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Forbidden But Not Suppressed: a ‘Vernacular’ Land Market in Svosve Communal Lands, Zimbabwe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Admos Chimhowu  and
Philip Woodhouse
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Abstract

This article examines the status of land tenure in Zimbabwe following the ‘Fast Track’ land reforms of 2000–3. It finds that post-reform land tenure remains strongly dualist, with land sales and rental prohibited on the land (about two thirds of the total) classified as ‘A1’ resettlement or ‘communal areas’, while tradeable leases apply to much of the remainder, classified as ‘commercial land’. The article draws on fieldwork in Svosve Communal Area and on previous studies on land transactions in Zimbabwe to argue that land sales and rental transactions are an enduring feature of land use in Zimbabwe's ‘communal areas’. Moreover, the article argues that, despite government prohibition, there is evidence that such transactions are being fuelled by increasing demand for land arising from the collapse in the non-farm economy in Zimbabwe. The article argues that while the logic of informal (or ‘vernacular’) land sales and rental is widely recognized by land users in communal and resettlement areas, government prohibition, in favour of asserting land allocation rights of customary authorities, is driven by considerations of political control of the rural vote.

Cet article examine l’état du foncier au Zimbabwe à la suite du programme accéléré de réforme foncière (Fast Track) entre 2000 et 2003. Il constate que le foncier post-réforme reste fortement dualiste, avec d'un côté des terres classées zones « communales » ou de réinstallation A1 (environ un tiers du total) frappées d'une interdiction de vente ou de location, et de l'autre essentiellement des terres « commerciales » auxquelles s'appliquent des baux négociables. L'article s'appuie sur des travaux menés dans la zone communale de Svosve et sur des études précédentes sur les transactions foncières au Zimbabwe pour soutenir que les transactions de vente et de location foncières sont une constante de l'utilisation des terres dans les « zones communales » du Zimbabwe. De plus, l'article soutient qu'en dépit de l'interdiction gouvernementale, il semble que ces transactions soient alimentées par la demande croissante de terres résultant de l'effondrement de l’économie non agricole au Zimbabwe. L'article affirme que, alors que la logique de vente et de location foncière informelle (ou « vernaculaire ») est largement reconnue par les utilisateurs de terres des zones communales et de réinstallation, l'interdiction gouvernementale qui encourage les autorités coutumières à revendiquer leurs droits d'affectation des terres est mue par des considérations de contrôle politique du vote rural.

Type
Research Articles
Information
Africa , Volume 80 , Special Issue 1: Interpreting Land Markets in Africa , February 2010 , pp. 14 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2010

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