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“The Land Belongs to Us†: Ethnic Claims Over Land During Zimbabwe’s Land Reforms

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  • Walter Chambati
  • Freedom Mazwi

Abstract

Zimbabwe’s radical Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP), implemented in 2000, diversified the agrarian structure by replacing a few large commercial farms with many smaller-scale farms. In understanding how the allocations evolved, studies have emphasized the effects of class, political party affiliation, gender, citizenship, and generation. However, the influence of ethno-regionalism or ethnicity on land access has been understudied. This article examines how ethnic mobilization structured the results of land distribution on the basis of survey data and other sources. Ethno-regionalism was inevitable in the small-scale A1 farms, since it mainly resettled peasants near their communal areas of origin. However, in the small capitalist A2 farms, ethnic tensions were perceived through exclusions of the “insiders,†as they were edged out of the allocations by the urban middle classes seeking accumulation opportunities in the context of an economic crisis. It is argued that if the latter trajectory persists, demand for land will continue to rise and fuel future land struggles, which might be colored by grievances of prior marginalization along ethnic lines.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Chambati & Freedom Mazwi, 2022. "“The Land Belongs to Us†: Ethnic Claims Over Land During Zimbabwe’s Land Reforms," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 11(1), pages 85-111, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:85-111
    DOI: 10.1177/22779760221075070
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paris Yeros, 2013. "The rise and fall of trade unionism in Zimbabwe, Part II: 1995--2000," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(137), pages 394-409, September.
    2. Paris Yeros, 2013. "The rise and fall of trade unionism in Zimbabwe, Part I: 1990--1995," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(136), pages 219-232, June.
    3. Freedom Mazwi, 2020. "Sugar production dynamics in Zimbabwe: an analysis of contract farming at Hippo Valley," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(166), pages 568-584, October.
    4. Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros, 2007. "The Radicalised State: Zimbabwe's Interrupted Revolution," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(111), pages 103-121, March.
    5. Grasian Mkodzongi, 2016. "‘I am a paramount chief, this land belongs to my ancestors’: the reconfiguration of rural authority after Zimbabwe's land reforms," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(0), pages 99-114, August.
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