<p>The government of Zimbabwe started implementing its fast track resettlement programme in July 2000, the objective being to accelerate both land acquisition and land redistribution. This programme witnessed a massive movement of people from various localities into mainly large-scale commercial farms in search of agricultural land. Under this programme, people were settled under the A1 model (which involves villages and land use pattern similar to those found in communal areas) as well as the A2 model, which involves commercial farming. This study investigates, documents and analyses the opportunities and constraints currently being faced by newly resettled crop production farmers in one example of an A1 model resettlement project (Fair Ranch Estate in Masvingo Province). A questionnaire was used to gather data on livelihood sources, income, assets and also aspects of the associational life of crop production farmers. Seventy households were interviewed, and a number of key informant interviews were undertaken with both government officials and the local leadership. The greatest opportunity that A1 crop production farmers in Fair Range Estate experienced was the fact that they now have access to land that they can call their own, without having to go through the market to try to acquire such land. In terms of crop production, however, farmers in Fair Range Estate face a number of challenges and constraints: they lack adequate access to tillage and livestock / the supply of inputs is inadequate / generally negative socio economic conditions prevailing in the country have led to sharp increases in prices of all basic commodities, including inputs such as fertilisers and seeds / they lack tenure security / the amount of rainfall received in the area is generally not sufficient for crop production / and many lack crop production skills. Measures to reverse this decline must include the availability of foreign currency to buy spare parts for tractors, rebuilding of the national herd, which was greatly affected by both drought and the disturbance of commercial agriculture as a result of the controversial land reform programme. Fuel should also become more readily available, and urgent policy measures be put in place to revamp institutional frameworks in the agricultural sector to make them more farmer-oriented.</p>

<p>The government of Zimbabwe started implementing its fast track resettlement programme in July 2000, the objective being to accelerate both land acquisition and land redistribution. This programme witnessed a massive movement of people from various localities into mainly large-scale commercial farms in search of agricultural land. Under this programme, people were settled under the A1 model (which involves villages and land use pattern similar to those found in communal areas) as well as the A2 model, which involves commercial farming. This study investigates, documents and analyses the opportunities and constraints currently being faced by newly resettled crop production farmers in one example of an A1 model resettlement project (Fair Ranch Estate in Masvingo Province). A questionnaire was used to gather data on livelihood sources, income, assets and also aspects of the associational life of crop production farmers. Seventy households were interviewed, and a number of key informant interviews were undertaken with both government officials and the local leadership. The greatest opportunity that A1 crop production farmers in Fair Range Estate experienced was the fact that they now have access to land that they can call their own, without having to go through the market to try to acquire such land. In terms of crop production, however, farmers in Fair Range Estate face a number of challenges and constraints: they lack adequate access to tillage and livestock / the supply of inputs is inadequate / generally negative socio economic conditions prevailing in the country have led to sharp increases in prices of all basic commodities, including inputs such as fertilisers and seeds / they lack tenure security / the amount of rainfall received in the area is generally not sufficient for crop production / and many lack crop production skills. Measures to reverse this decline must include the availability of foreign currency to buy spare parts for tractors, rebuilding of the national herd, which was greatly affected by both drought and the disturbance of commercial agriculture as a result of the controversial land reform programme. Fuel should also become more readily available, and urgent policy measures be put in place to revamp institutional frameworks in the agricultural sector to make them more farmer-oriented.</p>

The thesis focuses on the social policy dimension of Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Interrogating land reform in the context of Transformative Social Policy (TSP) is a critical lacuna in Zimbabwe’s land reform and dominant social policy literature, implying the absence of a wider vision of social policy. This vision emphasises the consideration of the five tasks of social policy (production, redistribution, reproduction, protection and social cohesion); and acknowledges the symbiotic link between social policy and development. The thesis asks, how did the FTLRP and land occupations unfold; what is the new agrarian structure and, forms of social organisation in the aftermath of the fast track land reform; and how has the programme played out in relation to redistribution, production, social protection, reproduction and social cohesion? The thesis is based on a qualitative-dominant mixed methods research approach, and is complemented by predominantly quantitative data gathered by the African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS), now Sam Moyo African Institute for Agrarian Studies (SMAIAS); and a sample of 150 A1 land beneficiaries drawn from Dalkeith, Whynhill and St Lucia Farms. Using grounded empirical data gathered in an eight (8) months-long ethnography in Zvimba district, Mashonaland West Province; and transcending ideological and epistemological debates, the thesis argues that, despite shortcomings, the fast track land reform is a crucial social policy ‘instrument’ with immense potential to transform lives. Across the district, land is a core economic, social and political resource that is central in enhancing wellbeing. The centrality of land reform in transforming lives is hampered mainly by land use and production constraints, and as the study results show, this dimension has the least positive outcomes. Diverse targeted support services that are mainly crystallised around land use and production, value chains and markets, are essential. If the farmers are appropriately supported, the benefits of land reform are potentially immense. Overall, land reform must be understood as a transformative social policy initiative and fast track is the case study for demonstrating this. The thesis contributes primarily to approaches and literature on land reform and social policy. / Sociology / D. Lit. et Phil. (Sociology)

This thesis explores questions of gender equality in social welfare theory; methodologies; approaches and policymaking in the Global South in the context of land reforms. This stems from the realisation that gender equality issues in social welfare are increasingly receiving greater attention in the context of the Global North and less in the South. By adopting a Transformative Social Policy framework, the research departs from hegemonic livelihoods, poverty reduction and the ‘classical models’ of land reforms often designed from the mould of the neoliberal discourse of individual tenure to focus on land reform as a relational question. Empirical data was gathered using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach involving survey questionnaires; in-depths interviews; focus group discussions; key informant interviews and field observations. A total of 105 randomly selected households, comprising 56 male-headed households (MHHs) and 49 female-headed households (FHHs) participated in the quantitative component of the study, comprising a control group of nonland reform beneficiaries. Additionally, 30 purposively selected in-depths interviews comprising 20 FHHs and 10 MHHs were conducted in resettlement study sites. Findings from this this study indicates that despite the country’s depressed economic environment and the effects of climate change, transfer of land enhanced the productive capacities of individuals and rural households, including those headed by females. At micro-level, in-kind transfer of land to rural households proved to be a more superior social protection measure compared to either food or cash transfer. However, social relations and institutions proved resistant to change, posing a greater obstacle to social transformation. And more importantly, from a social reproductive perspective, the same land reform that enhanced the productive capacities of women, inadvertently, increased their social reproductive work with implications on the welfare of women relative to men. The thesis makes a contribution to social policy debates in Africa, which hitherto have been dominated by the introduction of cash transfers as witnessed in many countries across the continent. The transformative social policy approach brings novelty to the study of land reforms. By Conceptualising gender as a relational and social construct, the study adds knowledge on the nexus between gender, land reform and welfare using the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) as reference. With the FTLRP––as a leftist policy in a liberalised economy––there is a need for the government to re-align its social and economic policies to avoid inconsistencies in the country’s development path. On the gender front there is need to legislate resettlement areas as outside the jurisdiction of traditional structures; promulgate statutory instruments dealing with land and setting up designated land claims courts linked right up to the Constitutional Court. Specifically, for Chiredzi, there is a need to establish a corporate body to administer the affairs of Mkwasine following the pulling out of the Estate. Keywords: gender, land reforms, water reforms, transformative / Sociology / Ph. D. (Sociology)