Zimbabweland round-up: top posts so far this year

Usually around the middle of the year, Zimbabweland offers a recap of the year so far. I am a bit late this year, but I thought it might be useful for those who want to catch up. Below is the list …

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Pastoralists gather in Mongolia for the UN Desertification conference

. Today, COP17 of the UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) kicks off in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Top of the agenda is how to manage rangelands that support millions of pastoralists worldwi…

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Savory tales: controversies from the Zimbabwean bush

Allan Savory’s memoir has recently been published – UnSavory: African Stories of Wildlife, War, and the Birth of Holistic Management. It’s a fascinating read. Full of Rhodesian derring-do but some …

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Zimbabweans flee xenophobic violence in South Africa. What next?

The recent xenophobic violence in South Africa has caused a mass exodus of migrants from the country, including to Zimbabwe. The protests organised by March and March and Operation Dudula, two outf…

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Reflections by land reform farmers in Zimbabwe: a series of short video interviews

Five of the participants of the exchange visit tour, which was covered in the film in the last blog, offered their reflections on land reform after 25 years, highlighting in particular the differen…

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Real markets, complex value chains and pastoral livelihoods

The theme for the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists this month is ‘Sustainable Livestock Consumption and Value Chains’. This links to the work that the PASTRES programme carried …

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Learning lessons about Zimbabwe’s land reform: a short film on the farmer exchange visits

In May 2025, we invited participants from our research to visit each others’ sites. Four people – two men and two women – from each our four sites – Mvurwi, Matobo, Gutu and…

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China, Brazil and African agriculture: what has changed?

A decade ago, a group of us published a Special Issue of the journal World Development discussing the results of collaborative research undertaken through the ESRC-funded ‘China and Brazil in…

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The politics of land use change over 25 years in Zimbabwe

The gaze from space is very seductive. Satellite image analysis seems to dominate land use systems science these days and certainly the technologies available have far outstripped the careful analy…

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“We can’t talk of the environment without taking about the local leadership” Why politics matter when thinking about land use change in Zimbabwe

Participatory discussions on land use and environmental change were undertaken in our Masvingo sites in early May 2026. These were conducted in three A1 farms, namely Wondedzo Wares, Wondedzo Exten…

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Environmental change in a fragile ecosystem: challenges after land reform in Zimbabwe

Continuing our investigation of environmental change, a further participatory discussion on land use and environmental change was undertaken with a group of 15 farmers from Clare and Lonely farms i…

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‘It is our duty to look after the environment, while it also looks after us’ Reflections on environmental change from Zimbabwe

As with Hariana A1 land reform area, discussed in the last blog, we conducted participatory workshops on environmental changes in Ruia farms, also in Mvurwi area. In defining the ‘environment’, par…

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Land use change in Hariana A1 resettlement area, Mvurwi, northern Zimbabwe

As discussed in the previous blog, a participatory discussion was conducted in Hariana in March 2026. The group consisted of  15 participants, consisting of both men and women of different ages. Th…

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Land use and environmental change following land reform in Zimbabwe: a new blog series

Our study of Zimbabwe’s land reform after 25 years has been looking at land use and environmental change and the intersection with economic, social and political processes. Over the last year we ha…

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Women in leadership roles in land reform areas in Zimbabwe

Gender roles are not only changing within the household but within the wider community and in leadership positions in the ruling party, ZANU-PF. Many women in our sample across sites hold leadershi…

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Gendered patterns of leisure in land reform farms in Zimbabwe

How do people use their free time beyond the requirements of production and social reproduction on the farm? How does this contribute to well-being, social cohesion and the ability to live happily …

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The labour of care in land reform areas in Zimbabwe

Care for children, the sick, infirm and dying is at the core of social reproductive labour, very often carried out by women. In our interviews in A1 land reform areas, women frequently emphasised t…

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Cultural changes around marriage, divorce and inheritance in Zimbabwe’s land reform farms

Through discussions with women across our land reform sites, the changing cultures of marriage, divorce, separation and the role of independent, single women were a subject of much commentary. With…

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Changing gender roles on Zimbabwe’s land reform farms

Gender roles are changing. Women have greater independence and can manage their own land and finances. This has implications for how farms are run, who can accumulate and the relationship between p…

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How gaining access to land opened up opportunities for women following land reform in Zimbabwe

Land reform enabled some women to claim land. Gaining access to land, our informants explained, offered independence and autonomy. In our discussions across the sites, the connection between land a…

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Social reproduction and land reform: introducing a blog series

While much analysis of land reform has focused narrowly on production (crops, livestock, and markets), this perspective risks overlooking the broader range of activities and relationships that sust…

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Charms, potions and spirits involved in the management of livestock in Zimbabwe

During my long-term fieldwork in Matobo district there was constant discussion of supernatural beliefs concerning livestock. I have always been dismissive of these beliefs, thinking that they were …

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ICARRD+20 kicks off this week: can the challenge of redistributive land reform be addressed?

The International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD +20) starts this week in Cartagena in Colombia, hosted by the Colombian government and technically supported by the UN …

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Livestock, climate change and land reform in southern Africa

How do livestock producers respond to climate change in land reform areas in southern Africa? A recent report from the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of t…

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Rethinking with uncertainty: two new articles

Two open access articles have just come out that take the theme of ‘uncertainty’ and explore how it encourages some fundamental rethinking. First, ‘development’ as conventio…

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Pastoralists as inspiration in an age of uncertainty

You only have to look at the news each day to realise that we are living in an age of uncertainty. Whether it’s imposing tariffs, interfering in sovereign countries or threatening to annex ar…

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It’s time to think like pastoralists

Pastoralists are often misunderstood. There is a lot to learn from them and their low impact livestock production argues Prof Ian Scoones in this UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralist…

geofftansey.wordpress.com

Controversial land reform in Zimbabwe ‘helping small farmers over climate change’

Exclusive: 25 years after the programme – widely seen as being characterised by violence and economic chaos – was introduced, new research finds that it has helped smallholder farmers become more resilient to the climate crisis

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