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“New Farmers” in Zimbabwe, 2000- 2015

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“New Farmers” in Zimbabwe, 2000- 2015 CONFLICT AND COOPERATION: “NEW FARMERS” IN ZIMBABWE, 2000- 2015 JOYLINE TAKUDZWA KUFANDIRORI THIS THESIS HAS BEEN SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE FACULTY OF THE HUMANITIES, FOR THE CENTRE OF AFRICA STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE. FEBRUARY 2019 SUPERVISOR: DR. R PILOSSOF CO-SUPERVISORS: DR. A MSEBA and DR. L PASSEMIERS Declaration I declare that the dissertation hereby submitted by me for the Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of the Free State is my own independent work and has not previously been submitted by me at another university/faculty. I furthermore cede copyright of the dissertation in favour of the University of the Free State. ……………………… ……………………… Joyline Takudzwa Kufandirori Bloemfontein Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my son Jaden Atipaishe Chitofiri Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... viii List of Glossary ................................................................................................................................... x List of tables and figures. ....................................................................................................................... xi Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Locating and justifying Mashonaland Central Province as a Case Study ....................... 3 1.3. Problematising the FTLRP: Violence, Lawlessness and Relations ..................................... 11 1.4. Background and Historiography of Land Reform in Zimbabwe ...................................... 15 1.5. Post-Independence Historiography on the Land Question .................................................. 20 1.6. Researching Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Sources and Challenges. ................................... 32 1.7. Structure ................................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter Two: Land Reform and Land Use in Zimbabwe c1980- c2002. ............................................. 39 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 39 2.1. A Post- independence Trajectory of the Land Question in Zimbabwe ........................... 40 2.2. State led Resettlement Programs; 1980- 1990. .................................................................. 40 2.3. The Economic Structural Adjustment Period and the 1990- 2000 Land Reform .......... 45 2. 4 “Land is the Economy and the Economy is Land: The Land Invasions and the FTLRP; 2000 and Beyond.” ...................................................................................................................... 50 2.5. Fast Tracking the Land Reform: Strategies, Processes and Key Players ....................... 56 2.6. Land Occupations in Mashonaland Central...................................................................... 59 2.7. The Government and the Politics of Post 2000 Land Occupations ................................. 66 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 69 Chapter Three: Cementing Lines of Disagreement: The State, the “New Farmer” and the Acquisition of Land Rights c2000 to 2015. .............................................................................................................. 71 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 71 i 3.1 The Struggle for Control and Relevance: Unpacking the Complexities of Relations in the Land Occupations in Mashonaland Central Province. ............................................................... 72 3.2. Interference from War Veterans, Traditional Leadership and Party (ZANU PF) Officials. .......................................................................................................................................................... 73 3.4. The New Politics of Land Reform: Government Policy on Land, State Led Demarcations and the Formalisation of the Reform Process. ............................................................................. 84 3.5. Farm Infrastructure, Property and Government Policy ...................................................... 95 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 109 Chapter Four: Narratives of Everyday Conflict among New Farmers................................................ 110 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 110 4.1 Negotiating New Landscapes of Agricultural Territory ...................................................... 110 4.2. Boundaries and Everyday Conflict amongst New Farmers. .............................................. 111 4.3. Contestations around Infrastructure ................................................................................... 114 4.4. The Politics of “Othering” and Conflict among New Farmers .......................................... 122 4.5. A1 and A2 Farmer Relations ................................................................................................ 127 4.6. Later Beneficiaries of the Land Reform Program and Conflict. ....................................... 132 4.7. Gendered Struggles ................................................................................................................ 134 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 136 Chapter Five: “New” Forms of Cooperation ...................................................................................... 137 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 137 5.1. Operational Environment that Prompted Cooperation ..................................................... 138 5.2. Cooperation as Rooted in Communal Farming Traditions ............................................... 140 5.3. Kinship Ties and Cooperation .............................................................................................. 141 5.4. Gender and Cooperation in the new Farming Landscape ................................................. 148 5.5. Assessing Associations/ Organisations of Cooperation amongst New Farmers ............... 150 5.6. Role of the State in Promoting Cooperation ........................................................................ 157 5.7. The Fragile Nature of New Farmer Relations and Cooperation ....................................... 160 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 173 ii Chapter Six: Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 174 Appendices .......................................................................................................................................... 187 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 207 iii Abstract This thesis explores the Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2015. It investigates the impact of continuous lawlessness and new farmer relations on productivity and land use after the implementation of the FTLRP. It argues that the FTLRP ushered in an unprecedented shift in Zimbabwe’s agriculture landscape which radically transformed society, as new farmers walked into commercial land without structured or sustained support. The thesis explores how the political strategy adopted by the government from the year 2000 onwards to acquire land from the white owners continued to haunt the new farmers as there was no effort by the government to reconstitute institutions and laws that would guarantee respect and protection of property after the invasions. The government adopted a strategy that ignored existing laws that countered occupations and enacted laws to protect the occupiers. As such, the new farmers were vulnerable to the same anarchic political climate that had been faced by their white counterparts during the farm seizures. The thesis, therefore, argues that from the inception of the FTLRP to as late as 2015, insecurity occasioned by the general lawlessness commonplace at the time shaped the manner in which new farmers related to each other and was a major constraint to increased productivity. It contends that farmers had to cope with a new set
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