Zimbabwe’s medium-scale farms: challenges and opportunities in A2 land reform areas
Source: Zimbabwe’s medium-scale farms: challenges and opportunities in A2 land reform areas | zimbabweland Zimbabwe’s new agrarian structure arose out of a political deal during the land reform of 2000 when land was allocated to both smallholders (A1 areas) and medium-scale farms (A2). A2 farms were created in order to accommodate elites’ interest in gaining […]
Zimbabwe’s new agrarian structure arose out of a political deal during the land reform of 2000 when land was allocated to both smallholders (A1 areas) and medium-scale farms (A2). A2 farms were created in order to accommodate elites’ interest in gaining access to land. In the end, some 23,000 farms were initially allocated as A2 farms across three million hectares. This happened following the land invasions, with land not invaded subdivided for A2 farming areas; or in some cases smallholders were shifted to accommodate influential farmers on larger plots. In addition, some of the high value sugar estates were also allocated as A2 farms.
The idea for A2 farms – following the earlier plan from 1998 discussed at the ill-fated land conference convened by the government, the commercial farmers and international donors – was to create a new ‘commercial’ sector but on down-scaled farms to increase levels of utilisation. Underutilisation of farm land had long been a problem in white commercial farming areas, and surveys in the late 1990s highlighted large amounts of land available, potentially for a new round of resettlement.
A2 farms were supposed to be allocated according to technical criteria, with applicants required to complete a form showing a business plan as well as their financial and expertise credentials. Some were indeed allocated along these lines, but there were also many that were part of political deal making, as farms were allocated to those in the ruling party, the military, the intelligence service and the judiciary. Although a minority, these allocations proved significant in the subsequent story of A2 farms.
Overall, since the early 2000s when A2 farms were allocated, the story has not been a positive one in terms of production and investment, although the pattern is highly variable as the blogs in this short series show. The blogs that follow offer some preliminary insights into our survey of 150 A2 farms across our three sites in Mvurwi, Mazowe district, Masvingo/Gutu districts and Matobo district, part of our study, 25 years after Zimbabwe’s land reform. Our sample followed that used in earlier rounds of work. This involved random sampling across a district. This made the tracking down of farm owners or managers very challenging given the state of road network and long distances involved. With many A2 farmers being based in town, meetings often took place in Harare, Bulawayo or Masvingo as well as on the farms and surrounding small towns such as Gutu Mupandawana, Mvurwi and Maphisa. This blog series offers preliminary insights based on our interviews, with the more quantitative survey data to follow.
The ups and downs of A2 farms over 25 years
Those who arrived on the A2 farms through whatever acquisition route (formal or informal) mostly had little available capital and it was difficult to get going on the farm. The period of hyperinflation kicked in during the mid-2000s, accelerating until 2008-09 when the economy was dollarized. These were not times to establish a new business, especially one as challenging as farming. Newly allocated farms did not have the infrastructure appropriate to the subdivisions. Much of the removable infrastructure had been dismantled and taken away by previous owners, while fixed infrastructure – roads, houses, barns, ponds, some irrigation fixtures and so on – was geared to a single, large farm not multiple, medium-sized ones. Many farmers had to start from scratch, often while keeping their jobs in government or the private sector in the meantime. With a few exceptions where external finance in foreign exchange could be mobilised, the results were not promising. Unlike their A1 smallholder neighbours, who could get going on small areas of land with their own resources, A2 farmers really struggled. Many farms were simply held onto with a few workers/relatives in the hope that fortunes would change.
As our earlier work showed, the period of the Government of National Unity from 2009 was a period when some A2 farmers began to get established properly. This period saw a stabilisation of the economy and inflation was eliminated through abandoning the local currency. This provided the moment for some investment in the farms and some at least temporarily prospered, with new investments arriving and farms finally getting going. This was not to last as in the last decade economic volatility and political uncertainty have prevailed once more. Although without the hyperinflation of the mid-late 2000s, businesses have struggled, again with important exceptions where independent financing could be secured.
This persistent lack of finance for farming has hampered the growth of A2 farms. Banks have refused to lend as no collateral could be offered through the land. The delays in agreeing a bankable lease arrangement really hampered development and farmers had to resort to raising money in other ways. For those with private assets elsewhere (such as expensive houses in town) or jobs in well-paid sectors (such as NGOs, donors or the UN), private finance could be mobilised for farm investments. For others patronage connections supported farming on the A2 farms, especially following the promotion of the Command Agriculture programme after 2016. Here political connections paid off and you could jump the queue and get reasonable financing on a loan basis (although in many cases these were not paid off).
The other route by which farmers have raised funds is through joint ventures and contract farming. Contract farming has been important for commercial seed production in some areas, and also tobacco in the high potential zones. Contracting companies provide up-front financing and guaranteed markets for delivery of a high-quality product. In the tobacco sector, the Chinese state-owned company, Tian Ze, has been especially important in the A2 sector. Joint ventures have really taken off since 2018, following the recognition of such arrangements under the post-coup ‘new dispensation’ of President Mnangagwa. While informal arrangements with Chinese agricultural companies or white former commercial farmers existed before, they were largely under-the-radar. As we discuss for our Mvurwi site, the number of joint ventures have recently increased significantly, especially with former white farmers and their children, with substantial investments being made in farms in exchange for land.
As in all other areas, there has been a massive increase in land market activity in recent times, as leases, rentals, purchases and sales are negotiated. These are all notionally illegal, and are not recorded in any land administration system, but they nevertheless are vitally important for encouraging investment into farming areas as well as increasing production and avoiding problems of underutilisation. This has been especially important in our Mvurwi study area where land potential is high and in Matobo where lease grazing is essential for managing a variable, fragmented landscape.
Tracking who owns and manages which land parcel is incredibly difficult as we have found out during our research. The idea that a cadastral survey will neatly be able to capture all this in order to allocate title deeds is simply wishful thinking. However, with the recent arrival of the option for buying titles through the government’s ‘one-stop shop’ overseen by Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s land tenure implementation committee, some A2 farmers have opted to buy titles in the hope of securing land, including in some cases the mineral assets within their land boundaries. There have been very few such cases within our sample as many have been put off by both the expense and the seemingly complex bureaucratic process.
Investing on the farms
Despite all these challenges, investments overall in A2 farms have been substantial, even if very uneven. Visiting A2 farms may mean arriving at one farm with a fancy house, workers cottages, a security fence, indoor running water, modern flush toilets, (more recently) Starlink, many tractors and other farm machinery in the yard and extensive ploughed fields with irrigation. Meanwhile the immediately next-door farm is effectively abandoned, with a few workers in small shacks (if any) keeping some animals and farming very small plots essentially for subsistence. Exploring the trajectories of investment and accumulation and the reasons for the extreme divergences has been an important focus for our research.
As we discuss in the subsequent blogs in this series, investments in homes have been significant in some sites, with farms now having solar electricity, boreholes and pumps providing for a ‘modern’ home. In some areas, investments in irrigation have been important, including in down-scaled centre pivots as well as piped, drip and sprinkler irrigation. Some farmers have invested in fencing, although given the size of plots this has usually been focused on particular areas. Nearly all farms have invested in livestock, with the drier areas of Matobo seeing significant inflows of cattle into the area.
Labour availability is also key for successful commercial production, and many A2 farmers have struggled to secure and sustain a labour force. In the tobacco growing areas of Mvurwi, there were old compounds still on the farms with many resident former farm workers. They have been employed by A2 farmers as a captive workforce, but many former farmworkers complain that the conditions are poor and many have sought other options or have successfully developed their own farm plots. In many cases, the farm owners are not resident on the farm and may only visit at weekends. As ‘cell phone farmers’ they must manage their farm from town and whilst at work, requiring highly motivated and trust-worthy farm managers and workers. This has not always been the case, and many A2 farmers complain about the difficulties in labour management and coordination. With mining now booming in these sites, they have had to contend with high worker turnover as well.
How to manage generational transitions?
Over time, just as in the A1 areas, generational transitions have presented challenges for farm continuity. A2 farmers tended to be older than their A1 counterparts when land was allocated, with many already in their 50s if not 60s. Twenty-five years on, a number have died or are unable to manage the farm. Farms have transferred to widows, but inheritance disputes have been common, as male relatives try to claim the land over women who have inherited it. Legal wrangles and long-term disputes have ensued, undermining peace and stability on the farm. A2 farms have been dominated by men, with few women being farm owners and manager, although this is changing. Being often remote with poor road connections, many women are not keen on the farms, preferring to stay in town. Managing a home in two often quite distant places is not easy, which is why many A2 farm dwellings remain neglected. If expected to manage two homes and a large farm, the labour commitments are significant. When inheriting these farms, some have risen to the challenge, employing effective managers to take the lead, while others have been persuading their children to take charge.
Encouraging the younger generation to take over has been an important preoccupation for many, as the sons and daughters of A2 farmers are very often highly educated, coming from richer and well-connected families, many of whom are resident abroad. Many adult children resist the idea of taking on the farm in a remote area, with all the attendant problems and engage from afar through investing in ‘projects’ of various sorts as well as supporting their parents. The attempts to create modern comfortable homes with reliable solar electricity, pumped borehole water and Wi-Fi is all part of trying to manage this generational transition, although not always successfully.
The future of A2 farms?
When we discussed the question ‘where is home?’ with A2 farmers, we got a much more variable response than in the A1 areas where for the most part they had firmly settled in their new homes. A2 farmers very often see the farm as ‘work’, where they go to at the weekend and manage labour from a distance, rather than home, which is usually in town, although still with connections to ‘the village’ in the communal areas.
There is therefore a much more ambiguous and tenuous relationship to the land compared to A1 areas, raising questions about whether the A2 farms will become the basis for renewed commercial farming in Zimbabwe. The following blogs in this series discuss in turn A2 farming in our different sites, in turn Matobo, Gutu/Masvingo and Mvurwi, followed by a blog focusing in on joint ventures.
As the most challenging aspect of the land reform, learning about what is happening on A2 farms is essential if future policies are to be effectively directed. As we continue to analyse the data from our sample of A2 farms, we hope contribute to this debate.
