Virtually all of the commercial farms are owned by whites. Mugabe has used racially divisive language and told the farmers they face expulsion if they resist his plans to seize three thousand white-owned farms. Clearly, the political violence and the farm seizures have devastated Zimbabwe, which is experiencing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1980. The farm takeovers have seriously disrupted agriculture, the mainstay of the country's economy. Farming accounts for twenty percent of Zimbabwe's gross domestic product.
Inflation is now over sixty percent.
More than half the workforce is unemployed. Riots and violent protests have broken out. The disturbances were triggered by significant increases in the cost of living, especially prices for food and transportation. The rule of law in Zimbabwe has seriously eroded. Government-condoned intimidation and violence continue, along with a crackdown by President Mugabe on his political opponents.