RE-PEASANTIZATION UNDER FAST TRACK LAND REFORM: IMPLICATIONS FOR LIVELIHOOD AND LANDSCAPE CHANGE, SANYATI DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE by EASTHER CHIGUMIRA A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Geography and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2014 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Easther Chigumira Title: Re-peasantization under Fast Track Land Reform: Implications for Livelihood and Landscape Change, Sanyati District, Zimbabwe This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Geography by: Dr. Peter Walker Chairperson Dr. Alexander Murphy Core Member Dr. Shaul Cohen Core Member Dr. Janis Weeks Institutional Representative and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2014 ii © 2014 Easther Chigumira iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Easther Chigumira Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography June 2014 Title: Re-peasantization under Fast Track Land Reform: Implications for Livelihood and Landscape Change, Sanyati District, Zimbabwe Zimbabwe’s Fast Track land and agrarian reform that began in the year 2000 has ignited debate about the most suitable farming model for food security and rural development in Zimbabwe and other post-colonial countries. As an evidence-based contribution to the analysis of re-peasantization, I present findings from a decade-long study of three communities resettled under the A1 and A2 variants of the Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in the Sanyati District, Zimbabwe. To appraise the unfolding nature of the FTLRP, I used the framework of political ecology to examine the day-to- day practices and livelihood strategies of land recipients, their relationship with the physical environment and underlying reasons for particular land-use activities. Drawing from a series of surveys, observations, narratives, key informant interviews, content analysis of photographs, maps, and secondary documents, my findings show differential patterns of investment, asset accumulation, and crop and livestock production among households. Land recipients used multiple livelihood pathways to augment their income and farming activities. New and diverse sources of rural income and commodity markets have emerged, including high levels of small-scale artisanal gold mining and the reallocation of land for gold processing mills. These findings provide insight into the conditions and/or tendencies of re-peasantization under the FTLRP and challenge modernist assumptions of agrarian development, which value large-scale over small- scale farming. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Easther Chigumira GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Geography, 2014, University of Oregon Master of Science, Geography, 2006, Rhodes University Bachelor of Arts Honors, Geography, 2002, Rhodes University Bachelor of Arts, Geography and Industrial Psychology, 2001, Rhodes University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Land and agrarian reform Remote Sensing Environmental Impact Assessment PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Lecturer, University of Zimbabwe, 2007-present Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Oregon, 2009-2014 Independent Consultant, 2006-2010 President of Board, Tariro: Hope and Health for Zimbabwe’s Orphans, 2011-2013 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Fellowship, Fulbright, 2009-2012 Fellowship, Association of America University Women (AAUW), 2013 Fellowship, Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund (MMMF), 2013 Jane Grant Dissertation Fellowship, Centre for Studies for Women in Society, 2012 Environment Leadership Award, Bullitt Foundation, 2012 Fellowship, Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF), University of Oregon, 2011 Public Impact Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2011 v PUBLICATIONS: Chigumira, E. & Mujere, N. (2009) Variability of urban water supply and demand, in J. Feyen, K. Shannon, & M. Neville (Eds.), Water and Urban Development Paradigms: Towards an Integration of Engineering, Design and Management Approaches pp. 431-434, Taylor Francis Group, London. Fox, R.F., Chigumira, E. & Rowntree, K. (2007) On the Fast Track To Land Degradation?: A Case Study of the Impact of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Kadoma District, Zimbabwe, Geography, 92, 3, 212-224. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Peter Walker for his continued support of my Ph.D study and research. I would like to also thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Alexander Murphy, Dr. Shaul Cohen and Dr. Janis Weeks for their encouragement, insightful comments, and tough but constructive questions. I am most appreciative to Dr. Janis Weeks for being a mentor, friend and a steadfast source of support and encouragement. Thank you to Dr. William Roberts for the countless hours spent with me formatting my dissertation and working through the challenges of Microsoft Word. To my research participants who have continued to open their homes to me over the last 10 years, thank you very much. Mr Jhamba, Mr and Mrs Sithole, Mr and Mrs Madoda and Mrs and Mrs Madondo thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedules to show me around the study areas and accommodate my endless requests over the years. I thank my parents, Aaron and Jane Chigumira, my two sisters Gill and Margaret, my two brothers Theo and Gareth, who all started this journey with me 10 years ago. Your help in providing access to people, assisting me to get to my research sites and listening to me talk endlessly about my research is most appreciated. Nonhanhla Dutiro and Thembinkosi Nyoni thank you for your assistance in the field. I would not have accomplished this feat without your support and insights. Rinesh Desai thank you for proofing my work. To my global family, Heather McAfee, Marilyn Mohr, Hans Wittig, Mark Cohen, Marilyn Kolodzijczyk, Lynne Swift, Richard Jones, Maggie Donahue, Janis Weeks and Bill Roberts thank you so much for supporting me and encouraging me throughout my five years in Eugene and looking after our son Kupakwashe. We are blessed to have you in our lives. This dissertation truly embodies the spirit of UBUNTUISM. My colleagues in the department, Leslie McLees and Ingrid Nelsen, thank you for your support and camaraderie. Kupakwashe you are a delightful gift from God. Thank you for giving me such joy and motivation to work hard and complete this dissertation. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Munyaradzi Chiura, my best friend and supporter. Thank you for standing by me through the good and bad times. This dissertation would not have been possible without the generous support from grants received from the Fulbright, American Association of University Women, Margaret McNamara Memorial Fund and the University of Oregon Centre for Studies for Women Society. vii This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my kind and loving friend Catherine Francis. Thank you for your friendship and support throughout this dissertation. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 Introduction .....................................................................................................1 Overview of the Argument .............................................................................1 Research Questions .........................................................................................2 Historical Overview of Land and Agrarian Transformation in Zimbabwe ....4 The Long Walk to Freedom: Colonial Land Appropriation and the Liberation Struggle .....................................................................................4 The Promised Land, Governance and Disillusionment ..............................8 The Decade of Crisis: 2000-2009 .............................................................13 The Global Political Agreement (GPA) and Political-Economic Stability ....................................................................................................19 Framing Zimbabwe’s Land Debates .............................................................20 Outline of the Thesis .....................................................................................24 II. THE PEASANTRY CONSTITUTION AND RE-CONSTITUTION ..........................26 Introduction ...................................................................................................26 Construction of Peasant Identity and Category ............................................27 Debating the Peasantry .................................................................................29 Karl Marx and the Origins of the Agrarian Debates ................................30 The Polemic: V.I. Lenin versus A. V. Chayanov .....................................31 Contemporary Debates: Large versus Small-scale Farming? ..................34 Contesting Modernity and Development ......................................................37 Conceptualizing Re-peasantization...............................................................38 Global Expressions and Tendencies of Re-peasantization .......................40 Comparing and Contrasting Re-peasantization in Zimbabwe ..................46