Why White Zimbabwean Farmers Plan to Stay in Nigeria

Zimbabwe was in a state of confusion before the March 29 elections. By most accounts, the opposition party won, but the ruling party of President Robert Mugabe continues to contest the results and harass the winners. Under Mugabe’s mismanagement, the one-time rich agricultural nation has inflation of 165,000 percent, 80 percent unemployment, with malnourishment afflicting nearly half the population, reports Sarah Simpson for the Christian Science Monitor. Nigeria has since wooed the thousands of farmers evicted from Zimbabwe by the Mugabe regime. “For the Nigerian government, it's a chance to tap into years of expertise and kick-start commercial farming operations in a country of 140 million where farming has long been neglected,” writes Simpson. After focusing attention on developing its oil industry, the Nigeria government hopes to make up for lost time with agriculture by welcoming the evicted farmers from Zimbabwe. – YaleGlobal