Opinion

Twenty-five years after Zimbabwe’s land reform: understanding change

Published on 20 January 2025

Ian Scoones

Professorial Fellow

This year it’s 25 years since Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform. Ever since the year 2000 when people invaded the land and former white farmers were dispossessed of their farms, we have been tracking what has happened. We have been asking a very simple question: what happened to livelihoods once people got land?

This year is therefore a moment to reflect on this process over a quarter of a century. This is important for Zimbabwe, as the country looks forward to economic regeneration with land and farming central, but also more generally as other countries in the region, notably South Africa, grapple with land reform and more widely as debates about the roles of agrarian reform in galvanising growth through increasing equity via land redistribution.

Our ‘25 years after Zimbabwe’s land reform’ project kicks off this year with explorations of the processes of change in our three core sites: Mvurwi, Masvingo/Gutu and Matobo. These offer contrasting settings with which to ask questions about change over time. Across these sites we have been working with around 1000 households across A1, A2 and some comparator communal area sites (now increased by new entrants, subdivisions and so on).

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.

Read the full story on the Zimbabweland website

Disclaimer
The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IDS.

Share

About this opinion

Region
Zimbabwe

Related content

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.