Land programme fears in Zimbabwe

The current resettlement programme in Zimbabwe ignores concerns over land tenure and ownership, according to research by Professor John Cusworth and Dr Behrooz Morvaridi of the Development and Project Planning Centre.

They undertook a survey of stakeholders' attitudes to resettlement in the country after the first phase between 1980 and 1997 which had tended to be 'top down'; stakeholders included communal areas, landless farm workers, resettled farmers, large and small commercial farmers, Government institutions, non-Governmental organisations, and international donor agencies.

Resettlement was studied in terms of its contribution to the stability and sustainability of the agricultural sector; which groups benefited and which perceived they had benefited or might benefit in the future. The broader objective of the research was to examine how land reform fits into the wider development aim of alleviating poverty.

Rapid population growth in Zimbabwe has increased pressure on farming land, particularly in the already densely-populated communal areas. The resettlement programme has only marginally alleviated these pressures.

Zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution at independence, with just 1 per cent of farmers - 4,500 farmers of whom the majority were white - holding nearly half the available agricultural land, including the most productive. Land redistribution has been a high priority for the Government as it was considered essential for the country's long-term political prospects; 71,000 households have been resettled and 20,000 have had access to increased grazing, but poverty is still increasing in communal areas.

The second phase of land reform began in 1997 and aims to redistribute five million hectares of land and resettle around 150,000 families, to redistribute five million hectares of large-scale commercial farming, and to reduce poverty among rural families.

However, the programme is ignoring land tenure and ownership concerns; the Government is retaining ownership of communal lands. Insecure tenure discourages investment in the land, and large-scale commercial farmers believe that security is needed to select people who can run productive farms.

At the same time large-scale commercial farmers have moved to export crops which increase the value of their land, resulting in a reduced production of maize which is the main food for poor people.

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University - Public Relations - Annual Reports - 2000 Contents - Research

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