agriculture
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New farm size regulations in Zimbabwe: can they encourage land redistribution?
March 23, 2020 / FAC blog In mid-February, the Government of Zimbabwe issued a new set of farm size regulations, arguing that this would release new land for land reform. This announcement arrived out of the blue and came as a surprise to many. Was this a
Zimbabwe’s economy goes from bad to worse
March 5, 2020 / FAC blog Zimbabwe’s economy continues to decline, with inflation spiralling and the new local currency losing value by the day. The IMF’s recent report makes grim reading, with negative growth recorded for last year, and an expectation of effectively no growth, growing inflation and
Zimbabweland’s festive top 20 for 2019
January 9, 2020 / FAC blog For readers of the blog who want to catch up, the ‘top 20’ most viewed blogs posted this year are listed below. Many looked at older ones too, and there are now over 370 to choose from. As ever, the
Institutions, social relations and rural development in Zimbabwe
November 13, 2019 / FAC blog Social and political relations are central to land and agricultural production. Unlike in the resettlement areas, where new institutions and relations had to be built following land reform, those in the communal areas draw on longer traditions. Like in the resettlements,
Agriculture in Masvingo’s communal areas: limited prospects
October 24, 2019 / FAC blog We investigated agricultural production across our communal area sites throughout Masvingo province during the 2016 and 2017 harvest seasons. These were relatively good rainfall years, with 690 mm recorded in Masvingo town in 2016-17, for instance. Compared to the past
Land and tenure in Zimbabwe’s communal areas: why land reform was needed
October 14, 2019 / FAC blog Access to land is central to the livelihoods of rural people, but in the communal areas this is highly constrained outside the land-extensive Lowveld site of Mwenezi. Even in dryland Chivi average holdings are only 2.1 hectares, while in Gutu
Are communal areas in Zimbabwe too poor for development?
October 3, 2019 / FAC blog Communal areas are where the majority of rural people live in Zimbabwe. With an estimated population of 1.1 million households and a land area of 16.4 million hectares, these areas far exceed those allocated land in the resettlements. This blog