The changing agrarian economy in Zimbabwe, 15 years after the Fast Track Land Reform programme

ABSTRACT

The reconfigured agrarian structure imposed new production and commoditisation patterns across the settlement types in Zimbabwe. From 2000, new markets were established, with differentiated effects on capital accumulation for different sets of farmers. After the Fast Track Land Reform programme, the impact of the economy-wide challenges, climate change, capital and global geo-politics on the agrarian economy remain relatively unexplored. Using a case study of Hwedza District, this article reveals the changing agrarian relations beyond the trimodal agrarian structure, showing that smallholder farmers have significantly relied on reinvestment of agricultural sales proceeds rather than contract farming. Farmers exit the contract farming arrangements citing their exploitative nature. The article contributes to the debate on Zimbabwe's agrarian and political transition.

RÉSUMÉ

La reconfiguration de la structure agraire a imposé de nouveau schémas de production et de marchandisation à travers les différents types de champs au Zimbabwe. A partir de l’an 2000, de nouveaux marchés furent établis, avec des effets d’accumulation de capital différenciés selon les fermiers. Suite à la mise en œuvre du Programme accéléré de réforme agraire, l’impact des défis économiques, du changement climatique, et de la géopolitique internationale et nationale sur l’économie agraire demeurent relativement inconnus. Utilisant une étude de cas du district de Hwedza, cet article met en lumière les transformations des relations agraires, au-delà de la simple structure agraire trimodale, montrant que les petits exploitants agricoles se sont appuyés de façon conséquente sur le réinvestissement des bénéfices des ventes agricoles plutôt que sur une agriculture contractuelle. De nombreux fermiers ont cessé d’utiliser ces arrangements contractuels, citant leur nature exploitatrice. Cet article contribue au débat sur la transition agraire et politique du Zimbabwe.

KEYWORDS:

• Agricultural production
• financing
• marketing
• class formation accumulation
• trimodal agrarian structure

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Production agricole
• financement
• commercialisation
• accumulation de formation de classe
• structure agraire trimodale

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Toendepi Shonhe holds a Masters in Public Policy Management from Witwatersrand University and a PhD in Development Studies (Agrarian Relations) from University of KwaZulu Natal. He is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town where he was awarded a grant under the National Research Foundation Research Chair in Land Reform and Democracy in South Africa.

Notes

1 Zimbabwe's five agro-ecological regions are differentiated along rainfall patterns and other climatic and soil type variances.

2 The data were captured through CS Pro and transferred to SPSS for analysis, while tables and graphs were developed to derive meaning from the data and establish patterns.