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Pioneer Farmers and Family Dynasties in Marirangwe Purchase Area, Colonial Zimbabwe, 1931–1947

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Allison K. Shutt
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Abstract:

This article analyzes the historical ambiguity of the “purchase areas” in colonial Zimbabwe. Established under the 1931 Land Apportionment Act that segregated land in the colony along racial lines, the purchase areas were discrete areas of freehold tenure dotted throughout the country. African elites who setded in the area and Europeans who administered them held distinct notions about the value and proper use of purchase area farms. For the African landholders, the small farms expressed their elite status in society. The state expected that educated, elite Africans should maintain modern, efficient farms. However, African landholders remained extensive farmers. They increased production by extending their fields, rather than by adopting labor-saving techniques. When the state confronted Marirangwe purchase area farmers about their “poor farming” techniques, the farmers presented a brash defense of their family values which they connected to their farming methods. This family-centered defense of their farms forced the state to concede certain development patterns to the farmers, foremost being the permanence of family farms, thereby enabling extensive farming.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article analyse l'ambiguïté historique des “aires d'achat” dans le Zimbabwe colonial. Établies par le Land Apportionment Act (loi de répartition des terres) de 1931 stipulant la séparation des terres dans la colonie selon des critères de ségrégation raciale, les aires d'achat étaient des aires discrètes de baux de propriété libre dont le pays était parsemé. Les élites africaines qui s'établirent dans cette région et les européens qui les administrèrent possédaient des notions bien distinctes sur la valeur et l'usage approprié des fermes soumises au régime des aires d'achat. Pour les fermiers africains, ces petites fermes étaient l'expression de leur statut d'élite dans la société. L'état exigeait des africains instruits appartenant à l'élite qu'ils maintiennent des fermes modernes et efficaces. Cependant, ces fermiers africains restèrent des agriculteurs extensifs. Ils augmentèrent leur production en étendant la surface de leurs champs plutôt qu'en adoptant des techniques d'économie de travail. Quand l'état demanda des comptes aux agriculteurs des aires d'achat de Marirangwe sur leurs “mauvaises méthodes agricoles,” ces agriculteurs présentèrent une défense fougueuse de leurs valeurs familiales liées à leurs méthodes d'agriculture. Cette défense des fermes basée sur la famille forcera l'état à faire des concessions aux fermiers sur certains modèles de développement, garantissant en particulier la permanence des fermes familiales et permettant ainsi l'agriculture extensive.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , December 2000 , pp. 59 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2000

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