Zimbabwe's Land Reform: The Myths and Reality of Myths and Realities

The post-2000 Fast Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe has been critically portrayed both in the (western) media and in academic circles. At the end of 2010, Prof. Ian Scoones (IDS Sussex, UK) and some of his Zimbabwean colleagues published Zimbabwe’s Land Reform: Myths and Realities, a book claiming that much of this criticism does not reflect the reality on the ground. The book itself has, however, also received a certain amount of criticism. Discussions on land reform in Zimbabwe are still highly political and loaded with emotion, and empirical evidence is often being ignored. The book and the discussion it has generated in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa will be discussed in this seminar. Marleen Dekker (ASC) will present the myths and realities as they are covered in Scoones’s book. Prosper Matondi, (Ruzivo Trust), Manase Chiweshe (Rhodes University, Ruzivo Trust) and Norman Moyo (Ruzivo Trust) will share their own research experiences with us and reflect on these myths and realities by referring to the responses the book has received.