Human – environment relations in Zimbabwe: the case of land – pre colonial, colonial, and post – independence periods.

Abstract

This study uses mostly secondary data to investigate the land question in Zimbabwe. The findings show that while the pre-colonial period was relatively stable, the colonial period was characterised by the dispossession of native lands using various legal instruments to legitimize the process. At the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference of 1979, Britain agreed to fund Zimbabwe’s resettlement program on a ‘willing-seller willing buyer’ basis to purchase land. Changes made to both the Constitution and the Land Acquisition Act in 1991 to allow government to ‘designate’ land for resettlement met opposition from white farmers, Britain and the donor communities leading to the exit form the program of the latter two in the late 90s. From then, government adopted the ‘fast track’ program to speed land acquisition by making amendments to the Constitution to obligate Britain, to pay compensation to farmers with designated land. Despite the violence precipitated by the approach, the process received the Zimbabwe Supreme Court seal of approval in 2001. The paper concludes by suggesting the way forward on the land reform program. Keywords: Human-environment relations, communal areas, ‘willing-seller willing-buyer’, Zimbabwe land reform, resettlement schemes, Global Political Coalition.