Mvurwi is a thriving high potential agricultural area, where commercialisation of tobacco and horticultural products are at the centre of success in the A1 land reform areas. We conducted two success rankings – in Hariana (12 men and 7 women) and Ruia (32 men and 23 women) farms – which followed up from previous rankings carried out in 2014. We discuss the results here, including the transitions among the 186 households that were present at both time points.
Criteria for success
What defined success for the participants in these ranking exercises? Once again, having access to key farm assets was important, notably owning or having the ability to hire a tractor, owning cars/trucks for transport, alongside having irrigation capacity and associated equipment. The end point was to be able to sell crop products, resulting in a ‘good quality and quantity of food’, ‘good homes’, ‘having furniture and beds’ and ‘educating children’.
This article is from Zimbabweland, a blog written by IDS Research Fellow Ian Scoones. Zimbabweland focuses on issues related to rural livelihoods and land reform in Zimbabwe.
