Land reform in zimbabwe has been highly controversial. The zimbabwe democracy and economic recovery act s. However, none was in the form of written guarantees to enforce payment commitments. Zimbabwe, on one side of the spectrum, is facing a crisis in democratisation due to its radical approach to land reform. Land rights and land conflicts in africa carried out for the danish. Zimbabwes land reform since 2000 has been intensely controversial. 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. From the 1980s, under the influence of international finance and neoliberal economics, stateled and interventionist land reform was removed from the development agenda and replaced by marketbased. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a land reform scheme that draws on proposals. Why zimbabwe land reform has failed zimbabwe today.
A small minority of white largescale commercial farmers owned and. Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to be dealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. The fast track land reform programme implemented during the 2000s in zimbabwe represents the only instance of radical redistributive land reforms since the. Land reform is a necessary but not sufficient condition for agrarian reform and national development. Jan 28, 20 in the biggest land reform in africa, 6,000 white farmers have been replaced by 245,000 zimbabwean farmers. It begins with the premise that land policy, especially the fast track land reform. 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 forced out of office. In 2000, zimbabwe s government expropriated white farmers without compensation. The colonialists strengthened their land reform and redistribution program by enacting entrenched legislation.
From jambanja to planning institute of development studies. Land reform in the twenty years after independence. The story is not simply one of collapse and catastrophe. On 18 april 1990 zimbabwe celebrates the 10th anniversary of its independence. The social, political and economic transformative impact of the fast track land reform programme on the lives of women farmers in goromonzi and vungugweru districts of zimbabwe page 1 table of contents list of tables, figures and boxes ii introduction 1 1. Pdf on mar 1, 20, tendai chari and others published media.
More surprising was the mdcs victory in the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2008. During the first and second phases of the land reform programme government pursued a narrowly defined land reform programme which focused solely on the in his ph. Will zimbabwes economic downfall be repeated in south africa. This policy allowed government to acquire, for compensation, land that it deemed. 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. Land reform may consist of a governmentinitiated or governmentbacked property. Overturning the settler colonial pattern of land use and creating a new agrarian structure has had farreaching consequences. In the early years of the reforms, the programme captured international attention and imagination.
But 245,000 new farmers have received land, and most of them are farming it. An evaluation of the impact of the zimbabwe land reform. The situation of commercial farm workers after land reform in zimbabwe 5 the focus of this report derives from the mission and programme priorities of the farm community trust of zimbabwe fctz, which commissioned it. 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. As a consequence, a key policy focus of postliberation governments in all three countries has been land reform programmes designed to alter the racial distribution of land holdings. The land reform and property rights in zimbabwe of 2010 is a sequel report to the 2007, adding insult to injury, a preliminary report on human rights violations on commercial farms 20002005. Senators bill frist rtennessee and russ feingold dwisconsin introduced the bill on march 8, 2001.
Political economy analysis of fast track land reform programme in zimbabwe arnold rangarirayi chamunogwa a minithesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in governance and development at the institute of development studies, university of sussex. Introduction at independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution. Zimbabwes fast track land reform program ftlrp formally began. The sadc region represents close to a third of the total african land mass. Political economy analysis of fast track land reform. Zimbabwes land reform is common sense pambazuka news. The land reform and property rights in zimbabwe of 2010 is a sequel report to. Repression and manipulation facilitated mugabes victory in the 2002 presidential elections and the 2005 parliamentary elections. 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. Much of the scholarship of zimbabwe s land reform since 2000 has been deeply divided. Its aim was to conflate the taking of the land to an imagined agenda of white genocide.
At independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution. The second phase of the land redistribution and resettlement programme in the form of the fast track land reform programme ftlrp, which started in 2000, has created an expanded number and array of small, medium and large scale farms, and effectively transferring ownership from the minority, white farmers to new indigenous farmers. From freedom charter to cautious land reform the politics of land in south africa the constitutional entrenchment of a strictly free marketbased economy implied by the willing sellerwilling buyer formula could be used to challenge any attempts to address the inequalities imposed by apartheid, and would, as in zimbabwe, impose severe. The zimbabwean government will then at last be able to tackle the contentious and highly politicised land. The programmes stated targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership. Not long ago, zanu pf chefs and blind followers praised land redistribution as one of president robert. Land reform, climate change and sustainable development in. This is an issue which was present in zimbabwe during the early 2000s, when fears of genocide and ethnic cleansing were touted by local and international media outlets. Zimbabwe land reform support project english abstract. Zimbabwe s land redistribution, economic recovery and restoration of the individual rights to free, fair and credible elections are all intertwined. Institute of development studies, university of sussex, brighton, uk the recon.
Moral arguments for land redistribution in contemporary. Descriptive and inferential statistics were also used in analyzing the data. This will facilitate the government to implement plan for agricultural development in a smooth manner. Disparity between policy design and implementation medicine masiiwa institute of development studies university of zimbabwe may 2004 note. World media demonised zimbabwe and the fasttrack land reforms which were initiated in 1999. Land reform has returned to prominence not just in zimbabwe but also in southern africa more generally.
Sixteen years later and thirty years into independence nothing has changed in this respect. Zimbabwe land reform support project english the world bank. Having often travelled to zimbabwe since 2003 and during my intermittent stay there i never found an issue which aroused more passions than land reforms. Why zimbabwe has failed to sate the yearning for land and to. Zimbabwe received financial assistance for land reform during the 1980s and 1990s from various governments. Let us make an indepth study of the subjectmatter, meaning, objectives and different measures of land reforms. 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. But perhaps more than any other issue in zimbabwe, it has historically been met with inertia from government and the international community. In 1979, zimbabwe launched the land reform initiative intending to redistribute land from those who benefited from discriminatory colonial rhodesian and british policies back to native black africans shortly after the ratification of the lancaster house accords accords into its constitution. This act designated land in terms of who lived and farmed therein.
Zimbabwes land reform has not been neat, and huge problems remain. A total of one hundred and forty four respondents were used for the study. Land reform in zimbabwe free international relations and. The land reform programme can achieve its desired social, economic and political objectives if the redistribution exercise is planned properly. The major challenge for the current land policy is to improve the credibility and efficacy of the governments approach to land reform. Land reforms will enable to bring about a close integration of agricultural economy with the planning process of the country. Indeed, these have been part of the reality but there have also been successes, which have thus far gone largely unrecorded. 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.
Since the land reform programme in 2000, tourism in zimbabwe has steadily declined. 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. The government of zimbabwes fast track land reform programme launched in 2000, involving forced evictions of white. Through land redistribution, land was taken away from white landowners and given to blacks. In april 2009, a tribunal of the international centre for settlement of investment disputes icsid ordered the government of zimbabwe to compensate a group of dutch nationals whose farms were expropriated under zimbabwe s controversial land reform program. This chapter examines this affect, and forms the backdrop to the later investigation of zimbabwean, south african and british foreign policy. The development objective of the land reform support project for zimbabwe is to initiate on a pilot basis a couple of land reform approaches that show promise to reduce rural poverty and increase agricultural productivity in the participating farms. A discussion on the outcomes of land reform from a poverty reduction perspective and based on the evidence from masvingo is presented next. Zimbabwe s government has an excessive amount of power, therefore minimizing if not eliminating zimbabwe s citizens voice in the governments decisions. Vittoria moretti 9 natural resource extraction as backbone of a dwindling national economy. A severe draught in the mid 2000 and a massive hivaids pandemic further exacerba ted the controversial land reform s effects.
Race gender and class in the government of commercial farm workers in hurunawe district. The debates, which followed the dramatic occupations of white farms by rural peasants in the late 1990s, are generally polarised between those who support radical land reform and those who support marketorientated reforms. This website presents material linked to an ongoing research project in masvingo province in the southeast of the country. The zimbabwean government will then at last be able to tackle the contentious and highly politicised land question unhindered by the constraints imposed by britain in 197980. This is followed by the section that presents the framework for understanding poverty alleviation in the resettlement areas. It often takes a generation for a land reform to produce results the larger of zimbabwe s two post apartheid land reforms is only a decade old, but new farmers have already caught up with the previous whitedominated system in production although of course, there are always better and worse farmers in any category. Much of this land was previously cattle ranches, with limited. A mere reference to land reforms in zimbabwe raised eyebrows. Introduction according to the white paper on south african land policy the case for the governments land reform policy is fourfold. The dutch claimants in the case, bernardus henricus funnekotter and others v. Dec 12, 2016 why zimbabwe has failed to sate the yearning for land and to fix rural hunger.
Pdf the research analysed the impacts of land reform programme on politico economic development in zimbabwe using the case of umguza district. 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. The fasttrack land reform and agrarian change in zimbabwe. The targets of the first phase of the land reform and resettlement program were landless families, the. The need for land reform south africa suffered a long history of colonization, racial domination and land dispossession that. Kinsey free university amsterdam, amsterdam, the netherlands university of zimbabwe, harare, zimbabwe summary. Editorial introduction article pdf available in journal of peasant studies 385. Dec 21, 2016 almost 40 years after independence, land reform remains at the heart of zimbabwes political and economic challenges. Kay 1997 postulates that in indonesia land reforms also known as agrarian reform, through that can have a broader meaning is an often controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby a government administers the ownership and use of land. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe fig.
In zimbabwes current crisis, it is easy to overlook the fact that the country had a. Zimbabwe land audit uncovers serious irregularities. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the land. An analysis of the implications of the fast track land reform program on climate change and disaster management in zimbabwe. The lessons from zimbabwes land reform for its neighbors. Zimbabwe s land issue has generated unprecedented debates both within and outside the country. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe. Land reform can generate sustainable livelihoods for the beneficiaries. 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. Zimbabwe democracy and economic recovery act of 2001. 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. If viewed as a project, the npv of the reform is positive for a discount rate that is as high as 20%. Pdf media framing of land reform in zimbabwe researchgate. Government of zimbabwe 1998 land reform and resettlement programme. Speeding up the identification for compulsory acquisition of not less than. Background to the research 2 land reform in zimbabwe 3. Land reform in zimbabwe, 19801990 robin palmer introduction on 18 april 1990 zimbabwe celebrates the 10th anniversary of its independence. Much of the scholarship of zimbabwes land reform since 2000 has been deeply divided. 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. This article is a critical analysis of zimbabwes land reform that will enable academics and policy makers to be aware of some mistakes, ambiguities and contradictions. Pdf an overview of fast track land reform in zimbabwe. Overall impacts of fast track land reform programme. Images of chaos, destruction and violence have dominated the coverage.
It has led to zimbabwe s economic and social collapse. 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. Evaluate the failures and or successes of land tenure reform in zimbabwe. 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. May 03, 20 the issue of the over 4 500 farms seized without compensation is turning out to be a pertinent matter in zimbabwe s reengagement efforts with western countries after a 12year political standoff. This did, of course, happen, and continues to do so. This series of 8 videos shows the experiences of some of the farmers who gained land following zimbabwe s controversial land reform from 2000.
Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to bedealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. Ten years after the fast track land reform programme in zimbabwe, its. Simultaneously, the famous lancaster house constitution expires. In this section, we zero in on masvingo province in the central south and east of the country. Land reform is a zimbabwe success story it will be the basis for economic recovery under mnangagwa november 29, 2017 9. Land rights and tenure security in zimbabwes post fast track. Land reform, sanctions, regime change, and sovereignty. Analysis and views on land reform and the land question in namibia and southern africa, 64 j hunter ed, 2004 viii harold green, south africa and zimbabwe. Land reforms can establish a direct link between government and farmers by abolishing intermediaries. The land and agrarian question in zimbabwe sam moyo this work.