THE HARVEST OF INDEPENDENCE
COMMODITY BOOM AND
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIFFERENTIATION
AMONG PEASANTS IN ZIMBABWE
Mette Masst
Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
and
Department of Geography and International Development Studies, Roskilde University
Dissertation for the Ph.D. degree in International Development Studies
at Roskilde University, 1996
1
CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS...... I
LIST OF MAPS AND FIGURES ...... X
LIST OF TABLES...... XI
MAP OF ZIMBABWE ...... XIV
PREFACE ...... XV
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...... 1
1.1. SETTING THE PROBLEM...... 1
1.2. DATA AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS...... 1
1.2.1. Required and available data......
1.2.2. Sources of primary data...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The village survey...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The case households and their life histories...... 10
1.2.3. Households as units of analysis...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.2.4. Research ethics and cross disciplinarity...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.3. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Part One: LANDSCAPE
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK...... 18
2.1. CONCEPTUALISING AFRICAN PEASANTRIES...... 18
2.2. PERSPECTIVES FROM THE LITERATURE ON SOUTHERN AFRICAN PEASANTRIES 23
2.2.1. Labour migration and underdevelopment...... 23
The "linear proletarianisation" thesis...... 23
The influence of the dependency paradigm...... 27
2.2.2. Approaches transcending the "linear proletarianisation thesis"...... 29
2.2.3. Post-independence studies documenting peasant differentiation...... 31
2.3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIFFERENTIATION AMONG AFRICAN PEASANTRIES...33
2.3.1. Peasant differentiation and development determinism...... 33
2.3.2. Peasant differentiation and labour migration - the impact of straddling...... 35
Life cycles and migration patterns...... 38
Straddling, investment and accumulation...... 40
Sources of cash for recurrent production costs and living expenses...... 42
Means of mobilising money income...... 45
Conclusions...... 46
2.3.3. Differentiation and «accumulation from below»...... 48
Exploitation disguised through traditional, co-operative practices...... 48
Exploitation by state and state-connected agents...... 51
2.4. STRUCTURE AND AGENCY IN PEASANT STUDIES...... 53
2.4.1. The structural bias of modern development studies...... 53
2.4.2. The theory of structuration...... 54
2.4.3. Real actors, objectives and strategies...... 56
2.4.4. Actor-oriented approaches to the study of agrarian change and development...62
CHAPTER 3: POST-INDEPENDENCE COMMODITY BOOM IN ZIMBABWEAN PEASANT AGRICULTURE 65
3.1. AGRARIAN STRUCTURE AND INEQUALITY AT INDEPENDENCE...... 65
3.2. AGRARIAN REFORM AND AGRICULTURAL POLICIES IN THE 1980S...... 72
3.2.1. How comprehensive agrarian reform?...... 72
3.2.2. The Resettlement Programme...... 74
3.2.3. Improved access to agricultural support services in the communal areas...... 75
Improved marketing facilities...... 75
Expanded agricultural extension services...... 79
Access to commoditised seasonal inputs...... 81
Agricultural pricing policies...... 85
3.3. COMMODITY BOOM IN PEASANT AGRI-CULTURE...... 89
3.3.1. Massive expansion, subsequent stagnation and recent decline in maize production 89
3.3.2. Cotton boom in the communal areas...... 92
3.4. GREATER EQUITY?...... 94
3.5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE EVIDENCE...... 97
CHAPTER 4: THE FIELD STUDY AREA...... 98
4.1. MOUNT DARWIN DISTRICT AND KANDEYA COMMUNAL AREA...... 98
4.1.1. Land, population and ecology...... 98
4.1.2. The image of Mount Darwin...... 104
4.2. KANDARE VILLAGE...... 106
Part Two: HISTORY
CHAPTER 5: PEASANT PRODUCTION AND AGRARIAN CHANGE DURING THE COLONIAL PERIOD 111
5.1. HISTORY AND SOCIAL ANALYSIS...... 111
5.2. PEASANT PRODUCTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN MOUNT DARWIN DISTRICT 1900-1960 113
5.2.1. Uneven development and interventions by the colonial state...... 113
Chibaro, taxation and the creation of labour reserves...... 114
Development of social and material infrastructure...... 118
5.2.2. Life and production in Kandeya Reserve before World War II...... 119
5.2.3. Kandeya Reserve after 1945: Rapid agrarian change and commoditisation...123
Reduced migration and changing division of labour...... 125
Commoditisation of the peasants' consumption...... 127
5.2.4. Concluding discussion...... 129
The impact of changing macro conditions...... 129
Commodity expansion and social differentiation...... 133
5.3. CONSERVATION AND DEMONSTRATION: STATE INTERVENTIONS IN THE RESERVES 1925-1965 135
5.3.1. Agricultural demonstration and development efforts...... 135
5.3.2. Compulsory conservation and interventions in the labour process in African agriculture 138
The Native Land Husbandry Act...... 139
5.3.3. Centralisation and the Native Land Husbandry Act in Kandeya Reserve 1945-1965 142
5.3.4. Interpreting the Native Land Husbandry Act...... 146
5.3.5. Concluding discussion...... 147
Conservation and differentiation...... 148
Winds of change - except in Southern Rhodesia...... 150
5.4. AGRICULTURAL DECLINE AND DESPERATE CONDITIONS IN THE AFRICAN RESERVES 1960-1980 152
5.4.1. Reforms and experimentations with African peasant agriculture...... 153
5.4.2. Crisis in the reserves: Declining yields, landlessness and labour migration...156
5.4.3. Mount Darwin District towards the end of the colonial period...... 161
Continued differentiation and stagnant levels of production...... 161
Emerging land pressure...... 164
Labour migration and limited commoditisation of consumption...... 166
Partial intensification and commoditisation of the labour process...... 167
Impacts of the armed Liberation War 1976-1980...... 169
5.5. CONCLUSIONS...... 171
ANNEX 5.I. POPULATION DEVELOPMENT AND THE VALIDITY OF POPULATION DATA IN SOUTHERN RHODESIA 175
ANNEX 5.II. EXPANSION OF PEASANT MAIZE PRODUCTION IN MOUNT DARWIN DURING THE 1950s 178
ANNEX 5.III MAIZE SALES BY PEASANTS IN KANDEYA RESERVE IN THE 1970s 183
CHAPTER 6: AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION AND ACCELERATED COMMODITISATION IN POST-INDEPENDENCE KANDEYA COMMUNAL AREA 186
6.1. MOUNT DARWIN AND KANDEYA AT THE EVE OF INDEPENDENCE...... 186
6.2. COMMODITY BOOM IN KANDEYA...... 190
6.2.1. Expansion and contraction of maize production...... 190
Maize production in Kandare Village...... 193
6.2.2. Cotton cultivation...... 196
Cotton production in Kandare Village...... 198
6.2.3. Diversification and expanded tobacco cultivation...... 199
6.2.4. Alternative findings from Kandeya: The Report of Farm Management Data for Communal Area Farm Units 1988/89 201
6.2.5. Kandare and Kandeya - How representative?...... 203
6.3. WHAT CAUSED THE EXPANSION OF PEASANT PRODUCTION?...... 206
6.3.1. Observations from Kandeya Communal Area...... 206
Increased number of producers and expansion of the cultivated area...... 206
Agricultural credit and use of commoditised seasonal inputs...... 208
Improved access to marketing facilities...... 210
Expanded agricultural extension services...... 212
6.3.2. Observations from the country as a whole...... 213
6.3.3. Conclusions and future prospects...... 217
6.4. KANDEYA - NO MORE A LABOUR RESERVE?...... 220
6.5. CONCLUSIONS...... 224
ANNEX 6.I. TO ESTABLISH THE MAGNITUDE OF MARKETED MAIZE PRODUCTION IN KANDEYA COMMUNAL AREA ON THE BASIS OF DATA WITH DUBIOUS RELIABILITY 225
CHAPTER 7: COMMODITY PRODUCTION AND EQUITY CONSIDERATIONS 233
7.1. SHARPER DIFFERENTIATION...... 233
7.1.1. Unequal levels of farm production...... 233
7.1.2. Uneven agricultural output: Real inequality or only a reflection of uneven household size? 237
7.1.3. Gross versus net income from crop sales...... 239
7.2. WHY SUCH UNEQUAL LEVELS OF FARM PRODUCTION LEVELS OF FARM PRODUCTION AND CASH CROP INCOME? 242
7.2.1. Demographic differentiation? The impact of household size and stages in household development cycle 242
7.2.2. The impact of unequal access to other means of production...... 246
7.3. CONCLUSIONS...... 252
Part Three PEASANTS AND DIFFERENTIATION
CHAPTER 8: STRATIFICATION AND CLASS FORMATION...... 255
8.1. DEFINING THE TOOLS OF ANALYSIS...... 256
8.1.1. Classes and strata...... 256
8.1.2. Stratification criteria...... 257
8.1.3. Methodological considerations...... 258
Calculating levels of off-farm and farm cash income...... 258
Classifying the individual households...... 260
8.2. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN KANDARE VILLAGE...... 263
8.2.1. The economic strata...... 263
8.2.2. Marginalised rural dwellers: the landless and unemployed generation...... 266
8.2.3. Unequal standards of living, security and life chances...... 269
Perceptions of wealth...... 269
Unequal standards of everyday living...... 270
Unequal life chances...... 273
Social security...... 275
8.3. SOCIAL - OR ECONOMIC STRATIFICATION ONLY?...... 278
Political manifestations...... 278
Social manifestations...... 280
Religious affiliations...... 282
8.4. CONCLUSIONS...... 284
CHAPTER 9: THE INTERFACE BETWEEN WAGE LABOUR AND PEASANT FARMING 285
9 1. A SYNCHRONIC ANALYSIS...... 285
9.1.1. Off-farm and farm income- reinforcing or counterbalancing inequalities?...... 285
9.1.2. Conclusion...... 291
9.2.A DIACHRONIC ANALYSIS...... 292
9.2.1. A uniform strategy...... 292
9.2.2. Straddling, investment and differentiation...... 294
9.2.3. Conclusion...... 296
CHAPTER 10: STRATEGIES, RESOURCES AND DIFFERENTIAL ACCESS TO THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION 298
10.1. PROBLEM AND PERSPECTIVE...... 298
10.2. SOCIAL RESOURCES IN RURAL ZIMBABWE: CATEGORY, STATUS AND POSITION IN KIN-BASED SOCIO-CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS 301
10.2.1. The kraal...... 301
10.2.2. The household...... 303
10.2.3. Networks and ethnic groups...... 304
10.3. PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO LAND...... 307
10.3.1. The system: Communal Land Tenure...... 307
Formal and actual entitlements...... 308
An egalitarian landholding pattern...... 308
10.3.2. Strategies to maintain and enhance entitlements to land...... 310
10.3.3. Women's (lack of) control over land...... 312
10.3.4. "Land grabbing" and concentration of land...... 316
10.3.5. Land pressure and struggles over land...... 318
10.3.6. Socio-economic differentiation and access to farmland...... 324
Renting and borrowing...... 326
(Limited) Pressures from external land-accumulators...... 328
10.3.7. Conclusions...... 329
10.4. RELATIONS, MARKETS AND MOBILISATION OF AGRICULTURAL LABOUR 332
10.4.1. Fluctuating labour demands and declining supply...... 332
10.4.2. Gendered division of labour and unequal labour burdens...... 335
10.4.3. Non-wage forms of mobilising labour...... 337
Expanding the size of the household...... 337
Recruitment of extra-household labour through the use of social resources...340
10.4.4. Labour recruitment through the market: Wage labour in the communal areas344
The labour hirers...... 345
The labour sellers...... 349
10.4.5. Conclusions...... 350
10.5. INPUTS AND IMPLEMENTS...... 352
10.5.1. Cattle and farm equipment...... 352
Cattle ownership...... 352
Ownership of farm implements...... 356
Ways of obtaining access to draught power and implements possessed by others 358
The gender dimension of access to cattle and other assets...... 359
10.5.2. Seasonal inputs...... 361
10.5.3. Conclusions...... 363
10.6. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS...... 365
10.6.1. Farming skills...... 365
10.6.2. Academic education, values and «horizon»...... 367
10.7. CONCLUSIONS...... 370
Part Four CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 11 CONCLUSIONS ...... 374
BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 390
PUBLISHED SOURCES...... 390
ARCHIVAL SOURCES...... 409
TABLE ANNEX ...... 411
LIST OF MAPS AND FIGURES
MAPS
MAP OF ZIMBABWE...... XIV
MAP 3.1. LAND APPORTIONMENT (1968)...... 68
MAP 3.2. NATURAL REGIONS...... 69
MAP 3.3. LOCATION OF MATERIAL INFRASTRUCTURE...... 70.
MAP 3.4. LOCATION OF COTTON PRODUCING AREAS AND CMB FACILITIES...78
MAP 4.1. MOUNT DARWIN DISTRICT...... 99
MAP 4.2. KANDEYA AND OTHER COMMUNAL AREAS ...... 100
MAP 4.3. KANDARE VILLAGE ...... 109
Figures
FIGURE 3.1. LAND APPORTIONMENT IN (SOUTHERN) RHODESIA AND ZIMBABWE 67
FIGURE 3.2. TOTAL PRODUCTION AND SALES OF MAIZEFROM THE COMMUNAL AREAS 1975-1991 90
FIGURE 3.3. COTTON PRODUCTION FROM THE COMMUNAL AREAS 1975-1991.93
FIGURE 7.1. DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL MAIZE PRODUCTION AND TOTAL INCOME FROM CROP SALES IN KANDARE VILLAGE 235
FIGURE 7.2. DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL INCOME FROM CROP SALES IN KANDARE VILLAGE 238
FIGURE 9.1. DISTRIBUTION OF CASH CROP INCOME AND CASH FARM INCOME AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN KANDARE VILLAGE 287
FIGURE 9.2. DISTRIBUTION OF CASH INCOME FROM FARM SOURCES VERSUS INCOME FROM ALL SOURCES (FARM AND NON-FARM) IN KANDARE VILLAGE 288
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 3.1. SALE OF HYBRID MAIZE SEED AND FERTILISER TO SMALLHOLDERS 84
TABLE 3.2. NOMINAL PRODUCER PRICES FOR MAIZE AND COTTON...... 87
TABLE 3.3. ANNUAL GROWTH RATES OF OFFICIAL PRODUCER PRICES (1979-1989) . 88
TABLE 4.1. HOUSEHOLDS AND TOTAL POPULATION IN MOUNT DARWIN DISTRICT, 1969-1992 103
TABLE 5.1. STANDARD RECOMMENDED ALLOCATIONS OF LAND AND STOCK UNDER THE NATIVE LAND HUSBANDRY ACT 140
TABLE 5.2. TOTAL INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POPULATION IN SOUTHERN RHODESIA 176
TABLE 5.3. POPULATION DEVELOPMENT IN MOUNT DARWIN DISTRICT, 1903-1992 177
TABLE 5.4. REGISTERED MAIZE SALES FROM AFRICAN CULTIVATORS, 1937-1965 179
TABLE 5.5. MAIZE SOLD BY AFRICAN CULTIVATORS TO GRAIN MARKETING BOARD 184
TABLE 6.1. REGISTERED MAIZE SALES FROM SMALLHOLDERS...... 191
TABLE 6.2. COTTON SALES TO COTTON MARKETING BOARD...... 197
TABLE 6.4. MAIZE SALES TO GRAIN MARKETING BOARD...... 226
TABLE 6.5. AGRITEX' MAIZE CROP FORECASTS FOR KANDEYA COMMUNAL AREA 228
TABLE 6.6. MAIZE SALES TO GRAIN MARKETING BOARD: SHARE OF TOTAL DELIVERY FROM THE RELEVANT SUB-SECTOR 231
TABLE 6.7. MAIZE SALES TO GRAIN MARKETING BOARD: AVERAGE SALES PER HOUSEHOLD 232
TABLE 7.1. HOUSEHOLD LABOUR AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION.....245
TABLE 7.2. STAGE IN LIFE COURSE AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION...246
TABLE 7.3. ARABLE LANDHOLDING AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION..247
TABLE 7.4. LANDHOLDING, LAND QUALITY AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION 248
TABLE 7.5. POSSESSION OF DROUGHT POWER AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION 249
TABLE 7.6. ACCESS TO FARM EQUIPMENT AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION 249
TABLE 7.7. ACCESS TO COMMODITISED INPUTS AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION 250
TABLE 7.8. CONTACT WITH AGRITEX AND MARKETED FARM PRODUCTION.251
TABLE 8.1. QUALITY OF MAIN HUT BY ECONOMIC STRATUM...... 271
TABLE 8.2. STANDARD OF LIVING BY ECONOMIC STRATUM...... 272
TABLE 8.3. ADULT CHILDREN’S AVERAGE EDUCATION LEVEL BY ECONOMIC STRATUM 274
TABLE 8.4. LEADERSHIP POSITIONS BY ECONOMIC STRATUM...... 279
TABLE 8.5. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION BY ECONOMIC STRATUM...... 283
TABLE 9.1. DISTRIBUTION OF OFF-FARM AND FARM CASH INCOME IN KANDARE VILLAGE 1989-1991 289
TABLE 10.1. AGE OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD AND SIZE OF LANDHOLDING...... 323
TABLE 10.2. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND ARABLE LANDHOLDING...... 324
TABLE 10.3. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND QUALITY OF LAND HOLDING...... 325
TABLE 10.4. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND CULTIVATED AREA...... 326
TABLE 10.5. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND ACCESS TO UNPAID HOUSEHOLD LABOUR 338
TABLE 10.6. SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP AND ACCESS TO UNPAID HOUSEHOLD LABOUR 339
TABLE 10.7. SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP AND EMPLOYMENT OF CASUAL LABOUR 346
TABLE 10.8. SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP AND TYPE OF CASUAL LABOUR HIRED 347
TABLE 10.9. SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP AND EMPLOYMENT OF PERMANENT LABOURERS 348
TABLE 10.10. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND ENGAGEMENT IN CASUAL, AGRICULTURAL WAGE EMPLOYMENT LOCALLY 350
TABLE 10.11. CATTLE OWNERSHIP IN KANDARE VILLAGE...... 355
TABLE 10.12. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND ACCESS TO DRAUGHT POWER.....356
TABLE 10.13. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND OWNERSHIP OF FARM IMPLEMENTS 357
TABLE 10.14. GENDER OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD AND CATTLE OWNERSHIP.....360
TABLE 10.15. GENDER OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD AND OWNERSHIP OF FARM EQUIPMENT 361
TABLE 10.16. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND ACCESS TO COMMODITISED INPUTS 362
TABLE 10.17. SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP AND CONTACT WITH THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION WORKER 366
TABLE 10.18. ECONOMIC STRATUM AND EDUCATION LEVEL...... 368
MAP OF ZIMBABWE
PREFACE
The plan to make this study was conceived in 1982/83, when I was about to complete my Magister Artium dissertation on peasants and social change in Kenya. Zimbabwe had recently gained independence, and the Mugabe Government was busy attacking the discriminating regulations that had been the backbone of the racially segregated Rhodesian society. The agricultural production of the peasants showed a phenomenal increase, and the former African reserves appeared to be undergoing a transformation from impoverished labour reserves to commodity producing localities with greater degree of socio-economic differentiation. The transformation seemed to have many similarities with changes that took place in Kenya in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The transformation from a settler colony to an independent African state had in Kenya, among other things, resulted in much sharper differentiation among the peasants. My research background from Kenya would therefore provide the basis for fruitful comparisons in a study of a similar transition in Zimbabwe.
The work on the dissertation on Kenya had furthermore taught me how essential it is to have intimate, broad and multidimensional knowledge about the society one studies. I felt that literature studies combined with a localised field work of limited duration would never give me sufficient basis. Only by living in Zimbabwe over some time, could I acquire a necessarily broad and deep «sense» of the society. From 1986 to the end of 1989, I was living in Harare, working for the Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD).
The study itself was made possible by a three and a half years’ doctoral research grant from the Norwegian Research Council. I started on the research in 1990 and worked on it until the middle of 1995, with some long and short interruptions connected with other engagements (including giving birth to my son Øyvind). The research funding ran out half a year before that, and after draining the family resources for some months, I eventually had to find a paid job. Over the last year, I have again been working for NORAD, this time in Maputo. These necessities of life have delayed the completion of the dissertation, and certainly tested the patience of my family as well as my own stamina.
Two academic institutions have been of particular value during the research process. The Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo has provided a stimulating multidisciplinary environment and an amicable frame for the daily work. It has also offered excellent working facilities and technical assistance. I thank you, my colleagues at the Centre, collectively for the interest, encouragement and useful advice and comments you over these years have given. The other institution is the Institute for International Development Studies at Roskilde University, where I have been a distance Ph.D.student. I have benefited greatly from participating in a large number of researcher training courses organised by IDS. I have also benefited from researcher training offered by the Institute for Sociology at the University. of Oslo. In Zimbabwe, I have throughout been affiliated as research associate with the Centre for Applied Social Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe. I am grateful for the practical assistance and constructive comments I have been given by the permanent staff and research students there.
I am indebted to many people - in Zimbabwe and in Scandinavia. Above all, I am indebted to Mary Sandasi. Mary acted as my research assistant during three of the four field works, and continued working in Kandare Village during my long absences in Norway. Without her professional and patient asssistance, I would not have been able to obtain all the rich material we collected in Kandare Village. She is also a particularly nice and easygoing person, and staying together with her in Mount Darwin made the field work periods all the more joyful. Among the others I am indebted to, are the people of Kandare Village, who generously spent hours and hours with us and gave us the requested information, even though they sometimes questioned its value. Neriso and Erani housed us whenever we stayed in the village. Officials of the Department of Agricultural and Technical Extension Services (AGRITEX) and other government departments in Mount Darwin shared with me their knowledge and facilitated the field work. Juliana Kadzinga gave me the best possible introduction in the district and the village, and provided me with transport and accomodation.
I also stand in debt to my supervisors in Denmark, Mogens Buch Hansen, Henrik Secher-Marcussen and Peter Gibbon. Over the last two years, the latter two have given me invaluable criticism and advice. Peter Gibbon, in particular, has, through his great knowledge of the area and his exceptionally thorough reading of draft chapters, done far more than can be expected from a supervisor. Jan Hesselberg, Tore Linné Eriksen, Norbert Tengende, Elias Madzudzo, Tawana Kupe, Mungai Lenneyie and Roger Leys have all read and given useful - at times very critical - comments to earlier drafts of selected chapters. Roger has also «polished» the English in most of the chapters. My gratitude to them all. Above all, am indebted to my husband, Helge Rønning. He has patiently read, commented and discussed several drafts of this dissertation, from the first scetches to the final version. Over the last couple of years, he has also had to put up with having a wife whose mind was constantly engaged elsewhere. His great intellectual skills, love and patience have all been of invaluable assistance.
Having acknowledged my indebtedness to many people, I wish to emphasise that none of them should be held responsible for the possible mistakes, views or judgements expressed in this work.