Recent changes in markets and market relationships and lessons for the design of effective support programmes - Institutional Constraints to Small Farmer Development in Southern Africa - page 264

There is no written policy pertaining to what the extension officer say to farmers, but his
sentiments were based on the fact that Mwenezi District of Zimbabwe has always relied on
food hand outs from the donor community. He also emphasised that although beneficiaries
of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Mwenezi District seem to produce
more food than their communal counter parts, there is no clear evidence of surplus to
warrant any formal marketing of basic cereals like maize, sorghum and finger millet.
Productivity on per hectare basis is estimated to be high for resettled farmers (A1) than
communal farmers (CA) as shown in Table 11.2 at provincial level.

A closer look at the provincial statistics (Table 11.2) indicate a fairly higher average yield
from Fast Track Land Reform beneficiaries under the small scale A1 schemes (1.79 t/ha)
as compared to 0.50 t/ha from the communal areas (CA). However, this has not translated
into a noticeable participation of farmers on the formal market given that both district and
provincial averages (0.55 t/ha and 0.68 t/ha respectively) are below 1999 national average
of 1,516 kg. This is a clear indication of the negative productivity effect of the Fast Track
Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe.

Table 11.2. Maize production in the districts of Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe (tonnes/ha) (GOZ, 2009).

LSCF 1 SSCA 2 A2 3 A1 4 OR 5 CA 6

District District average

Bikita 0 0.95 0 0 0.71 0.57 0.60

Chiredzi 1.0 0.73 1.46 0.74 0.50 0.45 0.64

Chivi 0 0.76 0 0 0.93 0.61 0.60

Gutu 3.78 1.32 2.62 1.06 1.32 0.70 0.70

Masvingo 2.01 0.82 1.30 0.94 0.74 0.61 0.82

Mwenezi 0 0 0 0.51 0.71 0.60 0.55

Zaka 0 0 0 2.13 2.00 0.60 0.65

Average 1.94 1.01 1.47 0.79 0.87 0.50 0.68

1 LSCF refers to large scale commercial farms which are not part of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme.
2 SSCA refers to Small Scale Commercial Areas which are not part of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme.
3 A2 Farmers are medium-large scale commercial farmers who benefited in Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform
Programme between 2000 and 2009.
4 A1 Farmers are small scale farmers who benefited in Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform Programme between 2000
and 2009.
5 OR-refers to Old Resettlement areas that were formed from 1980 -1998 under the government's Land Reform and
Redistribution Programme.
6 CA refers to Communal Areas that have never been reformed by any of Zimbabwean government's land reform
programmes.