Godwin, Peter. “Zimbabwe's Bitter Harvest.” National Geographic. August, 2003, Volume 204, Number 2. pp. 100-113.

~Review of Magazine~

“Zimbabwe's Bitter Harvest” is an article discussing how the black population of Africa is retaking the land. President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, is the architect of this land reform. The likely reason for this is that in 2000, Mugabe lost a referendum on a new constitution that would have significantly enlarged his power. He accused the white farmers of the newly found opposition. The ZANU-PF immediately took action, in occupying the white-owned farms. The article begins with the story of the Stauntons, a white Zimbabwean farmer family of three generations. After being chased off their farm, they await a future of uncertainty in Australia. On a Tuesday afternoon in late 2002, a motorcade of SUVs invaded the Kachere Farm (Staunton's property). Grace Mugabe, wife of the president, viewed it as a plentiful valuable farming site and decided to claim it. They were not the only victims; by early 2003 only 200 of 4,500 white-owned farms remained fully functioning. The ill-effects don't stop there, as the economy was also severely hurt. Commercial wheat production went down 52% from the year before, and the commercial cattle herd fell from some 1.3 million head in 1999 to below 200,000 in 2002. After enclosing this information, the article proceeds to offer personal accounts of black Zimbabweans who've settled in the white farmers' land. One such, Chris Lunga, welcomes the land reform and sees it long overdue. He states that his father fought in the same war as the former land owner's father, yet did not receive any land afterward, as he was black. Another who took hold of the opportunity to have free land is Tapfumaneyi Manzira. He says that he has not sympathy for the white farmers, that is collateral damage as experienced in any conflict. Yet, Manzira is also partly upset with the way things run; he feels it is irresponsible of some black farmland holders to neglect the land. The conflict that took place between the black and white Zimbabweans over the farm land is part of the reason for why Zimbabwe is how it is today.
“Avoidability is a principal element of tragedy, and Zimbabwe's farm chaos—although understandable, perhaps, in light of past injustices—was avoidable.” (Godwin, “Zimbabwe's Bitter Harvest”, pp. 106) I appreciate this quote because it explains how the farm chaos of Zimbabwe was unnecessary. It also gave me perspective on the subject. If a tragedy if avoidable, that makes it all the more tragic, rather than if it was something inevitable. This quote is also saying Zimbabwe should've learned from its past injustices, instead of going head-on into another conflict. I think there are many important meanings within this quote, and a lot can be learned from it.
I find that this article is very valuable, and that much can be gained from it. It is providing the reader with the information of a tragedy that could've been avoided. If not for the land reform, the economy of Zimbabwe would have boomed, and the people could be more unified as a whole. The article does not simply provide facts, but goes so far as to include personal accounts from people involved with the land reform. In this way, the article connects more strongly with the reader. The “land reform” extremely affected the path Zimbabwe would take towards the future; because of it, the country is the way it is today.