The Fast Track Resettlement Programme in Zimbabwe: Disparity between Policy Design and Implementation

Abstract

A quarter of a century after independence the distribution of land has become the dominant issue in Zimbabwe, the focal point of political upheaval and the reason behind Zimbabwe's departure from the Commonwealth. Attempts to resolve the issue in the 1980s were thwarted by scarce resources, escalating land values and a failure to turn donor pledges into cash. The issue resurfaced in the late 1990s, symbolized by occupations by ‘war veterans’ against a background of violence and intimidation. The controversial fast track programme that emerged transformed land ownership structure in Zimbabwe, with white commercial farmers losing about 78% of their land to black farmers, but at a huge price to the Zimbabwean people.