Strategies of Redressing Colonial Land Imbalances in Southern Africa. Zimbabwe's Land Reform Programme

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2020 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 1, Zimbabwe Open University (Social Studies), course: Doctor of Philosophy, language: English, abstract: This study examined strategies of redressing colonial land imbalances in Southern Africa, paying particular attention to lessons from Zimbabwe¿s 'Fast Track Land Reform Programme' (FTLRP). The objectives of this study were to identify critical areas of concern in the Zimbabwe¿s land reform as a strategy for redressing colonial imbalances and to evaluate whether land reform is a panacea for poverty reduction. Furthermore, to assess the level of empowerment on resettled farmers brought by the land reform programme in Zimbabwe and to analyse lessons learnt from the FTLRP. The study was anchored on the self-determination, dependency, poverty alleviation and empowerment theoretical approaches as explained and explored. Data was gathered from eight of Zimbabwe¿s ten provinces and two districts from each of the identified provinces which were purposively chosen. Issues related to redressing colonial land imbalances through the FTLRP were thoroughly examined using predominantly qualitative research approach where key informant interviews, direct observation, documentary analysis and focus group discussions were used as the data generation techniques. Participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods.