Livelihood asset accumulation by young people in post-land reform Zimbabwe

Our studies of young people across our A1 land reform sites in Zimbabwe show the real challenges that young people face in getting established as independent economic actors. This requires putting together a portfolio of activities, diversifying opportunistically while also seeking a stable source of income through acquiring land. This is not easy. It is hard work, stressful and not always successful.

How are young people able to accumulate and establish themselves? As we have seen in earlier blogs, access to land is key, and gaining this through subdivision of parents’ land the most important route. But in addition to farming, young people are doing many other things, characterised as ‘self-employment’, involving earning money locally, including through artisanal mining especially in Matobo, and combining this with farming.

With ‘traditional’ norms being reinvented and new conceptions of where home is and what farms are emerging (see earlier blogs), the livelihood landscape for young people looks very different to that of their parents. What then are the patterns of accumulation through acquisition of assets and what in turn are the trajectories of accumulation pursued by different young people? These themes are explored in the following sections.

Asset accumulation

Asset accumulation is challenging for young people with little land and few resources, but our data show how some do make it and are able to invest. The following tables contrast Cohort 1 with the younger Cohort 2 looking at the percentage of individuals who own certain assets.

Table 1a. Cohort 1 asset ownership (percentages)

Table 1b. Cohort 2 asset ownership (percentages)

Not surprisingly the older cohort (Cohort 1) has more assets as these have been accumulated over time, although the percentages remain small. The most common asset acquired across sites is an ox-drawn plough, followed by water pumps and pipes in Masvingo and Mvurwi. In these areas, agriculture is an important source of livelihood requiring investments in such equipment. Vehicles are being acquired particularly in Mvurwi as a result of more income from tobacco being secured. Asset accumulation across both cohorts in Matobo is very minimal indeed, with little focused on agriculture, as discussed in earlier blogs. Amongst the older cohort in Matobo a few more seem to be getting ploughs and vehicles are more common, presumably linked to off-farm work, mining and trading.

Overall, despite limited assets, both young men and women have managed to establish themselves, usually with access to land at the core and, although they are not following the same trajectories as their parents, they are managing to combine different activities to make up a livelihood. The following cases illustrate this:

Case 1: JC, Wondedzo Extension, Masvingo

I was born in 2000 in Masvingo and grew up here. My parents obtained a piece of land in Wondedzo Extension in 2000. I attended primary education at Wondedzo Primary School and secondary education at Wondedzo Secondary School. I completed Form 4 in 2017, but did not collect results because of school fees debt (USD115). I do not think, however, that I even managed to pass any subject. In 2018, I found a job at Stick and Chips restaurant in Gweru as a cook where I worked for three years. The restaurant briefly closed during COVID pandemic, but it resumed operations after two weeks or so. In December 2020, I decided to leave the job due to low wages. At that stage, I was receiving a monthly salary of RTGS150. Because of inflation and volatile exchange rate, my salary was equivalent to between USD25 and USD30. When I started working there the Bond was notionally pegged at one as to one against the USD, but it started the exchange rate had collapsed by the time I abandoned my job. After leaving my job, I returned home where I helped my mother to farm. In May 2021, I went to Mberengwa where I engaged in gold panning. I worked at someone’s mine and the wages depended on the money earned and were shared among the “sponsor” (after deducting his expenses) and the workers. I worked there until November 2021, and the returned home to help my mother to farm. My mother does not have hired workers, so if I am away, she will be overwhelmed with work. In January 2024, I decided to marry. My wife stays here and doesn’t have a job. We do not have any children as yet. We live with my mother. I am the last born in a family of four (three girls and one boy). My main sources of income are piece jobs and hiring out draught power, especially to those doing horticulture. The fees for hiring out draught power range between USD20 and USD30, depending on the size of the field. I also farm independently. In 2021, my mother allocated me a 2 ha piece of land so that I can farm and earn some money to look after myself. During the 2022/23 season, I harvested 27 bags of maize and sold 15 bags locally. I used the money to buy clothes. Last season (2022/23), I cultivated 1ha because of poor rains, and I did not harvest anything. I also engage in gardening at the community garden, where my mother is a member. My mother allocated me 10 ‘beds’, and I grow leafy vegetables (covo, rape, tsunga) and tomatoes mainly for home consumption because the space is small. I use the technique of syphoning water from the river using a pipe as I do not have a water pump. I first fill a pipe with water while closing one end of the pipe. Once full, I then put the other end of the pipe in the river and a continuous flow of water will began without a water pump. While working, I never managed to buy any assets such as water pumps. I was just being “eaten” by girlfriends (kudyiwa). I was very childish (upwere) and I was still single. So, I made no investments with my salaries. Now at home farming, I am buying some things, and life is better.

Case 2: NC, Mvurwi

I was born in 2000 in Mutoko. My parents obtained land here in 2004 and moved here permanently in 2006 when my father had retired from his job in the army. I attended primary school at Copley primary school and then enrolled at Lucknow Secondary School for my secondary education. I completed ‘O’ level in 2019 but I did not do very well. After completing Form 4, my father wanted me to repeat Form 4 but I told him that I was not academically gifted. I asked him if I could try my hand in agriculture. At this stage, I was already farming independently, and he could see that my strength was in farming. In fact, I started to farm independently when I was doing Form 3 in 2017. At first, I farmed in partnership with my brother, but he later left for South Africa. My father allocated us our own ndima (piece of land) to farm independently. He gave us the inputs too. During this 2016/17 season, we managed to harvest two tonnes of maize. We sold the maize and used the proceeds to purchase two cows. In the following season, I farmed alone, and harvested 3 tonnes of maize. I also started a broiler project and used the maize to make my own chicken feed. I began with batches of 50 broilers and increased to 400 broilers. During the dry season, I would concentrate on broiler production and then stop during the rainy season to focus on farming. I sold the broilers locally and at gold mines in Mazowe.  In 2019/20 season, I harvested 3 tonnes and sold the maize at GMB. I used the proceeds to purchase 10 goats. During the 2020/21 season, I managed to harvest 3.5 tonnes of maize and sold it all and used the money to build my own homestead within my father’s plot. In 2022/2023, I decided to abandon maize production and start tobacco farming independently. My first season I harvested 4 tonnes of tobacco and got USD8200. I used the earnings to drill another borehole for USD2000 and buy 5 cattle in Muzarabani. However, I did not do my budget well, and did not save adequate working capital for the next growing season. As a result, this precipitated me to sell all the cattle I had bought in order to finance land preparations and income to pay labour. This is when I learned about the importance of owning cattle when you don’t have access to any other income source to finance tobacco farming. I had gone broke because of poor budgeting decisions and cattle helped me to fund tobacco farming during that season. In the 2023/24 season, I harvested 6300kg of tobacco. Using proceeds from tobacco, I bought 13 cattle at a cheap price in Muzarabani, plough, scotch-cart, ‘security’ fence, 2 tonnes of compound D and 1 tonne of Ammonium Nitrate. I also got married recently, and I used some of the tobacco production earnings to pay roora (bride wealth) for USD1500. In my first season of growing tobacco, I started on 1.5ha of land as my father was not sure if I would manage it. Last year, I increased the area under tobacco to 2ha, but the plan is to get to 3ha under tobacco. I am planning to plant gumtrees for curing tobacco. This season I have prepared 3ha to plant tobacco. To prepare the land, I hire a tractor for disc ploughing at USD480 plus USD260 diesel for the whole 6 ha. Here, we follow a crop rotational system, whereby the piece of land we cultivated tobacco last season, we then cultivate maize this year. The way we plant our tobacco is different to what is recommended by the extension officers. You will never get that in a textbook, but it is working for us. First, after having our land ploughed by the tractor, we dig holes for planting. In each hole, we put 5 litres of water in the hole. We allow the water to sink into the soil and then put another 5 litres of water. We then put fertilizer and then plant our tobacco plant and cover with soil. Through this technique, we don’t suffer from crop burns if there is a dry spell. It can last up to three weeks without rains. This practice has served us well over the years.  We have two permanent workers. But I hire up to 10 casual workers per season to help with tobacco planting, harvesting and grading.   Today, I own 18 head of cattle. Every year, after marketing my tobacco, I buy cattle. My target is to reach 100 head of cattle. Investing in cattle makes a lot of sense because cattle are my bank. I can afford to buy a car after marketing my tobacco, but you can be involved in an accident and the car could be damaged beyond repair. Cattle reproduce, give me milk and is my bank.

Case 3: AN, Luma, Matobo

I was born in 1996 in Bulawayo. I am married (ca. 2019) and have one child. I completed Form 4 in 2015 but I did not collect the results because of school fees debt. In 2016, I went to live with my father in Fumukwe in Matobo where he has a farm. While there I helped with farming and looking after his livestock. However, I did not stay long there. I then came here in August 2016 to live with my mother, where she has remarried. My mother and stepfather acquired land here in 2010. From 2016 up until 2018 I was at home, engaging in piece jobs such as brick moulding, cutting firewood and hiring out scotch-cart. In April 2019, I secured a job as a broiler breeder at Shalom at Maleme farm. In December 2019, I left the job because of delays in payments of my salaries from the farm. At one stage, I did not receive any wages at all for two months. In March 2020, I found another job as a grinding mill operator in Inyati, where I worked for 2 months. I left the job again because of delays in payments for my salaries from the employer. So I returned home and wanted to focus on my piggery project. I started this piggery project in 2018, when I got one sow in exchange of building a cattle kraal for a local farmer. I also swapped two goats for two piglets. Since then, my herd of pigs begun to grow. However, in December 2023, I slaughtered all my pigs and sold the meat locally because of drought. I managed to buy a heifer for USD250 using some of the pig production earnings. In January 2021, I returned to Shalom, where I worked again as a broiler breeder. I worked there until December 2022 when I decided to enrol for a Class 2 driving course. I sold my ox that I had bought from my mother that same year to pay for the lessons and hiring a truck for test. I completed the driving course in 2023, but I have been unable to find employment and thus live at home doing piece jobs. I had hoped that the driving licence would improve my chances of getting a better and stable job. But it is difficult to get a job these days if you don’t have connections. You have to have an influential relative to help you get a job. I have applied for a driving job at Maleme farm but they don’t want to give me a salary commensurate with my new driving qualification. In May 2024, a neighbour, Mr Soganele, asked me if I could look after his homestead as he and his family live in South Africa. So, I live at his homestead with my wife. At the moment, I am not being paid anything at all but he said that we will discuss when he comes. I am busy fencing the plot using brushwood. I intend to engage in dryland cultivation this season on Mr Soganele’s crop fields own my personal account. I am also employed by Mr Mathe, a middleman who buys cattle for Mbokodo abattoirs, who pays me USD10 per animal that he buys when I get the animal for him. But this year, there is no cattle businessman – it’s hard to get people selling cattle. This has forced me to concentrate on fishing in the small dams in the farm using fishing nets. I sell the fish locally. I have a driver’s licence, but I have struggled to get a job. I aspire to get a stable and well-paid job so that I can engage in broiler farming. Here, at Mr S’s place, there are fowl runs already but I don’t have capital to buy the chicks and feed. I have knowledge in broiler production, having worked at Shalom as a broiler breeder.  

Case 4: IM, Wondedzo Wares, Masvingo

I was born in 1994 in Gutu. My father used to work as a cook for the white farmer on this farm, and after land reform, he managed to obtain some land here. We later joined him in 2001. I completed schooling in 2012. I then got married to my parents’ son’s neighbours in 2013. After marriage, my parents-in-laws allocated us a portion of land within their stand to build a homestead and 1ha of land to engage in dryland cultivation. From 2020 to 2022, we also borrowed another 1ha of land from my mother. But we no longer do that because of lack of inputs. We grow maize, sunflower and nyimo. We sell sunflower ‘KuTrain’ market. In addition, we also have access to an irrigable plot owned by my husband’s brother’s plot. It’s a joint venture. My husband’s brother works as a nurse in Masvingo. He drilled a borehole and invested in water pumps, tank and irrigation pipes. My husband is unemployed, and therefore works on the irrigation project on a full-time basis. They share the proceeds. I wish to do a lot of projects such as broilers, but access to capital is the main challenge. 

The next blog looks at the diverse pathways of accumulation followed by young people across our sample households in A1 sites, showing how livelihoods are being reinvented across generations and how land reform areas in the next generation will look very different.

This is the eighth blog in a series exploring young people and land in post-land reform Zimbabwe. The blog has been written by Ian Scoones and Tapiwa Chatikobo, with inputs from Godfrey Mahofa (data analysis), Felix Murimbarimba (field lead) and Jacob Mahenehene (field assistant), amongst others. This blog first appeared on Zimbabweland