The Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe is an organisation that was formed to assist

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

s in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

with a variety of

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

services. Farmers within the country pay a subscription fee which entitles them to the use of these services. Currently the president of the CFU is Peter Steyl. The Chief Executive Officer of the organisation is Hendrik Olivier. The Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (CFU) is an independent and politically neutral membership driven organisation which represents and advances the interests of professional farmers in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa. The CFU draws its membership from primarily large scale and Intensive Commercial Agricultural Producers, but membership is open to all farmers regardless of scale or land holding. The CFU's main agenda is to promote a stable and competitive agricultural business environment; and to provide advice and support to farmers – covering technical extension service, inputs, marketing aspects, business management, labour relations, advice with land and compensation issues and so on.

History

Presidents

The following is a list of past Presidents of the Commercial Farmers' Union and its antecedents.

Rhodesian Agricultural Union

* R. A. Fletcher (1910–1914) *

E. Wilson E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Commerce and transportation * €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit * ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the wei ...

(1914–1916) *

C. S. Jobling C. or c. may refer to: * Century, sometimes abbreviated as ''c.'' or ''C.'', a period of 100 years * Cent (currency), abbreviated ''c.'' or ''¢'', a monetary unit that equals of the basic unit of many currencies * Caius or Gaius, abbreviated a ...

(1920–1923) *

S. M. Lanigan O’Keefe S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where " ...

(1923) *

H. B. Christian Harold Basil Christian (28 October 1871 – 12 May 1950) was a Cape Colony-born Rhodesian farmer, horticulturist, and botanist. Christian attended Eton College in the United Kingdom, where he was a distinguished athlete. He served in the Impe ...

(1929–1931) * G. N. Fleming (1932–1935)

Rhodesian National Farmers' Union

J. Dennis ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

(1942–1944) *

Humphrey Gibbs Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs, (22 November 19025 November 1990), was the penultimate Governor of the colony of Southern Rhodesia, from 24 October 1964 simply Rhodesia, who served until, and opposed, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI ...

(1944–1946) *

John Moore Caldicott Sir John Moore Caldicott (12 February 1900 – 31 January 1986) was a Rhodesian government minister. Early life John Moore Caldicott was born in Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire, on 12 February 1900 the son of solicitor John Croydon Moore Ca ...

(1946–1948) *

E. D. Palmer E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Commerce and transportation * €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit * ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the wei ...

(1948–1951) *

John MacIntyre John Macintyre or Mcintyre FRSE (2 October 1857 – 29 October 1928) was a Scottish doctor who set up the world's first radiology department at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, in Glasgow.M. Chennells ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

(1954–1956) *

E. B. Evans E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Commerce and transportation * €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit * ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the wei ...

(1956–1963) * Tom Mitchell (1963–1968) *

J. W. Field ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

(1968–1970) *

R. G. Pascoe R. or r. may refer to: * '' Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler. * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbrevi ...

(1970–1972) *

M. E. Butler ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

(1972–1974) *

C. Millar C. or c. may refer to: * Century, sometimes abbreviated as ''c.'' or ''C.'', a period of 100 years * Cent (currency), abbreviated ''c.'' or ''¢'', a monetary unit that equals of the basic unit of many currencies * Caius or Gaius, abbreviated a ...

(1974–1976) * John Strong (1976–1978) *

Denis Norman Denis R. Norman (March 26, 1931 – December 20, 2019) was a British-Zimbabwean politician who spent a total of twelve years in the Cabinet of Robert Mugabe. He was known as "Nothing Wrong Norman" due to his penchant for trying to put a pos ...

(1978–1979)

Commercial Farmers' Union

(1979–1980) *

D. B. Spain D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation: * Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank. * Date of death, as an abbreviat ...

(1980–1981) * Jim Sinclair (1981–1983) *

John Laurie John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom '' Dad's Army'' (19 ...

(1983–1986) *

J. R. Rutherford ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

(1986–1988) *

J. H. Brown J. Harold Brown (1902 – September 17, 1982) was an American composer and musician best known for his production of ''The Saga of Zip Zan Rinkle'', about a man who sleeps between 1948 and 1968 to witness large cultural changes in the United St ...

(1988–1990) *

Alan Burl Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * A ...

(1990–1992) *

Anthony Swire-Thompson Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Ant ...

(1992–1994) *

Peter MacSporran Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a ...

(1994–1996) *

Nick Swanepoel Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Plac ...

(1996–1998) *

R. D. Swift R. or r. may refer to: * '' Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler. * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbrevi ...

(1998) *

(1998–1999) * Tim Henwood (1999–2001) * Colin Cloete (2001–2003) *

Doug Taylor-Freeme Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) whic ...

(2003–2007) *

Trevor Gifford Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish lang ...

(2007–2009) *

Deon Theron Deon is a given name. People with the name include: * Deon Burton (born 1976), English-born Jamaican footballer * Deon Butler (born 1986), American football player * Deon Cain (born 1996), American football player * Deon Hemmings (born 1968), ...

2009–2011) *

Charles Taffs Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

(2011–2014) *

Peter Steyl Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

(2014–2018) *

Andrew Pascoe Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derive ...

(2018–present)

Notable people

* Mike Campbell, farmer and activist * Lionel Cripps, first

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970. Background In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was foun ...

; helped found the CFU *

, last

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally k ...

before

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People * Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor * Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka ...

; helped found the CFU * Ben Freeth, former CFU official *

Iain Kay James Hamilton Iain Kay (born 1949) is a Zimbabwean farmer and politician who served in the House of Assembly from 2009 to 2013. Previously, he was a commercial farmer near Marondera, Mashonaland East Province. He was also the subject of violent ...

, farmer and politician{{Cite web, url=http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/apr2_2002.html, title=The Zimbabwe Situation, last=kdc, website=www.zimbabwesituation.com, access-date=2017-12-12 *

Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo (23 December 1945 – 9 May 2013) was a Zimbabwean nationalist, part of the first group of Gonakudzingwa restriction camp political prisoners, Pioneer Insurance Executive, Business magnate, Academic, philanthropist, cons ...

, member *

P. K. van der Byl Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl (11 November 1923 – 15 November 1999) was a Rhodesian politician who served as his country's Foreign Minister from 1974 to 1979 as a member of the Rhodesian Front (RF). A close associate of Pr ...

, former CFU lawyer * Jenni Williams, former CFU spokeswoman

References

External links

Official website
Agricultural organisations based in Zimbabwe Farmers' organizations 1943 establishments in Southern Rhodesia