What do young people do and where in post-land reform Zimbabwe?

With a whole new generation of young people demanding land and livelihoods across the land reform areas, we have been asking what are young people doing to make a living and where?

In our study we have two cohorts of young people linked to our core household sample across our sites. The first (Cohort 1) is all those born between 1985 and 1996 and was studied in 2016, when they were between 20 and 31 years old. The second (Cohort 2) is all those born between 1993 and 2003, and so aged between 20 and 31 today.

Where are young people located?

The following two tables show where members of the different cohorts are currently located.

Table 1a: Where young people in Cohort 1 are based (percentages)

Table 1b: Where young people in Cohort 2 are based (percentages)

The data show how youth migration is most common in Matobo reflecting the low agroecological potential of the area. Migration abroad is also highest in Matobo and Masvingo/Gutu and lowest in Mvurwi reflecting distance to the borders with South Africa and Botswana. In Mvurwi most men and many women remain at home across the cohorts. Migration within Zimbabwe is lowest in our Masvingo province cohorts, but highest amongst females in Mvurwi and Matobo, which is associated particularly with the movement of women away from homes on marriage. The older cohort (Cohort 1) has a higher percentage overall of migrants abroad, but a lower percentage of migrants based in Zimbabwe. This reflects some of the challenges of migrating abroad, especially to South Africa, in recent times. As people move away, the percentage of those at home declines, but the proportion is high outside Matobo as young people choose to remain in or return to rural areas.

Overall, for both cohorts of different ages, the dominant location is rural Zimbabwe. Members of the older cohort are more likely to have established homes, very often in the same place as the husband’s parents; although as discussed in a later blog in this series this ‘tradition’ is being disrupted.

What are young people doing?

What activities are young people pursuing? The table below shows the percentage of the cohort engaged in different primary activities across both cohorts today in different sites and by gender.

Table 2a. Primary occupation of young people in Cohort 1 (percentages)

Table 2b. Primary occupation of young people in Cohort 2 (percentages)

The major activity across cohorts, sites and genders in Masvingo and Mvurwi is farming, either independently on their own plot or at home helping parents. The older cohort (Cohort 1) has a greater percentage who have established farms independently, moving from the category of ‘helping parents farm’ to a subdivided or separate plot. In Matobo the proportion who are farming independently as a primary occupation is much smaller, with other occupations far more important. Self-employment, in a diversity of activities, is the primary occupation for about a quarter of young people across both cohorts, rising to 60% for the secondary occupation. Adding to this is informal artisanal mining, which is important for both men and women in Matobo. Formal employment in ‘jobs’ of different sorts is the primary occupation for about a fifth of young people, with some in employment abroad (rising in the older cohort), with higher numbers of men involved. However, overall, such jobs are only available to a few, particularly in Masvingo. Over time, the percentage with a primary occupation in education declines, as repeated attempts at ‘retakes’ tails off. For many, therefore, building a diverse livelihood (with farming at the centre) makes much sense. The following cases demonstrate this dynamic.

Case 1. PN, Matobo

I was born in Natisa area in 1991. I am married and have two children, both girls. I attended school at Nduna primary school. I was born in a family of four, three girls and boys. In 2006, I then moved to South Africa, where my father used to work. I attended further education up to Grade 12 in South Africa. However, I did not write the final Matric exams. In 2011, I got a job as a merchandiser at Checkers. In 2013 to 2015, I then worked as a merchandiser for Coca-Cola. Between 2014 and 2015, I bought building material to build a homestead in the communal areas (Shumbeshabe), near my grandparents’ homestead. However, in 2018, I acquired a plot and build a homestead. I was allocated land by the Sabhuku, who is also my grandad’s elder brother. I was allocated land near the irrigation plot in exchange of looking after the irrigation infrastructure. I do not have a crop field at the moment, but I was allocated a piece of land in the community irrigation plot. I also use a portion of land from my uncle’s plot in the village. After the completion of the homestead, I returned to South Africa in 2019 and left my wife at the plot. Once in South Africa, I got a job as a driver for a carpentry company. In the same year, I bought fencing materials using money from the driving job. In 2020, I bought one heifer to expand my herd. At the time, I also bought a scotch cart, plough and wheel burrow. I also bought a donkey. I bought all these using income from job. I bought my first heifer from my uncle in 2013. In 2022, the company closed down. This is when I decided to return home. My life is here at the moment. I have lived an urban life in South Africa, but I do not like it that much. I want to do horticulture. The biggest challenge here is school for our children. Due to lack of better schools in the resettlement farms, all my children are attending school in Filabusi. Currently, I own 5 cattle and 4 goats. My main source of income at the moment is farming, especially growing and selling tomatoes. During the 2022/23 season, I harvested 24 bags of maize and sold 18 bags. I also hire out scotch cart to others. I combine my donkey with my neighbours’ donkeys to form a span. Earlier this year (2024), my brother bought a Toyota Quantum in South Africa and asked me if I could work with him as a driver. We transport people and goods between Johannesburg and Bulawayo (omalayisha). Our way back to South Africa, we offer border jumping services too. For those without passports, we charge ZAR1500 to get to Johannesburg, including monies to bribe the police. We come back to Zimbabwe every Friday night and spend the weekend at home and go back to Johannesburg every Tuesday. I would really like to engage in horticulture, but I would need to buy a water pump and tank. I recently obtained quotations for jojo tanks in South Africa, and a 5000 litres tank costs around ZAR5000. So, I am planning to save money and buy one.

Case 2: SD, Vimbi, Matobo

I was born in 1992, and my husband was born in 1988. We both grew up here. My parents came here during the jambanja in 2000. I dropped out of school at Form 3 in 2003 due to accommodation challenges. There is no secondary school here, so I had to attend secondary school in the nearby communal areas, where I stayed with a relative. The living conditions were not good, so I decided to drop out of school. After dropping out of school, I stayed with my parents, helping them with farming. In 2012, I then got married here in the village. My husband works as a taxi driver (mushikashika) in Maphisa and comes home during weekends. My mother-in-law has allocated us a portion to build a homestead and 2 ha of land to engage in dryland cultivation. The land is part of her 5 ha crop fields, and it was not cleared.   

Case 3: HM, Wondedzo Wares, Masvingo

I was born in 1986 in Gutu. I came here with my mother in the early 2000s. I used to work as a panel beater in Beitbridge. In 2020, I decided to resign from my panel beating job and focus on farming and running my own business. Together with my wife, we run a general dealer shop and bar at Wondedzo business centre. I realised that if you have got resources, farming is lucrative these days than working for someone. Plus, the good thing about farming is that you can assist a lot of people, especially those facing hunger. You can hire them for ‘maricho’. If I can compare my life while I was still employed with my life while farming now, life here is much better. I am at home and supervision is easy. I was allocated 2ha of land by my mother, where I engage in dryland farming. In addition, I am also borrowing an additional 1ha from a relative in exchange of draught power and farm equipment. I grow maize, groundnuts and rapoko. Besides dryland cropping, I also engage in horticulture. I am currently renting 1ha of irrigable land in Godzamatore A1 farm nearby. I grow cabbages, tomatoes and green mealies there. I recently planted 3000 cabbage plants on our irrigation plot (rented), and my aim is to get to 5000 plants. I use proceeds from farming to buy more stuff for the shops and use the proceeds from the shop to buy inputs and pay labour.

Even if farming is not the primary occupation, the importance of land is clear as part of establishing a livelihood in the rural areas. How then do people gain access to land? This question is explored in the next blog.

Read more on the young people and land reform series:

• About the project: Zimbabwe’s Land Reform After 25 Years
• Young people’s experiences of land, livelihoods and migration in post-land reform Zimbabwe
• How do young people get land in post-land reform Zimbabwe?
• The next generation is redefining what is meant by a ‘farm’ and ‘home’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas

This is the second blog in a series exploring young people and land in post-land reform Zimbabwe. The blog has been written by Ian Scoones and Tapiwa Chatikobo, with inputs from Godfrey Mahofa (data analysis), Felix Murimbarimba (field lead) and Jacob Mahenehene (field assistant), amongst others. This blog first appeared on Zimbabweland