Why Development-Induced Displacement is morally Objectionable: An Ethical Appraisal of the Macdom-ARDA Chisumbanje Ethanol Project in Chipinge, Southeastern Zimbabwe

Abstract

Elitist socio-economic policies have remained largely responsible for community displacements in many African countries. Previously, colonial governments established land-intensive projects which became major disruptive phenomena for the affected communities in Africa. Experience has shown that displacement unsettles communities, upsets cultural or traditional practices, justice systems and communal livelihoods. In some instances, communal displacement represents low regard for human rights by state and non-state actors. Ironically, planners of displacements often adopt and deploy the rhetoric of development and modernism. In Zimbabwe, the persistent conclusion in displacement narratives is that land dispossessions pushed Africans into supporting the nationalist movements of the 1960s and the liberation struggle of the 1970s. However, post-independence state-sponsored projects have continued to haunt communities. This paper tackles the moral issues associated with developmentinduced displacements and resettlement. It provides the communal narratives emanating from the grand statesponsored Macdom-ARDA Chisumbanje ethanol project, arguing that the project’s establishment is morally objectionable.