Pdf zimbabwe land policy study prosper muza academia. Benefits and costs of land reform in zimbabwe with implications for southern africa, klaus deininger, hans hoogeveen and bill kinsey. Communal land, property rights and traditional leadership. It begins with the premise that land policy, especially the fast track land reform. Pdf an examination of the significance of land reform. Land reform and poverty alleviation in mashonaland east, zimbabwe blessing makunike a thesis submitted to meet the requirements for the degree philosophiae doctor in africa studies in the faculty of the humanities centre for africa studies. Zimbabwe, on one side of the spectrum, is facing a crisis in democratisation due to its radical approach to land reform. Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to bedealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. In 2000, zimbabwe s government expropriated white farmers without compensation. 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. Land reform in zimbabwe free international relations and.
Land reform also agrarian reform, though that can have a broader meaning involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. 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. Since 2003, however, law and policy have come down squarely in favour of transferring title of communal land to traditional leaders and institutions, as opposed to the people. University of the free state bloemfontein promoter. How land reform can contribute to economic growth 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. 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. This early land reform produced a rather feudal form of politics based on racial and class discrimination imposed on the african population by the british government and white rhodesians. Race gender and class in the government of commercial farm workers in hurunawe district. This series of 8 videos shows the experiences of some of the farmers who gained land following zimbabwe s controversial land reform from 2000. In zimbabwes current crisis, it is easy to overlook the fact that the country had a. Geza, the role of resettlement in social development in zimbabwe.
This paper assesses the potential consequences of a land reform scheme that draws on proposals. 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. President mugabe introduced a land reform that seized land from white commercial farmers and reallocated that land to black locals, which led to disastrous results as zimbabwe went from a net exporter to a net importer of food. Arbitrary changes to the legislative framework have contributed to the high level of confusion that has been provoked by the fast track initiative. Fast track land reform in zimbabwe centre for public. Most coverage of zimbabwes land reform insists that. And, despite the largely negative press over the years, recent reports have sought to highlight some of the more positive aspects of zimbabwe s land reform and agricultural growth. The programmes stated targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership. Another reform proposed by the zimbabwe government is a program now being advertised by the ministry of lands and rural resettlement that would enable farmers to lease land. Land reform is the change of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership.
Rural zimbabwe empties as mugabe land reform policy. Will zimbabwes economic downfall be repeated in south africa. It has led to zimbabwe s economic and social collapse. Professor ian scoones 15year study of rural livelihoods in zimbabwe has successfully transformed understanding of the impact of the 2000 land reform, leading to policy. The context described above was influenced by the very nature of the ftlrp. Land reform in zimbabwe has been highly controversial. Overall impacts of fast track land reform programme. Fao, policy options for agrarian reform in zimbabwe. In each of these countries the process of land reform is incomplete. 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. 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. Disparity between policy design and implementation medicine masiiwa institute of development studies university of zimbabwe may 2004 note.
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. This website provided me with many facts and numbers. Land reform in zimbabwe is the greatest flop in the world but a success in the eyes of zanu pfutseki. How land reform can contribute to economic growth and poverty. The dutch claimants in the case, bernardus henricus funnekotter and others v. 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. Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to be dealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia.
The domino effect of the present land reform policy has resulted in zimbabwe s gdp shrinking by 4. A mere reference to land reforms in zimbabwe raised eyebrows. Zimbabwe reaffirms land redistribution policy global issues in context. Land reform can, therefore, refer to transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful, such as. Kinsey free university amsterdam, amsterdam, the netherlands university of zimbabwe, harare, zimbabwe summary.
This in effect was the beginning of zimbabwe s land problem. This article gave me a great overview of land redistribution is zimbabwe. Land reform may consist of a governmentinitiated or governmentbacked property redistribution, generally of agricultural land. It was used by the aging mugabe to gain political mileage and grip which he was losing to mdc led tsvanngirai. That can include governmentinitiated property redistribution, transfer of ownership and the rights of the land. The lessons from zimbabwes land reform for its neighbors. Thus, mashonaland east province was selected as a case study because historically this province suffered a lot in the first and second chimurenga wars. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a land reform. This study focused on the significance of land reform programme in zimbabwe. This policy allowed government to acquire, for compensation, land that it deemed. There is widespread agreement on the need for land reform in zimbabwe as a means of reducing poverty. Emerging evidence from zimbabwe s resettlement programme, 25 j. Principles, experience, and future challenges, world bank.
Moyo, the interaction of market and compulsory land acquisition processes with social action in zimbabwe s land reform, p. Mugabe must realise that the land issues in zimbabwe are the same as the land issues in south africa. Economic isolation is hindering zimbabwes transformation. Zimbabwe s failed populistbased land reform is a salutary lesson for south africa on how land reform must be pragmatic, safeguard commercial agriculture and focus on boosting ordinary subsistence, small, medium and emerging black commercial farmers already committed to farming. A multiplicity of institutions emerged as the ftlrp was being implemented. 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. Economic isolation is hindering zimbabwes transformation lifting sanctions and increasing international investment will speed land and security sector reform.
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. Protection of informal land rights act of 1996 provides that noone can be deprived of such informal land rights except with their consent or by expropriation. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the land. 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. Binswanger 1999, the evolution of the world banks land policy. It also provided me with many dates of events that happened. Zimbabwe land policy study 2 executive to undermine the independence of the judiciary and subvert the rule of law in order to remove obstacles to the implementation of the land reform programme. Without democracy and free elections, the people of zimbabwe. World media demonised zimbabwe and the fasttrack land reforms which were initiated in 1999. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe. An inquiry into the land acquisition act 1992 combined with a case study analysis of the resertlee nt programme 20 1995.
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