A Review Of Land Reallocation In Zimbabwe (1980-2000)

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Zimbabwean economy and land is the key resource in agricultural production. During the colonial era in Zimbabwe, land was distributed along racial lines, approximately 4660 large scale commercial farms mainly white owned occupy 11.2 million ha and about 6 million black smallholder farmers occupy 16.4 million ha in mainly low agricultural potential areas (UNDP, 1998). Resolving the land issue is arguably one of the greatest challenges that face the Mugabe government. Since independence, the government has been undertaking programmes to reallocate land mainly from the white large-scale commercial fanners to the black smallholder fanners to address the inequities of the past. The objective of this paper is to review the progress to date. The paper begins with a description of land distribution over time and move on to review the land acquired and reallocated by the government since 1980. It also reviews the legislative and institutional framework and government financing of the land redistribution and resettlement programmesThe Kellogg W. Foundation

Changing agrarian labour relations in Zimbabwe in the context of the fast track land reform

This thesis examined the evolution and transition of agrarian labour relations in the aftermath of Zimbabwe‘s radical land redistribution, which reconfigured the agrarian structure in terms of landholdings, production practices and labour markets from 2000. Despite the importance of agrarian labour as source of livelihood for the largely countryside based population, insufficient academic attention has been paid to its evolution following the land reforms. Specifically to the mobilisation, organisation and utilisation of wage and non-wage labour against background of the changed land ownership patterns, agrarian policies and macro-economic conditions. Historical-structural approaches rooted in Marxist Political Economy informed the analysis of the new agrarian labour relations since in former Settler colonies such as Zimbabwe these were based were based on a historical context of specific land-labour utilisation relations created by land dispossession and discriminatory agrarian policies during the colonial and immediate independence period. Beyond this, gender issues, intra-household relations, kinship, citizenship and the agency of the workers were taken into account to understand the trajectory of labour relations. Detailed quantitative and qualitative empirical research in Goromonzi and Kwekwe districts, as well as from other sources demonstrated that a new agrarian labour regime had evolved to replace the predominant wage labour in former large-scale commercial farms. There has been a growth in the use of self-employed family farm labour alongside the differentiated use of wage labour in farming and other non-farm activities. Inequitable gender and generational tendencies were evident in the new agrarian labour regime. The new labour relations are marked by the exploitation of farm workers through wages that are below the cost of social reproduction, insecure forms of employment and poor working conditions. While their individual and collective worker agency is yet to reverse their poor socio-economic conditions. Various policy interventions to protect their land and labour rights are thus required. The study shed light on the the conceptual understanding of agrarian labour relations in former Settler economies, including the role of land reforms in the development of employment, and how the peasantry with enlarged land access are reconstituted through repeasantisation and semi-proletarianisation processes.Public Administration and ManagementD. P. A

A luta por soberania epistêmica no Sul: uma homenagem a Sam Moyo

The present tribute to Sam Moyo brings to light his trajectory in the Pan-Africanist tradition of political economy and in the construction of a new autonomous intellectual dynamic between Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Born in Zimbabwe under the Rhodesian colonial regime, he began his studies in West Africa in the 1970s, where he obtained his enduring epistemological orientation based on national liberation. There an autochthonous thought of historical materialism was being consolidated at the time, and initiatives for tricontinental collaboration inspired by the Bandung movement were launched. In the following decades, in the neoliberal era, Sam became a world reference in agrarian and land issues, standing out in his defense of the African peasantry and land reform in Zimbabwe. Always faithful to the liberation of the peoples of the continent and the South, his approach integrated a wide range of issues related to development without disciplinary restrictions, making his mission nothing less than the transformation of the social sciences inherited from colonialism. He was the founder of several research initiatives and institutions in Zimbabwe, the continent and the South, being elected president of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in 2008-2011 and having played a leading role in the construction of the Agrian South tricontinental network.El presente homenaje a Sam Moyo pone de manifiesto su trayectoria en la tradición PanAfricanista de la economía política y en la construcción de una nueva dinámica intelectual autónoma entre África, Asia, América Latina y el Caribe. Nacido en Zimbabwe bajo el régimen colonial de Rhodesia, comenzó sus estudios en África Occidental en la década de 1970, donde obtuvo su duradera orientación epistemológica basada en la liberación nacional. Allí se consolidó, durante esa época, un pensamiento autóctono del materialismo histórico y se lanzaron importantes iniciativas de colaboración tricontinental inspiradas en el movimiento Bandung. En las siguientes décadas, en la era neoliberal, Sam se convirtió en un referente mundial en temas agrarios, destacándose en su defensa del campesinado africano y la reforma agraria en Zimbabwe. Siempre fiel a la liberación de los pueblos del continente y del Sur, su enfoque integró una amplia gama de temas relacionados con el desarrollo sin restricciones disciplinarias, haciendo de su misión nada menos que la transformación de las ciencias sociales heredadas del colonialismo. Fue fundador de varias iniciativas e instituciones de investigación en Zimbabwe, en el continente y en el Sur, siendo elegido presidente del Consejo para el Desarrollo de Investigación en las Ciencias Sociales en África (CODESRIA) en 2008-2011 y habiendo desempeñado un papel protagónico en la construcción de la red tricontinental Sur Agrario (Agrarian South).A presente homenagem a Sam Moyo traz à tona a sua trajetória na tradição Pan-Africanista de economia política e na construção de uma nova dinâmica intelectual autônoma entre África, Ásia, América Latina e Caribe. Nascido no Zimbábue sob o regime colonial rodesiano, iniciou os seus estudos na África do Oeste nos anos 1970, onde obteve a sua duradoura orientação epistemológica pautada na libertação nacional. Ali se consolidava à época um pensamento autóctone do materialismo histórico e lançavam-se importantes iniciativas de colaboração tricontinental inspiradas no movimento de Bandung. Nas décadas seguintes, na época neoliberal, Sam se tornou referência mundial em questões agrárias e fundiárias, destacando-se na sua defesa do campesinato africano e da reforma agrária no Zimbábue. Sempre fiel à libertação dos povos do continente e do Sul, a sua abordagem integrava uma vasta gama de questões relativas ao desenvolvimento sem restrições disciplinares, fazendo de sua missão nada menos que a transformação das ciências sociais herdadas do colonialismo. Foi fundador de diversas iniciativas e instituições de pesquisa no Zimbábue, no continente e no Sul, sendo eleito presidente do Conselho para o Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa em Ciências Sociais em África (CODESRIA) em 2008-2011 e tendo protagonizado na construção da rede tricontinental Sul Agrário (Agrarian South)

Who will make the 'best' use of Africa's land? Lessons from Zimbabwe

Conflict over African land – between small holders and large industrial farmers and between domestic farmers and global agribusinesses – raises key questions about who will make the best use of African land and which farmers do most to decrease poverty and produce more food, industrial inputs, and exports. Zimbabwe has already gone through two major changes in land occupation, and thus provides an important test of what is the 'best' use of the land. Three measures of 'best' use have been cited in Zimbabwe: reward for military victory, poverty reduction, and agricultural production. Initial evidence indicates that commercial small holder production is a better use of the land than larger, more mechanised farming

LAND REFORM AND CHANGING AGRARIAN LABOUR PROCESSES IN ZIMBABWE

MM - P&DMThis study examines the transformation of the agrarian employment in the former largescale commercial farming sector (LSCF) after the implementation of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) by the government of Zimbabwe that redistributed over 80 percent of the farms to mostly landless peasants from the communal areas. The key question posed is whether the transfer of land from the former large-scale commercial farmers has created or inhibited opportunities for rural labour to gain incomes and/or livelihoods through self employment as own agricultural producers or in paid wage work. The study was based on a questionnaire survey administered in newly resettled households in Zvimba District and secondary data sources. Various statistical tools were utilised to answer the study’s research questions. Firstly, descriptive statistics were used to characterise the forms of labour that have emerged in the newly resettled areas. Secondly, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was used to examine the differences in the labour utilisation across the different farm sizes allocated under the FTLRP. Lastly the Chi-Square test was used to relate different factors which were thought to affect the utilisation of labour in newly resettled areas. The study found that FTLRP has been accompanied by the degree of self employment as own producers among newly resettled households in the former wage labour market, although some hired in labour. Hired labour was dominated by casual workers. In comparison to the past scenario the size of the agricultural employment had increased, but new and former farm workers earned unviable wages and benefits and were thus less protected than those in other LSCF subsectors. There was also underutilisation and loss of skills of former farm workers employed in the former LSCF sector. Larger farms with access to capital equipment such as tractors tended to use more absolute hired labour and permanent workers per unit of cropped area, whilst the smaller farms utilised more family and casual labour per unit of cropped area. Across the small and large farms in newly resettled areas, labour use per unit of cropped area was higher compared to the former LSCF sector. In conclusion the land reform programme has the potential to generate employment and thus solve the growing unemployment problem in Zimbabwe, but the capacity of new farmers has to be enhanced to fully utilise their land which is still below its potential through the resolution of production constraints that include finance, skills, input shortages and extension services

Land and Agrarian Reform in Zimbabwe : Beyond White-settler Capitalism

We are grateful for the assistance that many people afforded us during this book project. Invaluable comments were received from various Zimbabwean researchers and activists at a workshop convened by the African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS) in December 2009 in Harare. We received extensive feedback on some chapters from participants in the annual Agrarian Studies Summer School between 2009 and 2012 in Harare, Dar es Salaam and Grahamstown (Rhodes University). In this regard, special thanks are due to Issa Shivji and Ngwanza Kamata (University of Dar es Salaam), Dzodzi Tsikata (University of Ghana), Praveen Jha (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Fred Hendricks (Rhodes University), Lungisile Ntsebeza (University of Cape Town) and Marcelo Rosa and Antonadia Borges (University of Brasilia) for their critical comments. Shepherd Siziba and Godfrey Mahofa of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension at the University of Zimbabwe assisted us with some of the statistical analyses

Government Assisted And Market- Driven Land Reform: Evaluating Public and Private Land Markets in Redistributing Land in Zimbabwe

A land evaluation.Upon independence in 1980, Zimbabwe inherited a dual economy characterized by skewed land ownership and white minority control of land. For a decade following independence, government made headway in redistributing land to the black majority population through state-assisted land reform, but these efforts had substantially stalled by the late 1980s. A joint government-donor initiative in 1998 sought to re-energize Zimbabwe's land reform programme using improved government- and market-assisted approaches) but this initiative by 2000 had become displaced by the Fast Track programme. What is less known is that two other mechanisms - the private land market (deeds transfers), and public leasing of state lands - have also been active in redistributing land. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role and potential of these two mechanisms in future land reform debate. It was found that while government-assisted land resettlement averaged ± 85 000 ha/year over the period 1984-2001, the private land market redistributed between 25 000 and 80 000 ha per year to "black" farmers between 1996 and 1999. Unfortunately, beginning in 2000 with the Fast Track programme, the private land market for both "black" and "white" farmers has collapsed, as have land valuations and mortgage financing. Meanwhile, the public leasing market in the late 1990s accelerated as government began to unload its properties on the public leasing market. Neither process - financial distress in the rural sector or government ownership and leasing of land - provides the foundations for a productive agricultural sector. This paper concludes with concrete recommendations for both public leasing and private land markets that would improve delivery of land to the black majority, both men and women