Land Reform in Zimbabwe Constraints and Prospects

About this book

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. In Zimbabwe, for the first ten years after independence in 1980, land redistribution was limited largely to that occurring on a "willing-buyer, willing-seller" basis (as defined by the Lancaster House Agreement). During this time some three million hectares of commercial farmland was purchased by the government at market value, assisted by grants from the UK government. Some 52,000 families, focusing on the landless and poor from overpopulated and environmentally degraded communal land, but also some war veterans, were resettled. There was considerable controversy surrounding this process and its management, as to whether the intended objectives were being fulfilled, the slow pace at which reform was proceeding, and the means by which the processes in place were enhancing or undermining economic and environmental development and stability. Many of these issues are addressed in this text.

Contents

Land reform's constraints and prospects - policies, perspectives and ideologies in Zimbabwe today, T.A.S. Bowyer-Bower and Colin Stoneman; Mugabe's "land grab" in regional perspective, Robin Palmer; a review of the UK ODA evaluation of the Land Resettlement Programme in 1988 and the Land Appraisal Mission of 1996, John Cusworth; the politics of land reform in Zimbabwe, Lionel Cliffe; Zimbabwe land policy and the Land Reform Programme, Colin Stoneman; theory into practice - perspectives on land reform of the Farmers' Unions of Zimbabwe, T.A.S. Bowyer-Bower; the political economy of land redistribution in the 1990s, Sam Moyo; implications for poverty of land reform in Zimbabwe - insights from findings of the 1995 Poverty Assessment Survey Study, T.A.S. Bowyer-Bower; the implications of land reform for rural welfare, B.H. Kinsey; Zimbabwean people's perceptions of the land resettlement programme -the case of rural-urban migrants, Debby Potts; the enduring appeal of technical development in Zimbabwe's agrarian reform, J. Alexander; resource implications of land resettlement in Zimbabwe - insights from woodland changes, Jennifer A. Elliott; land inheritance issues in Zimbabwe today, Simon Coldham; land reform versus customary law -what about women? Jenny Brown; the effects of land reform on gender relations in Zimbabwe, Suzie Jacobs; land reform in Zimbabwe -dimensions of a reformed land structure, Mandivamba Rukuni.

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