#Pictures: Mazowe Citrus Then And Now, How The Mighty Have Fallen

The Land reform program has been a mixed bag. While there have been some encouraging stories of success there have been some heart-breaking stories as well. Most successes have been recorded at small and medium farms that have risen to fill the gap left by commercial farming’s collapse in 1999. The sad stories are often about how big formerly productive farms now lie in ruins. One such farm is Mazowe Citrus, the formerly iconic farm is now in tatters after decades of neglect.

Below are two undated photos showing the farm at it’s best and worst. The state of the farm has not been helped by the constant change of hands with bigwigs jostling to posses it. According to political activist group Team Pachedu the farm used to have a turnover of about US$2 million at its peak. We cannot verify this figure but we can attest that this was a very productive farm before.