First and foremost, the reader should know that this is an academic studys published results. This is further corroborated by literature from undergraduate and postgraduate students who have done researchwork on resettlement areas, especially in masvingo province. That can include governmentinitiated property redistribution. The targets of the first phase of the land reform and resettlement program were landless families, the unemployed and poor families with dependants.
Land reform in zimbabwe free international relations and. Kinsey free university amsterdam, amsterdam, the netherlands university of zimbabwe, harare, zimbabwe summary. It argues that in order to understand zimbabwes land reform, we have to look at the specific political context in particular places, avoiding generalizations. The invasion of the largely whiteowned farms, accompanied by violent evictions and wholesale and wanton destruction and looting in 2000, led to a crisis between the judiciary and the executive that resulted in most of the judiciary being. A multiplicity of institutions emerged as the ftlrp was being implemented. I consider tenure, landuse planning and development control, taxation, and direct public sector intervention in the land market. The fasttrack land reform and agrarian change in zimbabwe. Already, zimbabwes government had enough power to take white landowners land away and give it to the landless blacks, but the worst solution is to give the. A study on the impact of governance on land reform in.
The programmes stated targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of. Zimbabwes land reform since 2000 has been intensely controversial. Land, identity, and power global crisis solutions internal position paper may 2004 global crisis solutions is a consulting group of preparedness, humanitarian, conflict and recovery specialists. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a land reform scheme that draws on proposals. Anyone flying over zimbabwe on a clear day in the year 2000 would have seen huge differences in the farming regions, and perhaps better understood the countrys longstanding issue with land reform. It begins with the premise that land policy, especially the fast track land reform. Gender issues in land allocation and reform the primary goal of the land reform in zimbabwe has always been to create racial parity in access to land for settlement and farming. Confronting stereotypes, negative perceptions of zim in the new era april 22, 2018 in business the advent of the new dispensation and the consistent pronouncements by his excellency, the president of the republic of zimbabwe,emmerson mnangagwa, have brought a sense of optimism and hope to zimbabweans both internally and in the diaspora. Land reform in zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the lancaster house agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between black subsistence farmers and. The government came up with new and revised land reform policy after 1990, passing the land acquisition act in 1992, which was supposed to speed up the land reform process through land designation and compulsory acquisition. Provide free access to human rights and humanitarian organizations. The context described above was influenced by the very nature of the ftlrp.
At independence in 1980, the new zimbabwe government was committed to establishing a socialist society based on a state led interventionist and planned strategy. Pdf most commentary on zimbabwes land reform insists that agricultural production has. 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. Introduction at independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution. The government of zimbabwe has demonstrated a commitment to an equitable, legal, and transparent land reform program consistent with agreements reached at the international donors conference on land reform and resettlement in zimbabwe held in harare, zimbabwe, in september 1998. Land free fulltext bring back the landa call to refocus on.
Particular attention is given to the local administrative context and to the relationship between central and local government as portrayed in the paths of land. Zimbabwe received financial assistance for land reform during the 1980s and 1990s from various governments. Confronting stereotypes, negative perceptions of zim in. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a. In this paper i evaluate urban land policy in zimbabwe. Understanding fast track land reforms 5 a major element of the research was an analysis of the interaction of people and institutions and how this shaped the progress of the reforms. Zimbabwes land redistribution, economic recovery and restoration of the individual rights to free, fair and credible elections are all intertwined. Land reform in zimbabwe last updated october 06, 2019. Land reform in zimbabwe neil h thomas department of city and regional planning, cardiff university, glamorgan building, king edward vii avenue, cardiff, cf10 3wa, wales email. Zanu pf rigged last years elections and the party must step down to allow for the appointment of a interim administration that will be tasked to implement the reforms designed to end the curse. I think that in order to measure the success of land reform, we need to go beyond statistics of. Phil okeefe, land use and agricultural productivity in zimbabwe, journal of modern african studies, 23 1985, pp.
The land reform in zimbabwe was organised in line with that slogan and had the following basic elements of speed, which made it to be known as the fast track land reform. The government took the land from white landowners and in 2002 a law was passed that allowed zimbabwes government to take away white owned land. There is widespread agreement on the need for land reform in zimbabwe as a means of reducing poverty. But conditions were put on the way that the money handed over could be used. Pdf the reconfiguration of land and economic opportunity following zimbabwes land reform from 2000 has. A study on the impact of governance on land reform in zimbabwe. World media demonised zimbabwe and the fasttrack land reforms which were initiated in 1999. The first budget of july 1980 was described by the finance minister as conservative with a mild and pragmatic application of socialism.
Whitsun foundation, land reform in zimbabwe whitsun foundation, harare, 1983. In order to redress the imbalances of the past colonial period, government poured huge amounts of resources into the social sphere at the expense of the productive sector of the economy. A quantitative analysis of zimbabwes land reform policy core. The fast track land reform programme implemented during the 2000s in zimbabwe represents the. The land reform and property rights in zimbabwe of 2010 is a sequel report to the. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe. A framework for discussion papers part of the zimbabwe land series dale dor april 10th, 2012 abstract this article sets the tone and lays out a framework for the presentation of a series of discussion papers on land policy in zimbabwe. This book comes to a conclusion that the zimbabwe land reform represents a new form of. It covers a real examination of land reform in zimbabwe specifically as masvingo province, which experienced the greatest land reform in the country conducted by ian scoones of.
This series of 8 videos shows the experiences of some of the farmers who gained land following zimbabwes controversial land reform from 2000. In the biggest land reform in africa, 6,000 white farmers have been replaced by 245,000 zimbabwean farmers. This website presents material linked to an ongoing research project in masvingo province in the southeast of the country. South africa has just completed a land reform summit july 2005, and the process of land claims by black africans3 against white african commercial farmers has intensified. This chapter examines this affect, and forms the backdrop to the later investigation of zimbabwean, south african and. Land reform, sanctions, regime change, and sovereignty one of the enduring problems of the zimbabwe crisis revolves around understanding the meaning of the terms employed by the respective protagonists to describe the crisis, whether they are zimbabwean, african, or western. But 245,000 new farmers have received land, and most of them are farming it. It has led to zimbabwes economic and social collapse. Land reform has historically focused on redistributing land owned by white to black farmers, to correct what the postindependence leadership said were colonial wrongs of the past.
The former settler colonies namibia, south africa and zimbabwe have chosen different approaches to land reform in order to redress these imbalances 2. This has involved a detailed study of what happened. The distribution was unequal and gender insensitive. In zimbabwes current crisis, it is easy to overlook the fact that the country had a. The need for land reform in zimbabwe is generally acknowledged, even. Land reform has returned to prominence not just in zimbabwe but also in southern africa more generally. Overturning the settler colonial pattern of land use and creating a new agrarian structure has had farreaching consequences. Land reform in zimbabwe officially began in 1980 with the signing of the lancaster house.
Land reform in zimbabwe is the greatest flop in the world but a success in the eyes of zanu pfutseki. Upon independence in 1980, robert mugabes government moved cautiously to alter the pattern of management that it inherited from the white minority regime. Land reform in the twenty years after independence. This phase is still ongoing, but is now sometimes used by top political elites from the ruling party as a way of punishing white farmers who oppose their rule or openly support. 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. We offer rapid response capacity and strategic planning strengths that position us as the most effective partner in any crisis. Gazetted land consequential provisions act chapter 20. Political economy analysis of fast track land reform.
Land reform, implementation, land information system, cadastre, sustainable development. All of this means that land reform will have to be done honestly, pragmatically and to expand, rather than destroy, the industrial base of a country. Challenging the myths article pdf available in journal of peasant studies 385. 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. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the land. Land has been a source of political conflict in zimbabwe since colonization, when. All the other sectors of the economy like the public service and state owned enterprises including the private sector had. Land reform, sanctions, regime change, and sovereignty. Zimbabwe land audit uncovers serious irregularities. Land reform in zimbabwe wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Zimbabwes fast track land reform program ftlrp formally began. This act may be cited as the gazetted land consequential provisions act chapter 20. Disparity between policy design and implementation medicine masiiwa institute of development studies university of zimbabwe may 2004 note.
Mugabes land reform was the last straw that broke the economys back. World bank, zimbabwe agricultural sector study world bank, washington, report no. My central argument in this minithesis is that land reform in zimbabwe was not a resounding success because of the way the process was managed. This policy allowed government to acquire, for compensation, land that it deemed. A mere reference to land reforms in zimbabwe raised eyebrows. Zimbabwes land reform has not been neat, and huge problems remain. Fast track land reform resulted in a radical and widespread restructuring of the agrarian. 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. In zimbabwe, land reform was absolutely necessary to address past land injustices, but mugabes land reform was simply exploiting the necessity of land reform for purely selfish gain. Ruswa masters minithesis, institute for social development, university of the western cape. Land reform is the change of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Introduction this report is an interim assessment by the united nations development programmeled mission to assess progress of land reform in zimbabwe requested by both the government of zimbabwe and a committee of.
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