THE LAND QUESTION IN ZIMBABWE Sam Moyo March 1994 Institute of Development Studies Not for Quotation Without Explicit Permission from Sam Moyo PUBLISHER: SAPES TRUST - HARARE - i - TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: ZIMBABWE'S EMERGING LAND QUESTION ...................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 ECONOMIC NATIONALISM AND THE LAND QUESTION .................................................................... 4 From Radical To Liberal Land Reform Measures ............................................................................. 12 THE POLITICAL RATIONALE OF LAND REDISTRIBUTION .................................................................. 20 THE STUDY CONTEXT AND FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................... 24 THE STUDY LAYOUT ......................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER TWO: PERSPECTIVES ON ZIMBABWE'S LAND AND AGRARIAN REFORM RESEARCH ........................................................................................... 45 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 45 African Agrarian Reform How Unique is Zimbabwe's Land Reform? ................................................................................................................................. 45 International Perspectives on Land Reform, Environmental Sustainability and Development ........................................................................................... 53 Social Reproduction of Peasant Households and Nature .................................................................................................................................................. 68 Current Approaches to Land Reform and Agrarian Change in Zimbabwe .......................................................................................................................... 71 Agrarian Differentiation, Social Reproduction and Environmental Degradation in Communal Areas ............................................................................... 80 Land Reform, Environmental Pressure and Governance ................................................................................................................................................... 85 Conclusion 94 CHAPTER THREE: ZIMBABWE'S LAND REFORM EXPERIENCE . 97 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 97 Land Reform and the Zimbabwe Experience .................................................................................................................................................................... 98 Changing Perceptions of Zimbabwe's Land Problem ...................................................................................................................................................... 103 The Structure of Land Control and Access ...................................................................................................................................................................... 106 The Land Reform Debates .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 120 State Controlled Land Transfer ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 120 The Land Use and Productivity Debate .......................................................................................................................................................................... 122 CHAPTER FOUR: THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF LAND REFORM: 1980-1989 ................. 132 The Lancaster House Compromise ................................................................................................................................................................................. 132 Market Restrictions on Land Acquisition ........................................................................................................................................................................ 135 Land Taxation ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 138 Land Policy and Legislation ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 143 Land Redistribution in the 1980s ................................................................................................................................................................................... 148 Land Acquisition, Settler Placement and Production ...................................................................................................................................................... 151 Conclusion . 160 CHAPTER FIVE: THE COMMUNAL AREAS' LAND PROBLEM ........................................ 160 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 160 The Communal Areas as Regional and Economic Sub-Sector .......................................................................................................................................... 161 The Economic Position of Communal Areas ................................................................................................................................................................... 164 Household Land Holdings, Land Use and Reproduction.................................................................................................................................................. 167 Household Land Resources and their Maintenance ........................................................................................................................................................ 170 Household Livestock Resources ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 176 Farm Technologies and Labour Management Practises .................................................................................................................................................. 179 Land Grievances and Conflicts in Communal Areas ........................................................................................................................................................ 201 Conclusion 203 - ii - CHAPTER SIX: THE LAND QUESTION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: THE CASE OF MHEZI WARD ............................................................................................... 205 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 205 Conceptualising the land Problem at the Local Level ...................................................................................................................................................... 206 The Mhezi Natural Resource Base and Socio-Demography ............................................................................................................................................. 208 The Local Land Problem ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 225 Household Land Demand and Use in Mhezi ................................................................................................................................................................... 237 Conclusion . 245 CHAPTER SEVEN: LOCAL POLITICS OF RESETTLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES ......................................................................................... 261 Land Access in Resettlement Schemes and Commercial Farming Areas .......................................................................................................................... 261 The Local Politics of Land Conflict Mediation ................................................................................................................................................................. 280 Conclusion 296 CHAPTER EIGHT: UNDERSTANDING NEW NATIONAL LAND POLICY DIRECTIONS .......................................................................... 298 Towards A New Liberal Land Policy: 1990-1993 .............................................................................................................................................................. 298 Land Policy Rationale ....................................................................................................................................................................................................