Post-colonial land reforms in Africa. Zimbabwe's land resettlement program

Post-colonial land reforms in Africa. Zimbabwe's land resettlement program
Author:
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2019-03-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3668894272

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Seminar paper from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 2,7, University of Pavia, language: English, abstract: Since Zimbabwe has gained independence in 1980, the redistribution of land has dictated domestic politics. Former president Robert Mugabe and his party ZANU-PF aimed at redistributing as much land as possible from former colonizers, white people, to formerly oppressed black people. Starting under neo-colonial structures with the Lancaster House Agreement, the land reforms slowly radicalized and ended in the controversial Fast Track reform in 2000. In the process of tackling the land question, many difficulties emerged which will be analysed in this paper. While many scholars attribute the mistakes of the reforms to Mugabe and the government, it will be argued that there are more exogenous factors that heavily constrained the proper implementation of the land reforms.

Land and Agrarian Reform in Zimbabwe

Land and Agrarian Reform in Zimbabwe
Author: Sam Moyo
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2013
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 2869785534

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The Fast Track Land Reform Programme implemented during the 2000s in Zimbabwe represents the only instance of radical redistributive land reforms since the end of the Cold War. It reversed the racially-skewed agrarian structure and discriminatory land tenures inherited from colonial rule. The land reform also radicalised the state towards a nationalist, introverted accumulation strategy, against a broad array of unilateral Western sanctions. Indeed, Zimbabwe's land reform, in its social and political dynamics, must be compared to the leading land reforms of the twentieth century, which include those of Mexico, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Cuba and Mozambique. The fact that the Zimbabwe case has not been recognised as vanguard nationalism has much to do with the 'intellectual structural adjustment' which has accompanied neoliberalism and a hostile media campaign. This has entailed dubious theories of ëneopatrimonialismí, which reduce African politics and the state to endemic ëcorruptioní, ëpatronageí, and ëtribalismí while overstating the virtues of neoliberal good governance. Under this racist repertoire, it has been impossible to see class politics, mass mobilisation and resistance, let alone believe that something progressive can occur in Africa. This book comes to a conclusion that the Zimbabwe land reform represents a new form of resistance with distinct and innovative characteristics when compared to other cases of radicalisation, reform and resistance. The process of reform and resistance has entailed the deliberate creation of a tri-modal agrarian structure to accommodate and balance the interests of various domestic classes, the progressive restructuring of labour relations and agrarian markets, the continuing pressures for radical reforms (through the indigenisation of mining and other sectors), and the rise of extensive, albeit relatively weak, producer cooperative structures. The book also highlights some of the resonances between the Zimbabwean land struggles and those on the continent, as well as in the South in general, arguing that there are some convergences and divergences worthy of intellectual attention. The book thus calls for greater endogenous empirical research which overcomes the pre-occupation with failed interpretations of the nature of the state and agency in Africa.

Working on the Margins

Working on the Margins
Author: Blair Allan Rutherford
Publisher:
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2003
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

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The dramatic changes in Zimbabwe's economic, political and social landscapes since the 2000 elections - referred to as the 'Zimbabwe crisis' - have raised complex critical questions at national, regional and international levels. This work addresses these points, by focusing on the shifting discourses about, and relationsips between land, state and citizenship. It argues that these changing definitions and dynamics, and their implications, can best be understood in terms of a number of overlapping, complete and incomplete projects of transformations; or as 'unfinished business'

Land, the State and the Unfinished Decolonisation Project in Africa

Land, the State and the Unfinished Decolonisation Project in Africa
Author: Horman Chitonge
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2019-06-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9956550477

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This book focuses on the work of one of the leading African scholars on the land question and agrarian transformation in AfricaSam Moyo. It offers a critical discussion, in conversation with Sam Moyo, of the land question and the response of African states. Since independence, African states have been trying to address the colonial legacy on land policy and governance. After six decades of formulating and implementing land reforms, most countries have not succeeded in decolonising approaches to land policy and the administrative framework. The book brings together the broader debates on the implications of decolonisation of Africas land policy. Through case studies from several African countries, the book offers an empirical analysis on land reforms and the emerging land relations, and how these affect land allocation and use, including agricultural production. Most of the chapters discuss how the unresolved land question in post-colonial Africa impacts on agricultural production and rural development broadly. The failure to decolonise colonial land policy and the imported tenure systems has left post-colonial African states dancing to two tunes, resulting in schizophrenic land and agrarian policies. The book demonstrates that the failure by African states to reconcile imported and indigenous land tenure systems and practices is evident in the deliberate denigration of customary tenure. It is also evident in the rising land inequality and the neglect of the agricultural sector, the small-scale and subsistence sub-sectors in particular.

Gender, Politics and Land Use in Zimbabwe 1980ñ2012

Gender, Politics and Land Use in Zimbabwe 1980ñ2012
Author: Mafa, Onias
Publisher: CODESRIA
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2015-10-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 2869785909

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The agrarian reform dynamics in southern Africa have to be understood within the framework of colonial land policies and legislation that were designed essentially to expropriate land and natural resource property rights from the indigenous people in favour of the white settlers. Colonial land policies institutionalised racial inequity with regard to land although conditions are not homogeneous there are broad themes that cut across the southern Africa region. Colonialism dispossessed and impoverished the people by taking away the most productive lands. Neoliberal globalization has undermined the people’s well-being through direct influences on agriculture and rural economies in conjunction with policies promoted by national governments and international agencies. Another shared feature is to be found in the high rates of unemployment, poor returns to small-scale agriculture, lack of access to social services such as health and education all of which serve to erode existing livelihood activities and perpetuate relative and absolute poverty in rural areas. This comparative study on Zimbabwe’s agrarian reforms may provide countries such as South Africa and Namibia with valuable lessons, as they attempt their own land reforms. Conflicts between colonialists and the indigenous people in the then Rhodesia centred mainly on the land question. This inequitable distribution of land resulted in Africans waging liberation struggles in order to reclaim their land from the colonialists. In most post-colonial countries, calls have been made for land redistribution as a way of redressing colonial injustices in land tenure systems. The process of reclamation of land and redistributing it to the indigenous people is fraught with problems and has resulted in the present-day land crisis in many parts of Africa and other continents. These are some of the issues this book examines, attempts to understand and explain from a gender perspective. Gender relations are viewed in terms of land use and ownership in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. These socially constructed roles have been found to be unequal in terms of power and decision making. It is argued that lessening of social inequalities between men and women reduces poverty, raises farm efficiency and improves natural resource management. The book emphasizes that once women are empowered, the quality of life of their households improves.

Land Reform Under Structural Adjustment in Zimbabwe

Land Reform Under Structural Adjustment in Zimbabwe
Author: Sam Moyo
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789171064578

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This study represents a first systematic effort to document Zimbabwe "s new land uses during the years of economic crisis, the role of the state in promoting them, the differentiation associated with them, not only between black and white farmers, but also among them, and the implications of all these for the political economy of the Zimbabwean land question. The fact that some of the new land uses avoid redistribution of clearly under-utilised large scale commercial farms suggests that the Zimbabwean land question will remain a live political issue for a long time.

Gender, Politics and Land Use in Zimbabwe 19802012

Gender, Politics and Land Use in Zimbabwe 19802012
Author: Onias Mafa
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2015-10-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 2869786700

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The agrarian reform dynamics in southern Africa have to be understood within the framework of colonial land policies and legislation that were designed essentially to expropriate land and natural resource property rights from the indigenous people in favour of the white settlers. Colonial land policies institutionalised racial inequity with regard to land although conditions are not homogeneous there are broad themes that cut across the southern Africa region. Colonialism dispossessed and impoverished the people by taking away the most productive lands. Neoliberal globalization has undermined the peoples wellbeing through direct influences on agriculture and rural economies in conjunction with policies promoted by national governments and international agencies. Another shared feature is to be found in the high rates of unemployment, poor returns to small-scale agriculture, lack of access to social services such as health and education all of which serve to erode existing livelihood activities and perpetuate relative and absolute poverty in rural areas.

Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform

Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform
Author: Prosper B. Matondi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012-11-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1780321503

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The Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe has emerged as a highly contested reform process both nationally and internationally. The image of it has all too often been that of the widespread displacement and subsequent replacement of various people, agricultural-related production systems, facets and processes. The reality, however, is altogether more complex. Providing new and much-needed empirical research, this in-depth book examines how processes such as land acquisition, allocation, transitional production outcomes, social life, gender and tenure, have influenced and been influenced by the forces driving the programme. It also explores the ways in which the land reform programme has created a new agrarian structure based on small- to medium-scale farmers. In attempting to resolve the problematic issues the reforms have raised, the author argues that it is this new agrarian formation which provides the greatest scope for improving Zimbabwe's agriculture and development. Based on a broader geographical scope than any previous study carried out on the subject, this is a landmark work on a subject of considerable controversy.

Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Constraints and Prospects

Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Constraints and Prospects
Author: Colin Stoneman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2018-05-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351725769

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This title was first published in 2000. Drs Tanya Bowyer-Bower and Colin Stoneman compile the views of top researchers, members of Government, civil society, NGOs, funders, and Zimbabwe’s three farmers’ unions. The history of land reform in Zimbabwe is addressed and the current proposed reform policies, comparison between programmes elsewhere in Southern Africa, and implications including for rural and urban welfare, the economy, the environment, the law, and for women. The result is an invaluable overview of this crucial and contentious issue, including constructive suggestions for consensual ways forward.