Family farms and the markets: examining the level of market-oriented production 15 years after the Zimbabwe Fast Track Land Reform programme

Small family farmers aim to secure food through own production, and the surplus is only sold to finance productive and reproductive investments. The Fast Track Land Reform programme (FTLRP) caused a dramatic increase in the number of family farms, with approximately 180,000 families being resettled on 70% of agricultural land previously held by about 4500 commercial white farmers. This increased demand for agricultural capital goods, thus putting pressure on the under-resourced government of Zimbabwe, which had to provide inputs considering the FTLRP and capital outflows induced by the economic meltdown. The study tracks and maps out the position of family farmers in Zimbabwe with respect to the agricultural inputs and outputs markets over 15 years of land reform implementation. Specifically, the study utilises the SMAIAS 2013–14 Household Survey to calculate commercialisation indices for major agricultural crops in Zimbabwe. Commercialisation involves the creation of mechanisms that encourage farmers’ active participation and integration in the commodity markets. The survey results show that participation is found to be highly differentiated, with small-scale producers participating the least. More farmers were more active in the inputs markets than they were in the outputs markets, thus implying a perennial reduction of farmers’ incomes and productive asset investment capacity. Additionally, the study provides structural transformative policy alternatives for improving production and rural household income to reduce poverty.