale white farmers, has declined by 50%.