The Land Question, Agriculture, Industrialization and the Economy in Zimbabwe: A Critical Reflection

Abstract

The land question in Zimbabwe is very relevant in understanding agricultural, industrial and economic trajectories, and the prospects and challenges of development in Africa. Thus, this chapter adopts the Zimbabwean realities and experience relative to land, agriculture, industrialization and economy to theoretically and pragmatically interrogate Africa’s development issues. This is because the land issue has become the most important factor in the agricultural performance of Zimbabwe since the 1998 land occupations. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s (ZANU PF) 2000 Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FRLRP) severed the strong supply linkages between commercial agriculture and manufacturing, leading to the collapse of industrial production. That is, the decline in agricultural production crippled clothing and textile manufacturers, leather goods manufacturers, milling companies, bakeries, and other industries that relied on agricultural products. This chapter therefore seeks to respond to the following questions: What is the missing link in the economy and can agriculture and industrialization reconnect the severed chain of Zimbabwe’s development? Can land reform and agriculture drive the economic development of Zimbabwe? Can agriculture lead the industrial paths in Zimbabwe? What are the policy issues and what are the solutions? What are the prospects and challenges in Zimbabwe’s development? What lessons can be drawn from the Zimbabwean type of development? This is because apart from ordinary Zimbabweans citizens who have borne the major effects of the country’s economic decline since 2000, there have been widespread negative regional economic and political repercussions.