380 Enabling Policies and Institutions for Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems
In Zimbabwe, debate regarding land and resettlement has been underway
since independence in 1980. After an initial flurry of activity in the early 1980s
there has been little action on the ground until the last few years (Moyo, 1998).
From the late 1990s, the issue gained greater attention from both government and
donors, with a new phase of the resettlement programme approved in 1999. Dur-
ing 2000, however, the politics of land reform changed dramatically, as the ruling
party and the ‘war veterans’ began to focus their electoral campaigning on the land
issue. A range of land invasions followed, and an attempt by the government to
institute a ‘fast-track’ resettlement policy. The degree to which such resettlement
programmes will reduce land pressure in the existing communal areas, however,
remains uncertain. Nevertheless a number of studies show that, if the appropriate
support is given to new settlers and resettlement takes place in areas where produc-
tive agriculture is viable, then the potentials for a resurgence of smallholder agri-
culture in Zimbabwe are great. In practice, though, the consequences to date for
farmers in the Chivi and Mangwende study areas have been minimal. Relatively
few have been able to sign up for resettlement programmes, which have been tar-
geted largely at richer farmers with Master Farmer Certificates. Instead, more
informal processes of resettlement are occuring with farmers moving, particularly
from dryland Chivi, to other parts of the country (notably Gokwe and the Zam-
bezi valley area) where land is more abundant, and, more recently, nearby com-
mercial farms have been invaded and occupied.
Parallel debates centred more on land tenure reform and decentralization are
also ongoing. Following growing concerns about land tenure and rural administra-
tion issues in the communal areas, a commission of inquiry was established which
suggested a range of changes to land administration and tenure issues (Govern-
ment of Zimbabwe, 1994). The commission recommended that village areas be
granted tenure rights on a collective basis, combined with a review of the village
and ward committee system which was widely regarded as inadequate. A greater
role for ‘traditional’ leaders and customary arrangements was argued for. However,
the implementation of the recommendations has been fragmentary, with particu-
lar rural political contexts largely affecting change at the local level. With the polit-
ical hiatus of the last few years, little progress has been made on the ground.
Decentralization to Rural District Councils has also been seen as a route to more
effective agricultural and land management in the communal areas, but, again, the
capacities of district councils to do much without significant budgets and in the
context of joint responsibilities with central line ministries has been very evident.
Policy Options and Strategies
A range of policy measures, therefore, is seen to affect farmer management of soil
fertility. However, rarely has soil-fertility management itself been the main target
of such policies. Rather, impacts on soil management tend to be the cumulative