It was four days before the official commemorative speeches were due to take place on Heroes’ Day. A silent resignation has again fallen across Zimbabwe. One subsistence farmer I met this week told me the big shock that has come this season is the price of fertiliser. Last year, AN was $35 a bag; this yea, it’s gone up to between $42 and $47 a bag. If there are going to be 35 000 tractors for this cropping season, now is the time they are needed.