The major challenge for the current land policy is to improve the credibility and efficacy of the governments approach to land reform. This policy allowed government to acquire, for compensation, land that it deemed. The programmes stated targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership. It is also during this period that warning signs of the imminent land occupation problem became clear. A quantitative analysis of zimbabwes land reform policy core. 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.
Kinsey and others provides the dominant body of literature on the performance of. Zimbabwe government, 1998 the issue of land redistribution almost vanished from the national agenda during the mid 1980s, prompting some observers to claim that land was not the real issue in zimbabwe as previously thought. And, despite the largely negative press over the years, recent reports have sought to highlight some of the more positive aspects of zimbabwes land reform and agricultural growth. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full. A mere reference to land reforms in zimbabwe raised eyebrows. The lessons from zimbabwes land reform for its neighbors. 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. From the ongoing war in angola, to sporadic instability in zimbabwe and lesotho, to the conflict in congo, to issues of land reform and the ravages of aids, southern africa faces varied and complex threats to its peace and security.
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. 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. The political and economic developments since 1980, which underlie land. Rural zimbabwe empties as mugabe land reform policy unravels. Post independence land reform in zimbabwe ids opendocs. This is further corroborated by literature from undergraduate and postgraduate students who have done researchwork on resettlement areas, especially in masvingo province. Tackling such extreme excesses of land grabbing through a land audit remains a major challenge.
Benefits and costs of land reform in zimbabwe with implications for southern africa, klaus deininger, hans hoogeveen and bill kinsey. Introduction at independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution. Section one addresses the land and agrarian question in settler africa, while section 2 provides a historical overview of the zimbabwes land question and its market based reforms until 1996. Indeed, the programme of land reform is crucial to the resolution of rural. 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. Zimbabwe government for the purpose of land redistribution. What can south africa learn from zimbabwes fasttrack land reforms. The pace of land restitution has been negatively influenced by the willing buyerwilling seller principle. Pdf on dec 1, 2011, lionel cliffe and others published an overview of fast track land reform in zimbabwe. Most of the discourses on land have paid scant regard to the internal social stratification. But equally as valid is the view that the case for land reform needed to be reinforced because of the failure of zimbabwes friends and sponsorsthe multilateral and bilateral agencies especiallyto persuade robert mugabe that land reform was too important to be neglected. The paper documents the nature of the radical transformation of agrarian structure that has occurred both nationally and within the province, and the implications. While the west was quick to dismiss zimbabwe as another failed african state, new research shows that zimbabwe is actually recovering, and that land reform is working.
The land reform and property rights in zimbabwe of 2010 is a sequel report to. In southern africa, tenure reform must address a range of problems arising from settler colonisation and dispossession. Land reform in zimbabwe is the greatest flop in the world but a success in the eyes of zanu pfutseki. The negative impacts of land reform on the status of large carnivores documented here could be reduced by modifying the way in which land reform programmes are implemented. Fast track farms farms established as a result of the land reform programme taking place from. By contrast, little attention has been given, in either scholarly or popular writing, to. This pdf is made available under a creative commons. Firstly, the model of land reform that was applied under zimbabwes ftlrp considered agricultural models at the expense of a wildlifebased model. Zimbabwes land reform is that all the land went to mugabes cronies.
Johannesburg, 3 october irin zimbabwes fasttrack land reform programme has ignored the critical role played by the commercial farming sector. The land reform programme can achieve its desired social, economic and political objectives if the redistribution exercise is planned properly. Land reform involved the targeted resettlement of the black majority from unproductive. 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.
Land reform, especially the establishment of peasant proprietorship, is the most important aspect of institutional reform in indian agriculture. Land and democracy in zimbabwe download ebook pdf, epub. The land reform programme in zimbabwe has been a major area of international discussion for almost five years now. Zimbabwes land redistribution, economic recovery and restoration of the individual rights to free, fair and credible elections are all intertwined. In the early years of the reforms, the programme captured international attention and imagination, while in zimbabwe itself it radically altered peoples lives and livelihoods, and at the same time reawakened peoples memories of the past. Land issues have dominated the discourses and practices of development in postindependence africa. The issue of land reform in zimbabwe has captured worldwide attention since the year 2000, when mass land occupations firmly punctuated a growing political and economic crisis. Pdf an overview of fast track land reform in zimbabwe. Zimbabwe, impose severe limitations on land reform. Click download or read online button to get land and democracy in zimbabwe book now.
In one effort to examine the potential consequences of fast track land reform, sam moyo. 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. In this section, we zero in on masvingo province in the central south and east of the country. 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. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe. This did, of course, happen, and continues to do so. Moyo, the interaction of market and compulsory land acquisition processes with social action in zimbabwes land reform, p. Disparity between policy design and implementation medicine masiiwa institute of development studies university of zimbabwe may 2004 note. South africas celebrated transformation from apartheid to bastion of nonracial. Editorial introduction article pdf available in journal of peasant studies 385. 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. Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to bedealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. First is to achieve political stability, second is establishing a broader base for economic growth, and third is the need for social integration.
However, government failed to vigorously pursue the land redistribution plan in order to resolve the. Zimbabwe land audit uncovers serious irregularities. Much of this land was previously cattle ranches, with limited. 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.
There is widespread agreement on the need for land reform in zimbabwe as a means of reducing poverty. The resulting lancaster house agreement set a framework for key outcomes, including a roadmap to elections through a universal plebiscite, a constitution, and steps to achieve equitable land reform. Africas land problem, and the implementation of south africas land reform program. 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. It was used by the aging mugabe to gain political mileage and grip which he was losing to mdc led tsvanngirai. 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. Land reform in zimbabwe, 19801990 robin palmer introduction on 18 april 1990 zimbabwe celebrates the 10th anniversary of its independence. Fast track land reform in zimbabwe centre for public. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a landreform scheme that draws on proposals.
It begins with the premise that land policy, especially the fast track land reform. Simultaneously, the famous lancaster house constitution expires. In each of these countries the process of land reform is incomplete. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Zimbabwe, on one side of the spectrum, is facing a crisis in. The primary goal of land reform in zimbabwe has been to redistribute land to black people. The critical thing is that during land reform, productivity collapsed totally, we moved from selfsufficiency to an insecure nation. Ultimately, this note concludes that, even in the context of zimbabwes similar land crisis, south africas land reform program will prove to be successful in the years to come. 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.
Land reforms include reforms or improvements in the land tenure system as well as reforms in other institutions which are related to the land and its utilization such as consolidation of holdings, size of holdings, methods of farming and supply of agricultural credit etc. The land reform programme will have three major strategic objectives. Redistributive land reform and poverty reduction in zimbabwe. United nations data shows the proportion of the population living in towns surged to about 32 percent in 2015, from 11 percent in 1950, a trend thats. Land reform will explicitly target these objectives, and treat them as. 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. Overall impacts of fast track land reform programme. The zimbabwean government will then at last be able to tackle the contentious and highly politicised land. World media demonised zimbabwe and the fasttrack land reforms which were initiated in 1999.