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LTC Research Paper Land Tenure, Agrarian Structure, and Comparative Land Use Efficiency in Zimbabwe: Options for Land Tenure Reform and Land Redistribution by Michael R. Roth and John W. Bruce University of Wisconsin-Madison 175A Science Hall 550 North Park Street Madison, WI 53706 http://www.ies.wisc.edu/ltc/ Research Paper LTC Research Paper 117, U.S. ISSN 0084-0815 originally published in 1994 LAND TENURE, AGRARIAN STRUCTURE, AND COMPARATIVE LAND USE EFFICIENCY IN ZIMBABWE: OPTIONS FOR LAND TENURE REFORM AND LAND REDISTRIBUTION by Michael R. Roth and John W. Bruce* * Michael Roth is associate research scientist with the Land Tenure Center and the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and John Bruce is senior research scientist and Director of the Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. All views, interpretations, recommendations, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the supporting or cooperating organizations. LTC Research Paper 117 Land Tenure Center University of Wisconsin-Madison August 1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables v List of Figures vi List of Acronyms vii Preface vii Chapter 1 Introduction: Land Reform at a Crossroads 1 1.1 Issues 1 1.2 Agrarian structure and resettlement 1 1.3 Land reform policy 2 1.4 Overview of report 4 Chapter 2 Data 5 2.1 Regional disaggregation 5 2.1.1 Provinces 5 2.1.2 Natural regions 8 2.1.3 Spatial overlap 9 2.2 Data sources 10 2.2.1 Census data—large-scale and small-scale commercial 10 sectors 10 2.2.2 Agricultural census of resettlement schemes 11 2.2.3 National household survey of communal areas 11 2.2.4 Crop Forecasting Committee estimates 12 2.3 Summary 12 Chapter 3 Agrarian Structure 13 3.1 Historical changes in the agrarian structure 13 3.2 Land classification by farm category and region 17 3.2.1 Communal areas 19 3.2.2 Large-scale commercial sector 3.2.3 Small- 19 scale commercial sector 3.2.4 Resettlement 19 3.2.5 The state farm sector 21 3.3 Summary 29 30 Chapter 4 Evolution of Formal and Informal Land Law 4.1 Freehold tenure in the commercial sectors 4.1.1 31 Legal aspects 31 4.1.2 Gender biases in land rights 31 32 ii 4.2 Communal tenure 33 4.2.1 Customary land tenure 33 4.2.2 A critique of customary land tenure: investment, credit, and productivity effects 35 4.2.3 The potential for effective tenure reform 38 4.2.4 Women's rights 42 4.2.5 Land use planning and commons management 45 4.3 Legal dimensions of land acquisition 49 4.3.1 The Lancaster House Constitution, 1981 49 4.3.2 The Land Acquisition Act, 1985 49 4.4 Legal dimensions of resettlement 51 4.4.1 Model A 51 4.4.2 Model B 54 4.5 Land taxation 55 Chapter 5 Land Market and Changes in Agrarian Structure 57 5.1 Rationale for a land market-based reform 57 5.2 Land market restrictions—subdivision 58 5.3 Land transfers 60 5.3.1 Land purchases and offers (lscs) 61 5.3.2 Land prices 61 5.3.3 Agrarian structure 66 5.3.4 Blocks of land for resettlement 67 5.4 Summary 68 Chapter 6 Changes in Land Use Patterns 69 6.1 Introduction 69 6.2 Large-scale commercial sector 69 6.2.1 Changes in cropping patterns 69 6.2.2 Changes in livestock production 74 6.3 Communal sector 76 6.3.1 Changes in cropping patterns 76 6.3.2 Changes in livestock production 79 6.4 Primary factors influencing land use patterns 80 6.4.1 Large-scale commercial sector: commodity prices and technology 80 6.4.2 Communal sector: market access 82 6.5 Employment in the Lscs 82 6.6 Summary 89 Chapter 7 Rates of Protection and Comparative Advantage 91 7.1 Nominal and effective rates of protection 91 7.2 Private and social profitability indicators 94 7.3 Domestic resource costs 96 7.4 Summary and implications 99 iii Chapter 8 Land Utilization in the Large-Scale Commercial Sector 101 8.1 Background 101 8.2 Land utilization 102 8.2.1 Crop production on arable land 102 8.2.2 Utilization of grazing land 106 8.3 Summary and implications 108 Chapter 9 Policy Considerations 111 9.1 Background 111 9.2 1992 Land legislation 112 9.3 Land utilization and comparative advantage 113 9.4 Options for land acquisition 116 9.4.1 Controls on number of farms and farm size 116 9.4.2 Controls on land prices 120 9.4.3 Designated areas for land acquisition and resettlement 121 9.4.4 Land tax 124 9.4.5 Summary and implications 128 9.5 Land tenure reform 130 9.5.1 Communal sector 130 9.5.2 Commercial sector 131 9.5.3 Resettlement sector 132 9.6 Agrarian structure in a postreform land tenure system 134 Annex A Area in Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, 1988 139 Annex B Number and Area of Farms in the Large Farm Commercial Sector, by Province, for 1979, 1984, and 1988 141 Annex C Area and Settlers in Resettlement Schemes 145 Annex D Growth Rates in Crop Production 147 Annex E Cropping Patterns in the Large-Scale Commercial Sector 159 Annex F Cropping and Livestock Producer Prices 161 Annex G Communal Area Cropping Patterns 163 Annex H Employment in the Large-Scale Commercial Sector 169 Annex I Crop Adjustment Factors 171 Annex J Crops Yields in Resettlement and Large-Scale Sectors by Natural Region 173 References 175 iv LIST OF TABLES Page 2.1 Changes in provincial data reporting 5 2.2 Provincial areas by natural region 9 2.3 Data sources and years of availability 11 3.1 Land tenure categories in Southern Rhodesia 15 3.2 Land distribution by farm sector and natural region, 1988 18 3.3 Ownership of land in the large-scale commercial sector 20 3.4 Provincial distribution of land acquired for resettlement 22 4.1 Tax rates levied by province, 1989 56 5.1 Structural change in the large-scale commercial sector, 1979-1988 62 5.2 Sample of land offers refused by the government 63 5.3 AGRITEX estimates of net crop returns, 1988 65 6.1 Changes in crop area, large-scale commercial sector 70 6.2 Cropping patterns by natural region, large-scale commercial sector, 1988 crop season 72 6.3 Changes in livestock numbers, large-scale commercial sector, 1980-1989 75 6.4 Changes in livestock numbers, communal sector 79 6.5 Real crop and livestock prices paid to producers 81 6.6 Employment indicators, large-scale commercial sector 84 6.7 Relationship between labor demand and employment policy, large-scale sector 87 7.1 Nominal and effective rates of protection 93 7.2 Private and social profitability indicators 95 7.3 Domestic resource cost ratios 97 7.4 Domestic resource costs by natural region 98 8.1 Efficiency of arable land use for crop production 104 8.2 Grazing land efficiency 107 A. Area in parks and wildlife sanctuaries, 1988 139 B1. Number and area of farms in the commercial sector, 1979 142 B2. Number and area of farms in the commercial sector, 1984 143 B3. Number and area of farms in the commercial sector, 1988 144 C. Area and settlers in resettlement schemes 145 D1. Rates of growth in crop area, national 147 D2. Rates of growth in crop production, national 148 D3. Rates of growth in crop yield, national 148 v D4. Rates of growth in crop area, Manicaland 149 D5. Rates of growth in crop production, Manicaland 150 D6. Rates of growth in crop yield, Manicaland in 150 D7. Rates of growth crop area, Mashonaland 151 D8. Rates of growth in crop production, Mashonaland 152 D9. Rates of growth in crop yield, Mashonaland in 152 D 10. Rates of growth crop area, Matabeleland 153 D 11. Rates of growth in crop production, Matabeleland 154 D12. Rates of growth in crop yield, Matabeleland in 154 D13. Rates of growth crop area, Midlands 155 D14. Rates of growth in crop production, Midlands 156 D15. Rates of growth in crop yield, Midlands in 156 D16. Rates of growth crop area, Masvingo 157 D17. Rates of growth in crop production, Masvingo 158 D18. Rates of growth in crop yield, Masvingo 158 El. Land use in the large-scale commercial sector 159 E2. Historical area and production of principal crops, large-scale commercial sector 160 Fl. Crop prices paid to producers, 1980 to 1989 161 F2. Prices paid to producers of animals and milk 162 G1. Historical area and production of principal crops 163 G2. Communal area cropping patterns 164 G3. Communal area cropping patterns by natural region, 1986—1989 165 G4. Rates of growth in crop area, communal areas, national 166 G5. Rates of growth in crop production, communal areas, national 166 G6. Rates of growth in crop yield, communal areas, national 167 H1. Employment in the large-scale commercial sector 169 H2. Permanent farm and forest employees by province 170 I1. Ley or discount factors for adjusting cropping area 172 J1. Crop yields in resetttlement and large-scale sectors by natural region 173 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Provincial boundary map of Zimbabwe 6 Figure 2.2 Map of natural regions in Zimbabwe 7 Figure 9.1 Relationship between crop yields and crop area planted 118 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS AFc Agricultural Finance Corporation AGRITEX Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services, Crop Production Branch, MLARR ARDA Agricultural and Rural Development Authority BsAC British South Africa Company CPI consumer price index CMB Cotton Marketing Board Cso Central Statistics Office DERUDE Department of Rural Development EPC effective rate of protection GDP gross domestic product GMB Grain Marketing Board Lscs large-scale commercial sector LU livestock unit MLARR Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement MLRRD Ministry of Lands, Resettlement, and Rural Development NGO non-governmental organization NLHA Native Land Husbandry Act NPC nominal rate of protection coefficient NR natural region sscs small-scale commercial sector UDI unilateral declaration of independence USAID US Agency for International Development VIDCO village development committee WADCO ward development committee vii PREFACE The fieldwork for this report was undertaken from 29 April to 2 June 1990, followed by a five-week period ending 26 July for data analysis.