The Zimabawean office of Nestlé has been blockaded after the Swiss manufacturer stopped buying milk from a farm owned by President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace.

Workers employed by Grace Mugabe's Gushungo Dairy Estates stormed the office in the capital Harare last week, demanding that the company resume accepting milk from the farm.

It has been under pressure from human rights groups to make a stand against abuses in the wrecked African state. In October it stopped accepting milk from Foyle Farm – bought from its previous white owner for a knockdown price after what local news sources described as “a sustained campaign of violence”.

It immediately came under pressure from government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, and youths from Mugabe’s Zanu PF party tried to force Nestle staff to offload milk tankers from the farm. Nestlé Zimbabwe’s bank accounts were also frozen.

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Nestlé boss blames ‘well-fed activists’ for world hunger (13 November 2009)

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