Zimbabwe's Land Reform: Myths and Realities

by Ian Scoones

Challenges the commonly held myths about Zimbabwe's land reform.

Ten years after the land invasions of 2000, this book provides the first full account of the consequences of these dramatic events. This land reform overturned a century-old pattern of land use, one dominated by a small group of large-scale commercial farmers, many of whom were white. But what replaced it?

This book challenges five myths through the examination of the field data from Masvingo

Myth 1 Zimbabwean land reform has been a total failure
Myth 2 The beneficiaries of Zimbabwean land reform have been largely political 'cronies'
Myth 3 There is no investment in the new resettlements
Myth 4 Agriculture is in complete ruins creating chronic food insecurity
Myth 5 The rural economy has collapsed
By challenging these myths, and suggesting alternative policy narratives, this book presents the story as it has been observed on the warts and all. What comes through very strongly is the complexity, the differences, almost farm by there is no single, simple story of the Zimbabwe land reform as sometimes assumed by press reports, political commentators, or indeedmuch academic study.

Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, with co-authors Nelson Marongwe, Blasio Mavedzenge, Jacob Mahenehene, Felix Murimbarimba and Chrispen Sukume.

Weaver Press
Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana): Jacana

Genres: Nonfiction, Zimbabwe, Africa

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Ian Scoones is a professorial fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK, and Director of the ESRC STEPS Centre, UK. He works on land, agricultural and agrarian and environmental change in Africa. He is a founding member and co-convenor of the Land Deal Politics Initiative.