International NGOs working in Zimbabwe are preparing food distribution and food for work programmes despite the government's reluctance to admit to a food crisis.

Violence on Zimbabwe's mainly white-owned farms is dramatically worse since President Mugabe signed the Abuja Agreement, according to a survey of commercial farmers.

Zimbabwe is set to bounce back into the international limelight, albeit for the wrong reasons, when the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the internal disciplinary body of the Commonwealth, pays a visit to the country this week to assess the current political situation.

Should farming be allowed in Zimbabwe’s wetlands? The wetlands - or vleis - are used by smallholders for dry season vegetable production and economic returns are high. Colonial administrators cited the risk of environmental degradation to prevent farmers from using the vleis. Today, the government and scientists disagree on the desirability of maintaining the unpopular, and increasingly flouted, prohibition on their use.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday threatened to nationalise businesses that closed because of strict price controls on basic commodities issued last week, agencies reported.