Today is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has recently published the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2025, which estimates that the true cost of disasters is nearly $2.3 trillion. This year’s … Continue reading → …
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ZimbabweLand
The politics of land: introducing an important new collection
Land is central to contemporary debates about politics as anyone in Zimbabwe knows well. Land sustains the livelihoods of millions through farming, livestock keeping, hunting and collecting. Such livelihoods are intimately bound up with nature, and the complex and diverse … Continue reading → …
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Towards ICARRD+20: debating land, life and society in Cape Town
Next week several hundred participants from across the world will gather in Cape Town for a global conversation about the politics of land and resource struggles at the Land, Life and Society conference. The event is hosted by the Institute … Continue reading → …
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Debating uncertainty: from a politics of control to a politics of care
I recently discussed my book, Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World, now a year old, with the New Books Network podcast. The host was Morteza Hajizadeh who asked a set of great questions over an extended discussion. We … Continue reading → …
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Why working with – not against – the informal economy is essential: some lessons from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s national statistical agency, ZimStat, recently reported that 76% of the national economy is informal. This should be of no surprise to anyone, but what to do about it is the big question troubling policymakers. We know the causes: failure … Continue reading → …
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How are cattle herders in Zimbabwe managing January disease?
Since 2016, January disease (theileriosis) has decimated more than half a million cattle in many rural parts of Zimbabwe. Nearly all our study sites have been affected by the disease, with the exception of Matobo, where the climate is much … Continue reading → …
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Where is home? Land, home and belonging in land reform areas in Zimbabwe
As part of our ongoing research on Zimbabwe’s land reform after 25 years, we have been exploring what is meant by ‘home’ and ‘belonging’. Across around 100 interviews undertaken in all our sites, we have asked two simple questions. Firstly, ‘where is ‘home’?’ Second, we asked where will you be buried when you die? Answers … … Continue reading → …
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Managing livestock in a variable, fragmented landscape: challenges of accumulation in Matobo, Zimbabwe
Most of the huge ranches that took up much of Matobo district outside the crowded communal areas to the north were divided up during land reform. As in other areas there were medium-scale farms (A2 and so-called self-contained (SC)), aimed … Continue reading → …
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From maize to horticulture, but challenges of succession ahead in Masvingo province land reform sites, Zimbabwe
Our Masvingo province A1 sites – Wondedzo and Sanangwe near Masvingo town and Clare and Lonely A near Chatsworth in Gutu – are classic dryland maize growing areas. In good years, many tonnes of surplus are produced for sale or … Continue reading → …
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Accumulating through tobacco: the case of Mvurwi in Zimbabwe
Mvurwi area is in Mazowe district, some 100km north of Harare. It is a high potential area where tobacco production has expanded dramatically since land reform thanks in large part to the support from multiple contracting companies operating in the … Continue reading → …
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