Explain with vivid examples the impact of Land Apportionment Act in Southern Rhodesia
Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority whites who ruled Southern Rhodesia from 1890 to 1979. The government's land distribution is perhaps the most crucial and most bitterly contested political issue surrounding Zimbabwe. It can be divided into two periods from 1979 to 2000, where a principle of willing buyer willing seller was applied with economic help from Great Britain and secondly, beginning in 2000 the fast track land reform program. Mugabe's targets were intended to alter the ethnic balance of land ownership.
The following are the land policies which were practiced in Southern Rhodesia.
Apportionment Act, the colonial government apportionment Act that put into place in (1930), so as to create African tribal lands. The colonial government introduced this Act for two reasons of the first reason is to limit random mobility of local Africans in communal areas as Africans were allowed to move in mines, commercials farms and to towns for the purpose of getting money to tax. The second reason was to end traditional tenure, from this policy the land was divided along the lines, the land of whites productions that is special for commercial purposes (farming) and the line of peasant production that was special for communal substance (peasant agriculture). Although the policy provided special areas for peasants Africans proved failure as their used poor technology in farming and they located to the dry areas which did not support food production.
The act created geographical segregation of the population as Africans were segregated by whites or land owners. After the coming of whites in Zimbabwe they believed there is minerals in Zimbabwe’s land but after their research their found nothing, so they decided to find solutions in establishing plantation agriculture through facing Africans out of their fertile land to infertile land. Gwayi and Shangani were created for Africans reserves.
The land Husbandry Act of (1951), was introduced where first Act it did not provide practical solutions to the problems that were caused by the previous Land Apportionment Act (1930). These problems were like overgrazing due to overstocking, over population, drying of springs and land exhausted. It was through this Act the government envisioned the following objectives; to provide good husbandry farming for Africans also to encourage Africans to protect natural resources in their community as well as to provide the security of tenure to the effective peasant farmers. Finally to limit the numbers of animal stock in reserves within their carrying capacities.
In 1969 Land Tenure Act was then introduced by Smith, and intended to ensure a permanent division of land. The guerrilla war that followed in the 1970’s Africans nationalists against whites Rhodesians was fought for liberation against white rule, yet winning back land provided much of the rhetoric and motivation for it . The issue of land in Zimbabwe came to the forefront during the Lancaster House conference in London in 1979, where British and Zimbabwean representatives met to resolve the transfer of power and other pre independence issues. The land issue was one of the most difficult to resolve. The whites backed by the British government insisted that land rights be entrenched in a bill of rights in the new constitution. After looking the different Acts of land, the following are effects of land policies in Southern Rhodesia.
The lack of individual title to land in areas designated as respecting tribal occupation in trust lands only ended up creating a divide amongst people and contentious issues arose about the subject of ownership of land. Traditional Africans understood community ownership of the land as occupied by tribes and chieftainships as being paramount. Development of the land in tribal areas by government spending on soil improvement, grading, irrigation, drainage and road building using a system of individual taxation was deemed unacceptable. African families who lived under communal or chieftainship systems of occupation were not in the tax system and were unable to get access to financing, equipment and techniques necessary to farm plots large enough as designated for sale in Native Purchase areas.
Commercial farming families were European by descent, understood title deeds to land and bought and developed large areas of land into commercial farming businesses along western ideas and mostly owned land in the whites, only central plateau regions of Zimbabwe. These farmers took the only Europeans areas to farm commercially on the more fertile upland regions where the rainfall was higher. These areas were optimal for large scale, mechanized farming with high export potential. Africans had been deported to the low rainfall areas.
Land policy created large number of African land less, for example the apportionment act of (1930), and imposed by colonialist particularly British pushed Africans out of their land. This apportionment act of (1930) restricted communal ownership of land and African were pushed to infertile land this made most of Africans flow in towns providing their labor to mining and commercial farms. There for this act created economic slump in Zimbabwe after independence even today. As Zimbabwe leaders argues that “Land is economy and economy is land” but after taking back the land to Africans, the situation of economy become bad because Europeans fixed the price of Zimbabwean cash crops and minerals. So this situation leads to poor living standards and the people of Zimbabwe today have land but lacks development.
Land reform as the British land policies excluded the majority Africans to own land, but after independence president Mugabe distributed land to rural peasants, 18.3% were unemployed or in low paid jobs in regional towns. The growth points and mines 16.5% were civil servants and 6.7% were of the Zimbabwean working class. Despite the claims by critics of the land reform only benefiting government bureaucrats, only 4.8% of the land went to business people and 3.7% went to security services. About 5% went to absentee farmers well connected to ZANU-PF.
Social inequality in Zimbabwe, the land policy has also seen much social in equality over years it is now include ethnic patriarchal overtone and highlight gender issues. For example more than half of Zimbabwean population consist of women but in term of hereditary right where by land is passed from man to man. After the land reform women were much segregated to own land as it was hereditary in nature. It is only man who owned land since most women on settlement scheme were married hence they have no primary right to land except those mediate through marriage.
Deforestation and soil erosion, during colonial period between 1890 and 1930, European farmers established a commercial farms and mines in the Mazoe district. Miners received preferential treatment in timber and energy requirement from the government because they contributed the bulk of state revenue. This policy was a source of protracted conflict between miners and farmers over forest exploitation. However the state also sought to orient settler farmers towards the production of export crops like maize, tobacco and cotton. The two major pillars of colonial economy which were agriculture and mining directly caused fundamental transformation in soil erosion that faced the indigenous people.
Land alienation after breaking with Shaka, the zulu king 1821 Mzilikazi established the Ndebele state around Bulawayo in 1837 but his subjugation and incorporation of local people did not extend to Zezuru and Korekore people further north East. The British imperial in the region of these Matebele land accelerated in the middle of 1880’s. And were motivated by speculation of a second rand. Cecil Rhodes act obtain the controversial in 1888 from Lobengula, Mzilikazi’s successor. The concession formed the basis of 1889 law charter granted to Rhode’s British South Africa Company (BSAC), which empowered the term to occupy the region between Zambezi and Limpopo river. The European pioneer settler column occupied the area in 1890 and Matebele land was provisionally brought under control through war in (1896-1897), the first Chimurenga war. The country wide resistance against occupation of their fertile land. The resistance led the Chimurenga in Mashona land until her capture and hanging by British South Africa Company (BSAC), authority in 1898 after which settler regarded land, mineral, cattle and other resources as war body.
After looking the negative impact of Land Apportionment Act in Zimbabwe, lets us now to look the positive impacts of those Acts which explaining on the following paragraphs.
Another land issue that surfaced in the years between the Land Apportionment Act and the Land Tenure Act was migrant labor. The majority of young African men left the African areas in search of work in the European areas. This began a breakdown in the tribal African tradition for it was the young men who worked the land and took over from the elders when the time was right. This made African young men who drops in towns and provide their labors in European plantation they set out their tribal difference so as to fight for their rights or against exploitation. Also, women as well as children starts to engage in productive activities such as working in plantations.
On the up side, some of the men did return with either enough money to buy land or with enough exposure to advanced agricultural technology to influence the tribal trust lands positively. The labor force produced by migrant laborers became a vital part of Zimbabwe’s economy, the economy was advanced, and these men became the backbone of the labor force. Plantations so as to earn their life and European plantations provided exposure to Zimbabwe migrant labors as they return with enough money they were able to purchase new land of their own as well as they were exposed to new technological farming mechanics that helped them to participate effectively in agricultural activity.
Introduction of commercial farming, much of the land that has been taken through the land reform process was the source of Zimbabwe’s main export crops, coffee, flowers, and tobacco. To raise these crops for international markets requires a high level of sophisticated technical expertise. Thus, productive commercial farms have been transformed into multiple parcels of farmland only adequate for subsistence farming. The land acquired through land reform process was provided to settlers who had confiscated agricultural mechanism that enabled them to produce more and qualitative commercial crops raised international market of Zimbabwe.
The Land Act led to the land reform that provided lesson to the people of Zimbabwe that land is not development it goes together with proper planning and sound policies. After the reform and the people of Zimbabwe to redistributed land but the situation remained the same as before the reform together with the majority of people lived in poverty. This provided the lesson that proper planning and sound policies are required in order to achieve development. One cannot create an economy that relies on the output of farmers, and then seizes the farmers land and expects the economy to flourish. Zimbabweans have been led to believe that land is a goal, once you have it everything else will be solved. The current situation in Zimbabwe is a perfect example of how the acquisition of land does not solve all problems.
These acts awakened Africans feelings against the whites exploitations in southern Rhodesia especially in 1969 Land Tenure Act was that was introduced by Smith, intended to provide a permanent division of land. Hence due to that tendencies and other likely, led the guerrilla war that followed in the 1970’s, Africans nationalists against white Rhodesians which was fought for liberation against white rule, yet winning back land provided much of the rhetoric and motivation for it.
Generally, during colonialism the European settlers took land from the Africans. All these effect during colonialism predetermine factor of the existing situation of southern Rhodesia or Zimbabwe whereby there economic sanction and classes between the whites and Africans. The fight for liberation in Zimbabwe was supported by the notion that land was to be reclaimed by the Africans and for the Africans. As the ZANU – PF government consolidated power the land issue became more and more important due to that, good governance under the leadership of Mugabe led the effective foreign policy could have ensured a peaceful and cooperative land redistribution process for Zimbabwe. Mugabe still does not seem to realize that, effective foreign policy is essential to ensuring the frontrunner to effective cooperation and support.
REFERENCES
Buckle, C. African Tears: The Zimbabwean Land Invasion. South Africa: Jonathan Ball Publishers. (2001).
Herbst, J.The Dilemmas of Land Policy in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe in Transition. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell International, 1992, p.134.
Robert, A.D. The Cambridge History of Africa 1905 to 1940. London: Cambridge University Press.(2008).
Smith, P. Zimbabwe In the Badlands”. (Africa Confidential vol. 39 no.19). London: Africa Confidential. (1998).
History of Zimbabwe” (accessed from http://www.zimembassy.se/history.htm on 24 July 2005), p. 6. On Friday at 17:23, p.m.
Post a Comment