Land reform
Latest articles
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
Sugar scandals in Zimbabwe’s lowveld
February 4, 2020 / FAC blog While visiting our research sites in Mkwasine and Hippo Valley in Zimbabwe’s lowveld recently, there was only one topic of conversation among sugar farmers we have been working with in land reform areas: the scandal that has overwhelmed the South African sugar
Research to impact: stories from Zimbabwe
January 9, 2020 / FAC blog Over a couple of weeks in December, I visited our long-term field sites in A1 resettlement sites in Masvingo province in Zimbabwe. It is now nearly 20 years since land reform and the beginning of our research engagement across these
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
What does pro-poor rural development mean for Zimbabwe?
November 28, 2019 / FAC blog During last year’s election campaign, Tendai Biti from the opposition MDC, characterised the rural areas as ‘reservoirs of poverty’ in need of ‘liquidation’. Such a characterisation of course is a huge generalisation. Any rural policy must take a more differentiated view, and
Water, sanitation and energy supply in Masvingo’s communal areas
November 13, 2019 / FAC blog When we started our research on the new resettlement areas in the early 2000s, one of the things people frequently said to us was that they were happy about the new land and the opportunities is brought, but found 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,
Off-farm work and diversified livelihoods in Zimbabwe’s communal areas
November 3, 2019 / FAC blog With low agricultural output, off-farm work is an essential complement to agricultural production in Zimbabwe’s communal areas. Working away has always been part and parcel of communal area livelihoods; indeed these were established as ‘labour reserves’ in the colonial era.
Livestock production: the limits of extensive systems in Zimbabwe
October 30, 2019 / FAC blog As the previous blog described, the communal area sites we have been studying in Masvingo rarely produced sufficient crops to cover even subsistence needs, and then if so only very occasionally, as with the Mwenezi experience in 2016-17. So what about livestock
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