This is because Mugabe fucked up their land reform, nationalisation and agricultural self sufficiency program. Instead of trying to follow strategies that worked in Burkina Faso and pioneered by Thomas Sankara and others, which created a food surplus in that country, Mugabe tried to do his own plan which didn’t work. It has led to hyperinflation and Zimbabwe being massively food insecure. Many Zimbabwean people have and are still trying to immigrate to other countries in the region, such as South Africa because of this. Now Zimbabwe is desperate for anyone, even the previous oppressors to farm in an attempt to fix their food security and prevent everyone from trying to leave the country or work in other countries. This is why they are paying compensation to the white farmers/previous oppressors, in an attempt to entice them to come back to Zimbabwe and farm there to try fix the food security. This is from a person that lives in the general area.

Fun fact: Weimar Germany had roughly 10% of its GDP to pay back to the Entente as reparations. Now, Zimbabwe is paying back 10% of its GDP as reparations. Are Western powers trying to destabilize the region? Yup.