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Report on Assessment of the Impact of Land Reform Programme
on Commercial Farm Worker Livelihoods
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| 2. Introduction |
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Farm Community Trust of Zimbabwe (FCTZ) undertook an assessment of the situation on farms which have been acquired for resettlement under the government sponsored fast track resettlement programme from 10-16 May 2002. The research covered the provinces of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East and Manicaland.
The research was necessitated by the fluid nature of developments in this sector which made it difficult to make informed decisions on what the current situation is, particularly after the March 2002 presidential elections. Reports from different sources were pointing to rampant closing down of almost all commercial farms and displacement of farm workers.
It was therefore necessary to verify the situation on the ground in order to determine the way forward in terms of programming forFCTZ.
2.1 Scenario analysis for farm worker displacement
The farm worker population in Zimbabwe, currently estimated at two million people, has generally been characterised by poor working and living conditions, poor remuneration, job insecurity, and a lack of residence rights on the farms where they are employed.
This situation has left farm workers extremely vulnerable to any socio-economic /political change. Farm worker livelihoods are hence extremely vulnerable to the impact of both the current political situation in Zimbabwe and the resettlement programme currently being implemented by the Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ).
Previous considerations of the impact of land reform in Zimbabwe have pointed to the fact that the resettlement programme, in its current form, was likely to trigger a large displacement of farm workers (UNICEF 1999, ZINISA 2000, UN 2000). This perception has been based on the fact that the current GOZ policy does not appropriately address the issue of farm worker resettlement or compensation for those farm workers who are likely to be displaced by the land reform programme.
Interviews and interactions with the farm workers, revealed that the majority of farm workers have nowhere to go should they be displaced from their farms. Furthermore, it has been reported that farm workers have not developed plans as to where they would go should they be displaced as part of the resettlement process, although information points to the fact that in the majority of cases the ‘farm community’ has been quite effective in the development of adaptive movement strategies.
This apparent lack of feasible long-term alternatives for farm workers probably goes someway to explaining the apparent resilience of the farm / farm worker community during the fast track resettlement process. During this period farm workers have become assertive in resisting eviction from the farms where they have lived and worked for a long time.
Some groups have tried to lobby local governing authorities. This strategy has, however, had varying levels of success, and displacement in the face of continued harassment and high levels of violence has occurred in many areas.
The farm workers most vulnerable to displacement have been considered as those farm workers who, although Zimbabwean by naturalisation, are of foreign origin, and who thus do not have land rights in the communal areas, or access to traditional or local government leaders through whom they can be allocated land.
The aim:
The aim of the research was to assess the impact of current land reform programme on farm worker livelihoods.
The objectives were to;
- Determine the population and employment status of farm workers prior to the land reform programme on large scale commercial farming areas of Manicaland, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West provinces;
- Determine the number of farm workers currently living on the affected farms and their employment status;
- Determine trends of movement of farm workers on displacement from the farms;
- Establish the source of livelihood for farm workers who are either unemployed or are on reduced wages;
- Determine the access to play centre and schools by the children of farm workers.
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