The End of Jambanja?

The End of Jambanja? Social Organisation and Agency in ‘fast track’ Areas Tendai Murisa 2012 Copyright © 2012 Tendai Murisa First Printing 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechani- cal, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. Book and cover design: Isis Designs ISBN 978-0-7974-4754-7. The End of Jambanja? | i Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES vii PREFACE ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x LIST OF ACRONYMS xii -1- SETTING THE SCENE 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background to the Study 3 1.3 Rural Collective Action 5 1.4 Justification 14 1.5 Research Methods 16 1.6 Background to the Study Area 18 1.6.1 Goromonzi District and Bromley Ward 18 1.6.2 Zvimba District and Banket 20 1.7 The Structure of the Book 22 1.8 Study Approach 23 1.9 Research Objectives and Questions 26 -2- LAND REFORM AND THE QUEST FOR A ‘DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY’ 27 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Agrarian Reform and the Democratic Society 28 2.3 The Discourse on Rural Collective Action 30 ii | The End of Jambanja? 2.4 Unravelling the Concepts 33 2.4.1 Rural Communities and Social Organisation 34 2.4.2 Agency and Associational Rural Activities 36 2.4.3 Civil Society in Newly Resettled Areas: Nailing Jelly to the Wall 39 -3- AGRARIAN RESTRUCTURING IN POST-INDEPENDENCE ZIMBABWE 42 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Social Reproduction in Customary Tenure Areas 42 3.3 Constraints to Land and Agrarian Reform 45 3.4 Early Attempts at Reform 46 3.4.1 Land Reforms in the First Decade 46 3.4.2 Agrarian Reforms 49 3.4.2.1 Resettlement 51 3.4.2.2 Resettlment and Cooperatives 52 3.5 Fast Track- The Organisation of Land Occupations 54 3.5.1 Fast Track: Re-emergence of Technical Planning in Land Policy 55 3.5.2 Distributional Outcomes from Fast Track 57 3.5.3 Changing Land Relations in the Aftermath of Fast Track 59 3.5.4 Post Settlement Agrarian Reform Support 60 3.6 Concluding Remarks 62 -4- DANCING ON SAME SPOT - LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT 63 4.1 Introduction 63 4.2 Post-Independence Local Government Reforms 63 4.3 Tradition vs. Modernity: Customary Area Reorganisation 65 4.4 Conclusion: Implications of the Reforms on Rural Democracy 71 The End of Jambanja? | iii -5- COLLECTIVE AGENCY FOR LAND AND AGRARIAN REFORM 74 5.1 Introduction 74 5.2 Collective Action for Land Reform 74 5.2.1 Pre-Independence Collective Forms of Resisting Land Evictions 74 5.2.2 Post-Independence Agitations for Land Reform 75 5.3 Responses to Agricultural Production Grievances 76 5.3.1 Collective Action through Labour and Asset Pooling 77 5.3.2 Farmer Unions and Exchange Activities 77 5.4 Evolution of Rural Local Associational Forms 78 5.5 NGOs and Processes of Agrarian Change 82 5.5.1 NGO Presence and Activity in Rural Zimbabwe 82 5.5.2 NGOs and Rural Agency 85 5.5.3 NGOs and Agrarian Change: Emerging Critique 85 5.6 Conclusion 87 -6- SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF LAND BENEFICIARIES 89 6.1 Introduction 89 6.2 Geographic Origins of Land Beneficiaries 89 6.3 Employment Background of the Land Beneficiaries 92 6.4 Residency Status 94 6.5 Livelihoods Capacities and Constraints 96 6.5.1 Land Holdings 96 6.5.2 Ownership and Access to Productive Assets 98 6.5.3 Availability and Utilisation of Labour 100 6.5.4 Skills: Educational Qualifications, Agricultural Training 103 6.6 Concluding Remarks 106 iv | The End of Jambanja? -7- LOCAL AUTHORITY, PLATFORMS OF MOBILISATION AND ACTION 107 7.1 Introduction 107 7.2 Defining the Local State in Newly Resettled Areas 107 7.3 Local Government in the Newly Resettled Areas 109 7.3.1 Village Level Authorities - Renegotiating Traditional Authority? 109 7.3.2 Expansion of RDC Frontiers and Roles 112 7.3.3 The Extension Function in Fast Track Areas 114 7.4 Emerging Land Tenure and the Local State 115 7.5 Individual Household Response Mechanisms 119 6.5.1 Maintenance of relationships with communal areas 120 6.5.2 Economic Diversification Strategies 124 7.6 Networks of Cooperation within the Newly Resettled Areas 126 7.7 Structured Multifaceted Farmers Groups 130 7.8 The Local State and Prospects for Local Democracy 133 7.9 Conclusion 135 - 8- DUNSTAN AND LOT 3 OF BUENA VISTA FARMS 137 8.1 Introduction 137 8.2 Dunstan Farm 138 8.2.1 Background 138 8.2.2 Movement onto the Farm 140 8.2.3 Evolution of Village Level Authority 143 8.2.4 Emerging Land Use and Utilisation Patterns 145 8.3 Associational Activity at Dunstan 146 8.3.1 Background 146 8.3.2 Activities of the Local Farmer Groups at Dunstan 148 The End of Jambanja? | v 8.3.3 Criteria of Membership of the Local Farmer Groups 150 8.3.4 Involvement of Members in the Local Farmer Groups 151 8.4 Benefits of Membership of a Local Farmer Group 155 8.5 Lot 3 of Buena Vista Farm 158 8.5.1 Background 158 8.5.2 Movement onto the Farm 159 8.5.3 Emergence of Local Level Authority 161 8.5.4 Emerging Land Use and Utilisation Patterns 162 8.6 Associational Activity at Lot 3 of Buena Vista 163 8.6.1 Background 163 8.6.2. Activities of the Group 163 8.6.3 Recruitment, Criteria and Conditions of Membership 166 8.6.4 Structure and Patterns of Participation within Tagarika 167 8.6.5 Tagarika Irrigation Scheme and the Village Authority 168 8.7 Conclusion 168 -9- DALKEITH AND WHYNHILL FARMS IN ZVIMBA 170 9.1 Introduction 170 9.2 Dalkeith Farm 171 9.2.1 Ownership, Land Use and Social Relations of Production 171 9.2.2 The Manjinjiwa Claim over Dalkeith Farm 173 9.2.3 Emergence of Local Level Authority 174 9.2.4 Emerging Land Use and Utilisation Patterns 175 9.3 Associational Activity at Dalkeith 178 9.3.1 Background 178 9.3.2 Activities of the Chidziva Farmers’ Association 179 9.3.3 Membership and Participation in Chidziva 180 9.3.4 Chidziva and the Village Authority 181 9.4 Whynhill Farm 183 9.4.1 Ownership, Land Use and Social Relations of Production Prior to Land Reform 183 9.4.2 Movement on to the Farm 184 9.4.3 Emergence of Local Level Authority 185 vi | The End of Jambanja? 9.4.4 Land Use Patterns and Utilisation Capacities after Land Reform 187 9.5 Associational Activity at Whynhill Farm 188 9.5.1 Background 188 9.5.2 Activities of Zhizha Farmers’ Group 189 9.5.3 Group Structure, Recruitment and Participation in Zhizha 189 9.6 Conclusion 191 -10- CONCLUSION 193 10.1 Introduction 193 10.2 Cooperation within A1 Settlements 194 10.2.1 The Rationale for Local Farmer Groups 194 10.2.2 Nature of Cooperation within Local Farmer Groups 196 10.2.3 Participation in Local Farmer Group Activities 201 10.2.4 Alliance Building: Local Farmer Groups and External Agents 203 10.3 Local Authority 205 10.3.1 Land Tenure and Social Organisation 205 10.3.2 Traditional Authority in A1 Villages 207 10.3.3 Implications of Local Government and Land Tenure Reforms 209 10.4 Towards a Cooperative Civil Society? 211 10.4.1 Evolution of Rural Civil Society in Zimbabwe 211 10.4.2 Domination and Control 213 10.5 Conclusion 214 ANNEXURE 244 INDEX 244 The End of Jambanja? | vii List of Tables Table 1-1 Changes in Land Ownership Patterns by Sector Since Independence 15 Table 1-2 Goromonzi and Zvimba Household Sample 17 Table 1-3 Sample of Local Farmer Groups 18 Table 3-1 Land Distribution by Tenure and Natural Region 42 Table 3-2 Land Ownership Patterns after the FTLRP 42 Table 6-1 Place of Origin of Plot Owner 90 Table 6-2 Employment Background 93 Table 6-3 Residency Status of Beneficiaries 96 Table 6-4 Farm Asset Ownership Patterns 98 Table 6-5a Household Size by Model 101 Table 6-5b Age Distribution by Sex 102 Table 6-6 Labour Utilisation 103 Table 6-7 Education Level Attained by Plot Owner 104 Table 6-8 Formal Agricultural Training Acquired 105 Table 7-1 Awareness of Presence of Local Government Structures 109 Table 7-2 Reasons for Maintaining a Customary Area Home 110 Table 7-3 Cooperation between Customary and New Resettlement Areas 122 Table 7-4 Off-Farm Income Activities 125 Table 7-5 Labour Based Off-Farm Income Earning Strategies 126 Table 7-6 Cooperation among Farmers on Newly Resettled Large Scale Farm 127 Table 7-7 Membership of a Local Group 132 Table 7-8 Activity and Number of Groups Involved 132 Table 8-1 Local Farmer Groups at Dunstan Farm 147 Table 8-2: Structure and Gender Composition of Farmer Group Leadership 153 Annexure 1 Schedule of Focus Group Discussions 244 The End of Jambanja? | ix Preface One of the most common questions that have constantly nagged me and even at times frustrated the writing of this book was whether or not there is still a need for another volume on land reform in Zimbabwe? Indeed there has been volumi- nous literature on the subject of land reform since 2000 (see for instance Moyo, 2001, Moyo and Yeros, 2005b, 2007a, 2007b, Moyo, et al, 2008, Helliker 2006, Sadomba 2008 Alexander, 2003 & 2006 and the most recent studies by Moyo et al, 2009, Murisa, 2009 & 2011 Scoones et al.

Load more