Land policy is often embedded in wider socio-cultural, economic, and political competition. Since 2000 there have been drastic changes in land ownership in Zimbabwe. The changes have transformed the country’s model of agricultural production and marketing. In a multi-stakeholder workshop for land use mapping held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 16-18 May, participants discussed ways to manage land, water, and crops in this context of quickly changing land use. Participants included staff from the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, adelphi, the Centre for Geoinformatics of the University of Salzburg, and experts from several Zimbabwean institutions. The workshop was followed by a three-day field visit to a smallholder community in Masvingo Province.



In the past, white-owned, large-scale commercial farms grew tobacco, cotton, and wheat for export. In the last 10 years, most of the 4,000 large-scale farms have been replaced by smaller, black-owned commercial farms and smallholdings. In some areas, rain-fed maize has replaced cattle ranching on lands considered marginal for cultivation. At the same time there has been a major decline in the Zimbabwean economy and in agricultural productivity, which has severely affected food security in the country. Some experts have pointed to government policy decisions while others have emphasised cyclical drought conditions.



During field visits in the Eastern Highlands, the researchers discussed with local smallholders their perceptions of interactions between land usage and their own farming practices. The smallholders recognised and were concerned about land degradation and deforestation, both of which they felt were linked to population pressures, as well as a lack of sufficient inputs such as fertilizer. Community approaches to deforestation included prohibition of forest fire setting, conservation farming, gulley reclamation, pegging and digging of contour ridges, and conservation of fruit and medicinal trees while clearing land for cultivation purposes.



Workshop participants agreed that while specific farming techniques have been developed which may be better adapted to the socio-economic and environmental situation in the affected areas of Zimbabwe, there is still an urgent need to identify ways of managing land, water, and crops to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability. In the future, there may be scope for new scientific and research collaborations between international researchers and peer institutions in Zimbabwe. (Clementine Burnley)



For a working paper series on land reform in Zimbabwe and further information, please see http://www.lalr.org.za/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-working-papers-1



For background information on the project, please see

http://www.gmes-gmosaic.eu/project-overview/116

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, 3/2011