Land is important for women’s economic independence, social power and the organisation of social reproduction. Gaining access to land in the fast-track land reform areas has been important for establishing women’s financial autonomy, easing time poverty, enabling the education of children and improving homes. Surplus production for sale can alleviate the labour of social reproduction: pumping water, installing a solar system for lighting and schooling children, and sending them away to boarding schools. These possibilities arise for both widows and single women with land and married women who gain access to land allocated by their husbands. These are areas that are far larger than the small ‘women’s plots’ conventionally found in the communal areas. Money, as one of our informants explained, “can liberate you”, and land can offer “independence”.
Mrs C from Mvurwi explained her initial scepticism about moving to the land reform areas, but once a borehole had been dug, the possibilities for her own production on the farm opened up. This has allowed her to accumulate independently, including livestock that are looked after at her parents’ home:
I was unsure about moving to the farm because I did not know what the future held there. I was comfortable where I was because I was born and raised in the village; I was afraid of losing friends and starting afresh. Now that we’re better settled and have water, I have a piece of land that is mine, and my husband has his own to plant what we want individually. In my piece of land, I usually plant sweet potatoes and groundnuts. I divide a hectare into two and plant half of the other; this is what I can afford to work on, not what my husband gave me. It took us ten years to have a borehole, from the time we got the farm in 2003. My life has changed since I left my village. I even bought some cows and left them there at my parents’ rural home. At the garden, I am growing vegetables for sale, and my husband does help with garden work, but the money generated from the garden is mine.
For JZ, a widowed young woman who came back to stay with her parents, but still with her own plot in her name, life has improved:
I was happy when I got my own piece of land, it gave me freedom that in case I died my children will have something for themselves especially because now I had an offer letter. When I found someone to till the land for me, my struggles began to loosen as I had a helping hand. I found a person with a tractor to till the land for me but without enough inputs there were still not many benefits in farming. I used to also keep chickens (road runners) for sale and it helped pay fees and transport for my child
Mai M from Gutu district equally pointed to the capacity to pump water and irrigate as changing the possibilities for accumulation:
When we moved here, my husband was no longer working, so we focused on the farm and started building and farming. We started with gardening, focusing on horticulture, including tomatoes and other vegetables. This helped us finance our children’s education. When we started, we were watering using buckets, but now we have a pump. We bought the pump and cows using money from selling our produce. We bought the pump and pipes in 2010.
MM discussed how the farm was developed by her, together with her children:
After I got the farm, my children helped me around the house because my husband was working at Mvurwi hospital. I built the house you see here on my own. I started the other house after my husband had passed on. I work for myself; my children do not give me money; they believe I have money. All these things you see here I bought with my own money, I don’t depend on anyone else, even if that help comes from my children.
Combining farming with running a church, Mrs C explained how she and her family have prospered even after her husband’s death. Labour is shared with her daughter-in-law, who is also now resident at the home following the marriage of her son:
My husband died when we had only roofed the houses; everything else you see here, including solar, is a result of my labour. I manage everything, including the cattle. I have 21 cattle now. I never sold any cattle after my husband died. I started the church here, took a back seat when my husband was here, but when he passed on, I went back to leading the church. You’re lucky to find me here because I hardly sit in one place. I travel to preach all over the country, including to South Africa. People listen to me and respect me. I also loan people cows to help with ploughing. My source of income is farming, and I also run chicken projects here. I also have an irrigation scheme; we just thrashed the wheat. on daughter-in-law handles the farm work; we only have workers to herd the cattle.
ST from Mvurwi explained how getting her own land – in this case, after the fast-track period and from the ministry – allowed her to escape an abusive family relationship where her brothers exploited her, permitting her to provide for her children:
My parents had come to the farms on this side in 2000; I then followed them in 2004 after my divorce. When I came to the farm, life was difficult because I was living with my brothers and my mother. My father died in 1993. Life with relatives was difficult because I could not find anything to give my children, and I had nothing at the time; I was dependent on others for food. I then decided I could not continue living the way I was, so I went to the Ministry of Lands to look for land. My brothers grew up thinking that a girl child should always be dependent; I grew up as the only girl with four brothers. My life was tough while I lived with them. I used to get kicked out of the house at night with my children when I got accused of something I did not even do. I would end up sleeping on the road with the children, my two daughters. One day, when I got kicked out, community leaders realised that my way of life was not good, so they encouraged me to apply for land.
Escape from abusive kinship relationships is also evident in the case of Mrs V from Masvingo. She narrated how her mother-in law was controlling and she was not allowed to establish her own household in the communal areas. In a sense, then, access to land was not only about material gains but social status and authority over female spaces such as the kitchen. Below is her testimony:
In Zaka we stayed at my mother-in-law’s homestead. When I was there I was told that I cannot talk back to my in-laws until 5 years had passed…Every time I visited my husband in the city I would be accused of going there to spend their son’s money while they are left behind to suffer. We never had our own place in Zaka, we continued staying with my mother-in-law, my husband was the last born, so he could not move out…. I never ate real meat when I stayed with my mother-in-law, when they cooked chicken they would only give me the head and feet only.
Mrs BN from Matobo district observed that farming has made life easier. A solar system and a TV at home improve her living conditions, while a scotch cart makes collecting water and firewood easier. Accumulation over time thus eases the social reproductive burden that many women faced early in settlement:
I have a solar system and a TV, which I bought with the money from farming. That money can liberate you; you can go and buy whatever you want. I do not have a well, but I have a scotch cart that I use to fetch water from the river and to carry firewood from the bush. My life has improved greatly because the things I have now I did not have when I was in Nathisa.
Mrs M from Gutu district agrees. The impact on children’s educational achievements and their life chances has been significant. “Coming here improved my life greatly; if I had not come here, I do not think any of my children would have gone to school, even up to university level.” Mai M, also from Gutu district, emphasises the way access to land and livestock has offered her ‘independence’, “The land reform programme empowered me even though I faced challenges. As someone with livestock, I had a place to raise them, I once struggled to till the land. I got my independence.” Mrs V from Masvingo A2 farms also reflected:
I no longer ask my husband for anything because he always says ‘I do not have’, to everything I ask. I use the money I get from selling my chickens to support my child at Gwanda State University and the one in Masvingo, the remaining money goes to buying more chickens. My son says his father does not give him enough money for school, so I cover those gaps a lot. The groceries my husband buys are not enough, so I buy most of the groceries on my own as well.
This theme of independence, freedom, liberation, autonomy and empowerment for women comes through strongly again and again across our interviews. Gaining access to land is the first step, but opportunities open when money can be raised and investments made that ease labour burdens, educate children, and improve home comforts. Such opportunities, informants explained, were not available in the communal areas where they originally came from.
This is the third blog in the series on social reproduction and land reform. This blog was written by Sandra Bhatasara and Ian Scoones, with inputs from Tapiwa Chatikobo and Felix Murimbarimba. It was first published on Zimbabweland.