The Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe has emerged as a highly contested reform process both nationally and internationally. The image of it has all too often been that of the widespread displacement and subsequent replacement of various people, agricultural-related production systems, facets and processes. The reality, however, is altogether more complex.
Providing new and much-needed empirical research, this in-depth book examines how processes such as land acquisition, allocation, transitional production outcomes, social life, gender and tenure, have influenced and been influenced by the forces driving the programme. It also explores the ways in which the land reform programme has created a new agrarian structure based on small- to medium-scale farmers. In attempting to resolve the problematic issues the reforms have raised, the author argues that it is this new agrarian formation which provides the greatest scope for improving Zimbabwe's agriculture and development.
Based on a broader geographical scope than any previous study carried out on the subject, this is a landmark work on a subject of considerable controversy.
Prosper B. Matondi is the Executive Director of Ruzivo Trust, a not for profit organization based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He holds a PhD in Rural Development from the Swedish University of Agricultural University based in Uppsala, Sweden. He has more than 15 years experience researching on land, natural resources management, environmental policy and planning in Zimbabwe, within the southern African region and internationally. He has widely published and has made a contribution to many international, regional and international networks on land and agrarian reform issues. He sits on various research boards and is currently supervising PhD students working on land issues in Zimbabwe and beyond.
Kjell Havnevik is senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute and head of the institute's research cluster on Rural and Agrarian Dynamics, Property and Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a PhD from the University of Bradford (development studies 1988) and has been working with universities and research institutes in Norway, Sweden and Tanzania. From 1996, he was professor of Rural Development at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. He has published a number of book and articles on African development issues with special focus on rural development, natural resource management, the strategies of international financial institutions in Africa, and development assistance. He has a wide experience as a teacher and lecturer on African and development issues.
Atakilte Beyene is a researcher in rural development. He is based at the Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. His research focuses on institutions, and the relationships between smallholder agricultural systems, property rights and national agricultural policies. He has facilitated and conducted extensive empirical field studies on livelihood systems, food insecurity and risk management strategies, natural resources management, and recent developments in commercial farming, including bio-fuels. He is also a lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden where he also doubles up as coordinator of an international MSc program in Integrated Water Resources Management.
