Zimbabwe's white farmers decided on Wednesday to resume their legal battle against the government's controversial land reforms.

The farmers gathered in the capital, Harare for their annual congress, where they resolved to file an application to the Supreme Court after the government rejected their calls for dialogue.

As the crisis worsened, the farmers warned of an imminent collapse of the agricultural sector if the government went ahead and acquired three quarters of the land owned by white people.

The government recently warned the farmers against taking the matter to court, and went on to launch a "fast-track" programme, under which it would acquire nearly 2,000 white farms and give them to black people without paying compensation.

Legal challenge

The leader of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), Tim Henwood, said the new suit "will specifically challenge the power to take land from an individual without compensation."



