The next generation is redefining what is meant by a ‘farm’ and ‘home’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas Blog

The next generation is redefining what is meant by a ‘farm’ and ‘home’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas

As the next generation seeks out land-based livelihoods in the land reform areas and beyond, many of the standard ways of thinking about land are being reinvented for a new generation. This may be around the nature of a ‘farm’ and what place is called ‘home’. These themes are explored in this blog, as they have big implications for how…
PLAAS
June 19, 2025
Young people’s experiences of land, livelihoods and migration in post-land reform Zimbabwe Blog

Young people’s experiences of land, livelihoods and migration in post-land reform Zimbabwe

One of the most common discussions amongst those living in the land reform areas today focuses on how will the next generation get land. Those who got the land during the land reform in 2000 are now getting older and many have died. The question of succession and inheritance is on people’s minds. This is also a big issue for…
PLAAS
June 19, 2025
Agriculture is driving small town growth in post-land reform Zimbabwe Blog

Agriculture is driving small town growth in post-land reform Zimbabwe

Our research has shown how land reform has driven the growth in small towns, creating new economic linkages in a reconfigured economic geography of the country. No longer are the metropolitan centres and associated manufacturing industries driving growth, as these have declined as industries have collapsed along with the decline of the formal economy in Zimbabwe. Instead, growth is emerging…
PLAAS
June 19, 2025
New businesses in small towns in Zimbabwe Blog

New businesses in small towns in Zimbabwe

What are the new businesses being established in the small towns of Zimbabwe? As the last blog has illustrated our long-term study of Mvurwi, Chatsworth and Maphisa shows a variety of changes, with different drivers associated. There are varying links too with a changing agriculture, but what is evident across our study sites is that land reform has shifted the…
PLAAS
June 19, 2025
The continuing growth of small towns in Zimbabwe Blog

The continuing growth of small towns in Zimbabwe

As the economic geography of Zimbabwe reconfigures following land reform, the growth of small towns continues to be an important phenomenon. No longer is economic growth concentrated in the metropolitan areas where industrial areas have declined, but it’s in small towns. Some of these have only recently received ‘town’ status, but many are booming, with new forms of growth driven…
PLAAS
June 19, 2025
Twenty-five years after Zimbabwe’s land reform: understanding change BlogFeatured BlogHome Slider

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

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…
PLAAS
June 19, 2025
Fishing commons, collective action, and resistance: conservation along the Chilika Lagoon in India BlogFeaturedFeatured BlogHome Slider

Fishing commons, collective action, and resistance: conservation along the Chilika Lagoon in India

An interesting contrast in authorities' conservation models emerged during my seven-day visit to communities surrounding India’s Chilika Lagoon in Odisha province. These models, experienced differently by each of the three small-scale fishing communities we visited during the trip, demonstrated benefits and challenges in the coexistence of community livelihoods and the success of conservation. The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian…
Siphesihle Mbhele
June 13, 2025
Can this Budget bring about land justice? Something has got to give BlogFeaturedFeatured BlogHome SliderNews & EventsNews & Events Featured

Can this Budget bring about land justice? Something has got to give

By Nkanyiso Gumede and Ruth Hall Budget allocation is one measure of the government's commitment to deliver on its obligation to enact land reforms - including land redistribution, land restitution and land tenure reform. The government makes resources available to the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development to fulfill its mandate to implement land reforms. In this section, we…
PLAAS
March 13, 2025