Changes

591 bytes added ,  22:44, March 23, 2011
Line 103: Line 103:  
With international attractions such as Victoria Falls, the Great Zimbabwe stone ruins, Lake Kariba, and extensive wildlife, tourism historically has been a significant segment of the economy and contributor of foreign exchange. The sector has contracted sharply since 1999, however, due to the country's declining international image.  
 
With international attractions such as Victoria Falls, the Great Zimbabwe stone ruins, Lake Kariba, and extensive wildlife, tourism historically has been a significant segment of the economy and contributor of foreign exchange. The sector has contracted sharply since 1999, however, due to the country's declining international image.  
   −
As of 2008, the [[economy]] is in complete collapse. A decade ago, President [[Robert Mugabe]] said he was reclaiming ancestral lands from white farmland owners for poor black peasants. At the time Zimbabwe was a net exporter of food. Instead, the land went to Mugabe's Cabinet ministers and generals, who left the fields untended. Hundreds of thousands of [[farm]] laborers lost their jobs and homes. Now the country is dependent on foreign food aid. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many with jobs don't earn enough to pay for bus fare. [[Inflation]] is the world's highest at 2.2 million percent. Independent [[economist]] say [[inflation]] is at 12.5 million percent. Due to inflation, a good costing $1 at the beginning of a month may cost $20 by month's end. <ref>[http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ap/article.html?mi=D928C5JG0&apc=9002 Zimbabwe drops 10 zeros from inflated currency] The Conservative Voice, July 30, 2008</ref>
+
As of 2008, the [[economy]] is in complete collapse. A decade ago, President [[Robert Mugabe]] said he was reclaiming ancestral lands from white farmland owners for poor black peasants. At the time Zimbabwe was a net exporter of food. Some land went to Mugabe's Cabinet ministers and generals, who left the fields untended, although a significant number of the 'resettlements' involved the rural poor, albeit initially in a highly disorganised manner <ref>Scoones et al. (2010) Zimbabwe's Land Reform</ref>. Hundreds of thousands of [[farm]] laborers and their families lost their jobs and homes. Now the country is dependent on foreign food aid. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many with jobs don't earn enough to pay for bus fare. [[Inflation]] is the world's highest at 2.2 million percent. Independent [[economist]] say [[inflation]] is at 12.5 million percent. Due to inflation, a good costing $1 at the beginning of a month may cost $20 by month's end. <ref>[http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ap/article.html?mi=D928C5JG0&apc=9002 Zimbabwe drops 10 zeros from inflated currency] The Conservative Voice, July 30, 2008</ref> The situation has been stabilised somewhat thanks to a power-sharing agreement between the MDC and ZANU-PF. Inflation has been brought under control thanks to the scrapping of the previous currency, and political violence has decreased. However, tensions between the governing parties remain and the dire economic situation of the previous decade will make rebuilding a long and arduous process.
    
====Energy Resources====
 
====Energy Resources====
100

edits