On the one hand, many critics paint it as chaotic, disastrous and bloody, while claiming the social and economic plights the country has suffered subsequently, as symptomatic. Disparity between policy design and implementation medicine masiiwa institute of development studies university of zimbabwe may 2004 note. Constraints and prospects soas studies in development geography. Images of chaos, destruction and violence have dominated the coverage. Routledge ebooks are accessible via the free vitalsource bookshelf app for. Land reform in the twenty years after independence. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe. Land reform in zimbabwe officially began in 1980 with the signing of the lancaster house agreement, as an effort to more equitably distribute land between black subsistence farmers and white zimbabweans of european ancestry, who had traditionally enjoyed superior political and economic status. Land has been a source of political conflict in zimbabwe since colonization, when. School of oriental and african studies in zimbabwe, for the first ten years after independence in 1980, land redistribution was limited largely to that occurring on a willingbuyer, willingseller basis. The history of land reform in zimbabwe is addressed and the current proposed reform policies, comparison between programmes elsewhere in southern africa, and implications including for rural and urban welfare, the economy, the environment, the law, and for women.
The lessons from zimbabwes land reform for its neighbors. Efficiency effects zimbabwes agricultural mechanization. Simultaneously, the famous lancaster house constitution expires. Understanding zimbabwe s land reform in this broader context is therefore. A small minority of white largescale commercial farmers owned and farmed most of the better agricultural land. The second phase of the land redistribution and resettlement programme in the form of the fast track land reform programme ftlrp, which started in 2000, has created an expanded number and array of small, medium and large scale farms, and effectively transferring ownership from the minority, white farmers to new indigenous farmers. The authors analyze the impact of the reform on resettled farm households. Download citation land reform in zimbabwe the paper begins with an ethical case for land redistribution in zimbabwe, based on principles of social justice. Policies, perspectives and ideologies in zimbabwe today. Bowyerbell and colin stoneman, land reform s constraints and prospects. There is widespread agreement on the need for land reform in zimbabwe as a means of reducing poverty. On land issues, that means a picture of a predatory state driving white farmers off the land and handing it out to cronies and bogus war veterans, who fail to produce anything much in the way of crops zimbabwe takes back its land, a new book coauthored by joe hanlon, jeanette. Included among the broad objectives of resettlement policy was enhancement of the socioeconomic well being of lowincome households.
Yet today, the state of zimbabwe, controlled by the ruling zimbabwe african national unionpatriotic front party, holds titles to almost all for. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a land reform scheme that draws on proposals. This early land reform produced a rather feudal form of politics based on racial and class discrimination imposed on the african population by the british government and white rhodesians. Sustainable extension support to land reform beneficiaries. Land system refers to the institutions and laws that define and regulate the relationships between land and its users, which is the most important arrangement of production relations in a country and the most basic system in all systems lin and ho, 2005. The zimbabwean government will then at last be able to tackle the contentious and highly politicised land.
On the other hand, many supporters of the reforms have tried to show the successes. Johannesburg, 3 october irin zimbabwe s fasttrack land reform programme has ignored the critical role played by the commercial farming sector in the economy, analysts and farmers have warned. Land is the material basis for the survival and development of human society. Veterans of zimbabwe s liberation war also began to feel the pinch of a declining economy and to agitate government for greater monetary assistance for their efforts in the liberation struggle. Too often, ideological positions trump empirical realities and detailed analysis. This replaced an agrarian structure that was divided between 4,500 largescale commercial farms and many small communal area farms. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the land. In zimbabwe, for the first ten years after independence in 1980, land redistribution was limited largely to that occurring on a willingbuyer, willingseller basis as defined by the lancaster house agreement. Land and agrarian reform in former settler colonial dd. The prospects for democratisation and egalitarian land reform in zimbabwe diminished as a result of the change in policy thrust from socialism to neoliberalism.
Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to be dealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. It can be stated with confidence that the third phase of the land reform and resettlement programme in zimbabwe was political in character, as well as aiming to increase agricultural production. After 2000, around 145,000 families were allocated smallholder plots and a further 20,000 took on medium scale farms. Much of the scholarship of zimbabwe s land reform since 2000 has been deeply divided. Chisango1 and ajuruchukwu obi2 department of agricultural economics and extention university of fort hare, alice abstract a development goal pursued by the zimbabwean government even before the muchmaligned fast. This rudimentary outline of the history of land reform in zimbabwe since 1980 must. The book provides a detailed overview of the historical, legal, political, and economic aspects of land redistribution in zimbabwe since its independence in. Efficiency effects zimbabwes agricultural mechanization and fast track land reform programme. Sustainable extension support to land reform beneficiaries in zimbabwe mashonaland west by. Pdf on dec 1, 2011, lionel cliffe and others published an. Pdf an overview of fast track land reform in zimbabwe. A mere reference to land reforms in zimbabwe raised eyebrows. The story is not simply one of collapse and catastrophe.
Zimbabwe s decolonization could never be complete without addressing the land question. The majority of the agricultural production was large, commercial, and owned by white farmers. But despite the general consensus not to repeat zimbabwe s economic disaster, few people disagree that land ownership needs to be reformed in south africa. An adapted version of this paper appears in the edited collection post independence land reform in zimbabwe, published in may 2004 by the friedrich ebert stiftung in harare. Land reform, commercial agriculture and local economic. The government also failed to resolve the land reform. Project muse liberation from constitutional constraints. Women and land in zimbabwe, a nongovernmental organisation whose objectives include the promotion of womens rights to land, has commission this study. A 1998 survey of farm workers in zimbabwe detailing their demographic, and skill, land access and viewpoints of land reform and redistribution is used to examine the very real constraints and the possibilities for poverty reduction among longstanding marginalized social groups in the ongoing fasttrack land resettlement in zimbabwe. Prospects for the socialist transformation of agriculture in zimbabwe. Race gender and class in the government of commercial farm workers in hurunawe district. A list of the specific laws to be analyzed is attached to this report as appendix a.
Land reform in zimbabwe, 19801990 robin palmer introduction on 18 april 1990 zimbabwe celebrates the 10th anniversary of its independence. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a landreform scheme that draws on proposals from zimbabwes government in 1998 and 1999. This highly informative collection is the product of a 1998 london conference, updated to take note of the illegal and violent seizure of whiteowned farms starting in early 2000 by the government of robert mugabe. This book aims to fill a gap by drawing on extensive longitudinal research from across zimbabwe, pointing to policy challenges, as well as solutions. The need for land reform south africa suffered a long history of colonization, racial domination and land dispossession that resulted in the bulk of the agricultural land being owned by a white minority. This in effect was the beginning of zimbabwe s land problem. Land reform in zimbabwe 1 norma kriger in 1980, zimbabwe s white minority owned commercial farms covered nearly half the countrys agricultural land. The study seeks to provide a gender analysis of the current agrarian laws in zimbabwe. Changes in the state of distribution have a direct impact on the prospects of. To purchase this ebook for personal use, or in paperback or hardback format, please. World media demonised zimbabwe and the fasttrack land reforms which were initiated in 1999. Maposa, 2james hlongwana and 2tasara muguti abstract the article seeks to delineate and evaluate some constraints that the new black farmers in the former white commercial farms face in the backdrop of the contested land reform programme in zimbabwe. Ive never been to zimbabwe, so tend to get my messages from the news coverage.
Overall impacts of fast track land reform programme. In each of these countries the process of land reform is incomplete. The effect of the fast track phase of land reform on the financial sector was catastrophic, because most banks in zim held collectively billions of dollars worth of bonds on the commerci. Zimbabwe, on one side of the spectrum, is facing a crisis in democratisation due to its radical approach to land reform. Land reform in zimbabwe has radically transformed the rural economy. Irrespective of all constraints, the governments accomplishments during the. While the spirit of redistributive land reforms came from the peasant. Constraints and prospects soas studies in development geography university of london school of oriental and african studies, stoneman, colin, bowyerbower, t. Zimbabwes fast track land reform programme ftlrp initiated from 2000. The contribution of smallholder agriculture production to. The food insecurity has remained a continuous challenge for the rural poor in zimbabwe.
Indeed, these have been part of the reality but there have also been successes, which have thus far gone largely unrecorded. Zimbabwe s land reform program and has resulted in whiteowned farms being seized. Rethinking the land question cherryl walker stellenbosch university this article argues that a mismatch exists between the political aspirations and popular expectations that surround the land question in south africa and the transformative potential of land reform itself. A total of 712 of these claims, for 292 995 hectares, were settled between 2009 and december 2011, against a target of 1 845 claims for the period. Sam moyos work, spanning over three decades, has been a point of reference in the discussion of land policy performance, rural mobilization and trends in land reform. Zimbabwes fast track land reform program ftlrp formally. This study investigated the contribution of smallholder agriculture to food. The fasttrack land reform and agrarian change in zimbabwe. Zimbabwe s land reform has been highly controversial. Sorry, we are unable to provide the full text but you may find it at the following locations. Before this program, zimbabwe had a thriving agriculture sector and was a net exporter of food. Land ownership, and rights of use of land, have been central issues for many countries throughout history, and for many are also issues of the day. The programmes stated targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership. Introduction at independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution.
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