Food self-sufficiency after land reform : the effects of changes in agricultural land use and ownership brought about by the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) on Zimbabwe's domestic maize production

Abstract

Since the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2000, Zimbabwe has changed from being mostly maize self-sufficient to being dependent on maize imports to provide food for the country. The FTLRP is seen as largely to blame for the changes in domestic maize production, but debate has arisen over whether the change in land ownership brought about by the FTLRP was the cause of these changes and has resulted in a decline in the country’s maize self-sufficiency. This is significant in finding whether or not communal farmers can be depended on to ensure food self-sufficiency in a country. In finding whether the changes in land ownership and use brought about by the FTLRP resulted in a decline in maize self-sufficiency, secondary data from government documents, reports and scholarly articles was analysed, with a particular focus on changes in maize production, land ownership and efficiency between large-scale commercial farmers and communal farmers in Zimbabwe between 1980 and 2010. Communal farmers are found to be more efficient in their land use and so are capable of ensuring food self-sufficiency, but they lack incentive to do so, mainly as a result of economic challenges being faced by the country that have hindered the government’s ability to subsidise farmers. As a result, commercial farmers are also found to be imperative in producing cash crops for the international market so that returns can be used to fund the incentivising of communal farmer food crop production. These findings give rise to the conclusion that changes in land ownership and use did result in a decline in maize self-sufficiency, but this was more as a result of poor organisation and timing rather than the ability of the communal farmers.