Considering the multiple purposes of land in Zimbabwe's economic recovery
Section snippets
The urgent imperative
Since 2009, a coalition government in Zimbabwe has been working to stabilize the economy and create the necessary conditions for much needed economic recovery. However, because “the land question” has not been resolved, it uneasily sits atop the development agenda. This represents a substantial danger because international development assistance in sub-Saharan Africa continues to suffer from conceptual incoherence and durable colonial ideational prejudices (World Development Report, 2006,
The contending purposes of land
What do we mean by the contending purposes of land? Our point in raising this matter is to stress that land is not—and cannot be—just one thing. The meaning of land changes over time and these differing meanings can both co-exist and yet come into conflict with each other (Bruce, 2008). Land as with much of our natural world is what we make of it, and as with an economy, is always in the process of becoming (Bromley, 2003, Bromley, 2006, Bromley, 2008a, Bromley, 2008b).
Land policy discourses post-2000
In the period following the launch of the controversial and chaotic Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in 2000, Zimbabwe has been experiencing a continuous food deficit. The FTLRP was accompanied by a massive downturn in commercial agriculture, and a deepening political and economic crisis. GDP per capita declined at an average of 10.75 per cent per year between 2000 and 2003. In 2005, 40 per cent of the population was considered food insecure due to reduced food availability and decreased
The way forward
The discussion about land as a productive asset and land as place within the context of the FTLRP has raised four issues that need to be part of a recipe for sustainable economic recovery in Zimbabwe. Sustained economic recovery requires careful attention to the contentious issue of: (1) “belonging”; (2) tenure security; (3) improved collaboration between land-reform beneficiaries and the private sector; and (4) livelihood diversification and safety nets.
Conclusions
The basis of continuing conflict in Zimbabwe remains the unresolved land question—and this remains an impediment to economic recovery. Sustained economic recovery will require a democratic political settlement that balances rights and redress, as well as the adoption of a broad package of measures including infrastructure, financing, input supply, research and extension, technology, institutions, and policies that enable agriculture to grow (Chavunduka and Bromley, 2010, Scoones et al., 2011).
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