External publications

Is privatization of resettlement land viable in Zimbabwe? Land tenure policy considerations

published on agrariansouth.org, 21.10.2024

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On the 8^th of October 2024 the Zimbabwean state announced plans to issue private title on land held by Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) land beneficiaries. The announcement was met with excitement by certain analysts, civil society and political actors from across the political divide. This intervention is aimed at examining policy implications and to offer policy alternatives on the proposed ‘private title’. Many analysts see the issuance of private title as way to unlock the value of land. This position is largely derived from Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian economist, who argued that while assets such as land can be leveraged on the market, they often lack formal legal documentation rendering them “dead capital”.  Therefore, the Zimbabwean state position is based on the perception that the issuance of  private title to land  will render it  ‘living capital.In this intervention as, has  been argued in several other countries in the global South, we argue that such a position lacks on many fronts as it negates the history and context of Zimbabwe in relation to the land question. We posit that while freehold tenure thrives in several countries in the global North, it’s not a solution for several countries in the global south especially African countries.   Private tenure which is embedded in property rights is a western concept with strong ties to the Roman-Dutch law and John Locke’s Two Treatise of Government in 1689. Private property rights   aka Freehold was weaponized to expropriate land from native Africans during colonialism.  Through the freehold mechanism, white minority economic and political interests were entrenched, which fostered and entrenched, inequalities and unequal development within African colonial states.Therefore, ongoing attempts to privatize land go against genuine calls for decolonizing land tenure systems that are increasingly gaining momentum among progressive political and intellectual circles. The next section provides a background of Zimbabwe’s land reforms and changing tenure systems.