Zimbabwe land audit uncovers serious irregularities. 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. But conditions were put on the way that the money handed over could be used. This is followed by the section that presents the framework for understanding poverty alleviation in the resettlement areas. The zimbabwean government will then at last be able to tackle the contentious and highly politicised land. Zimbabwes land reform has not been neat, and huge problems remain. Pdf on mar 1, 20, tendai chari and others published media. If viewed as a project, the npv of the reform is positive for a discount rate that is as high as 20%. Why zimbabwe land reform has failed zimbabwe today. However, none was in the form of written guarantees to enforce payment commitments.
Introduction according to the white paper on south african land policy the case for the governments land reform policy is fourfold. Through land redistribution, land was taken away from white landowners and given to blacks. 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. 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. The sadc region represents close to a third of the total african land mass. More surprising was the mdcs victory in the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2008. 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. 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.
Zimbabwe s government has an excessive amount of power, therefore minimizing if not eliminating zimbabwe s citizens voice in the governments decisions. An analysis of the implications of the fast track land reform program on climate change and disaster management in zimbabwe. 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. The lessons from zimbabwes land reform for its neighbors. On 18 april 1990 zimbabwe celebrates the 10th anniversary of its independence. 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. Government of zimbabwe 1998 land reform and resettlement programme. In zimbabwes current crisis, it is easy to overlook the fact that the country had a. The major challenge for the current land policy is to improve the credibility and efficacy of the governments approach to land reform. 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. Pdf an overview of fast track land reform in zimbabwe. Zimbabwes land reform is common sense pambazuka news. 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.
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. Disparity between policy design and implementation medicine masiiwa institute of development studies university of zimbabwe may 2004 note. Zimbabwe land reform support project english abstract. World media demonised zimbabwe and the fasttrack land reforms which were initiated in 1999. Land reform is a necessary but not sufficient condition for agrarian reform and national development.
Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to bedealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. In this section, we zero in on masvingo province in the central south and east of the country. 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. Images of chaos, destruction and violence have dominated the coverage. This policy allowed government to acquire, for compensation, land that it deemed. The land and agrarian question in zimbabwe sam moyo this work. Not long ago, zanu pf chefs and blind followers praised land redistribution as one of president robert. 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. Zimbabwe democracy and economic recovery act of 2001. The story is not simply one of collapse and catastrophe.
Ten years after the fast track land reform programme in zimbabwe, its. Land has been a source of political conflict in zimbabwe since colonization, when the country was known as rhodesia, both within indigenous black communities and especially between white settlers and the black rural communities. 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. The programmes stated targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership. Why zimbabwe has failed to sate the yearning for land and to. From jambanja to planning institute of development studies. Let us make an indepth study of the subjectmatter, meaning, objectives and different measures of land reforms. Land reforms can establish a direct link between government and farmers by abolishing intermediaries. Evaluate the failures and or successes of land tenure reform in zimbabwe. Will zimbabwes economic downfall be repeated in south africa. Since the land reform programme in 2000, tourism in zimbabwe has steadily declined.
In each of these countries the process of land reform is incomplete. Zimbabwe, on one side of the spectrum, is facing a crisis in democratisation due to its radical approach to land reform. Pdf the research analysed the impacts of land reform programme on politico economic development in zimbabwe using the case of umguza district. 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 targets of the first phase of the land reform and resettlement program were landless families, the. There is widespread agreement on the need for land reform in zimbabwe as a means of reducing poverty. Land reform can generate sustainable livelihoods for the beneficiaries. A discussion on the outcomes of land reform from a poverty reduction perspective and based on the evidence from masvingo is presented next. Much of the scholarship of zimbabwe s land reform since 2000 has been deeply divided. The fast track land reform programme implemented during the 2000s in zimbabwe represents the only instance of radical redistributive land reforms since the.
In the early years of the reforms, the programme captured international attention and imagination. The land reform programme can achieve its desired social, economic and political objectives if the redistribution exercise is planned properly. A total of one hundred and forty four respondents were used for the study. 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, sanctions, regime change, and sovereignty. Land reform in zimbabwe has been highly controversial. Land reforms will enable to bring about a close integration of agricultural economy with the planning process of the country. 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. Pdf media framing of land reform in zimbabwe researchgate. 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. Introduction at independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution.
In 2000, zimbabwe s government expropriated white farmers without compensation. 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. Zimbabwe land reform support project english the world bank. 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.
The colonialists strengthened their land reform and redistribution program by enacting entrenched legislation. This series of 8 videos shows the experiences of some of the farmers who gained land following zimbabwe s controversial land reform from 2000. Descriptive and inferential statistics were also used in analyzing the data. 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. Land reform in zimbabwe, 19801990 robin palmer introduction on 18 april 1990 zimbabwe celebrates the 10th anniversary of its independence. Dec 12, 2016 why zimbabwe has failed to sate the yearning for land and to fix rural hunger. This chapter examines this affect, and forms the backdrop to the later investigation of zimbabwean, south african and british foreign policy. Repression and manipulation facilitated mugabes victory in the 2002 presidential elections and the 2005 parliamentary elections. Zimbabwe s land redistribution, economic recovery and restoration of the individual rights to free, fair and credible elections are all intertwined.
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. Simultaneously, the famous lancaster house constitution expires. This paper assesses the potential consequences of a land reform scheme that draws on proposals. Land rights and land conflicts in africa carried out for the danish. Editorial introduction article pdf available in journal of peasant studies 385. A severe draught in the mid 2000 and a massive hivaids pandemic further exacerba ted the controversial land reform s effects. 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. Race gender and class in the government of commercial farm workers in hurunawe district. Vittoria moretti 9 natural resource extraction as backbone of a dwindling national economy. Zimbabwes fast track land reform program ftlrp formally began. 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. Zimbabwe s land issue has generated unprecedented debates both within and outside the country.
But perhaps more than any other issue in zimbabwe, it has historically been met with inertia from government and the international community. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe. 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. Jan 28, 20 in the biggest land reform in africa, 6,000 white farmers have been replaced by 245,000 zimbabwean farmers. 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. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the land. Much of the scholarship of zimbabwes land reform since 2000 has been deeply divided. 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. This act designated land in terms of who lived and farmed therein. 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. Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to be dealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. This did, of course, happen, and continues to do so. Overturning the settler colonial pattern of land use and creating a new agrarian structure has had farreaching consequences. Zimbabwe received financial assistance for land reform during the 1980s and 1990s from various governments.
Sixteen years later and thirty years into independence nothing has changed in this respect. Much of this land was previously cattle ranches, with limited. A mere reference to land reforms in zimbabwe raised eyebrows. Land reform is a zimbabwe success story it will be the basis for economic recovery under mnangagwa november 29, 2017 9. Indeed, these have been part of the reality but there have also been successes, which have thus far gone largely unrecorded. Institute of development studies, university of sussex, brighton, uk the recon. Land reform has returned to prominence not just in zimbabwe but also in southern africa more generally. An evaluation of the impact of the zimbabwe land reform. The fasttrack land reform and agrarian change in zimbabwe. This will facilitate the government to implement plan for agricultural development in a smooth manner. Moral arguments for land redistribution in contemporary.
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. 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. Dec 21, 2016 almost 40 years after independence, land reform remains at the heart of zimbabwes political and economic challenges. Political economy analysis of fast track land reform. Land reform, climate change and sustainable development in. Its aim was to conflate the taking of the land to an imagined agenda of white genocide.
Land reform in the twenty years after independence. 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. Zimbabwes land reform since 2000 has been intensely controversial. Overall impacts of fast track land reform programme. The land reform and property rights in zimbabwe of 2010 is a sequel report to. A small minority of white largescale commercial farmers owned and. Background to the research 2 land reform in zimbabwe 3. The zimbabwe democracy and economic recovery act s. The dutch claimants in the case, bernardus henricus funnekotter and others v. 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. At independence in 1980 zimbabwe inherited a highly skewed pattern of land distribution. Land rights and tenure security in zimbabwes post fast track. 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.
Land reform may consist of a governmentinitiated or governmentbacked property. A critical analysis of the land reform programme in zimbabwe fig. It begins with the premise that land policy, especially the fast track land reform. Speeding up the identification for compulsory acquisition of not less than. 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.