One of the most common discussions amongst those living in the land reform areas today focuses on how will the next generation get land. Those who got the land during the land reform in 2000 are now getting older and many have died. The question of succession and inheritance is on people’s minds. This is also a big issue for younger people. Will they inherit the farm? Can they get a plot or a subdivision? Should they base themselves in the rural areas or in town?
As part of our new research initiative – Zimbabwe’s land reform after 25 years – we have been exploring these questions across our field sites in A1 (smallholder) land reform areas in Mvurwi, Masvingo/Gutu and Matobo, both through interviews and a survey of young people who are linked to the households that originally got the land. This ten-part blog series offers some of the preliminary results of this work.
Our recent study follows on from an earlier one where we explored young people’s perceptions and activities, summarised in two blog series (here and here) and a subsequent ROAPE article (also here). Thinking about the next generation after land reform is a crucial issue for national policy, but one that has barely been thought about.
In the past, the assumption was that young people – particularly men – would work away from the rural home for much of their life, part of the classic southern African pattern of circular migration. This has changed today. The opportunities for stable, long-term off-farm work have declined dramatically, as the old formal economy in Zimbabwe has collapsed. The attractiveness of migration to other countries has also declined too for many, particularly with the rise of xenophobic attacks in South Africa and the restrictive visa regimes in many other places. Indeed, returned migrants had harrowing tales to tell about police harassment and harsh living and working conditions in South Africa, for instance.
The following cases document the varied experiences of young people migrating to South Africa in particular. While providing the opportunity to earn money and get established at home, these are not easy times.
I was born in 1999 and grew up here in Matobo. I came with my parents in 2000 when they got land here. I got up to Form 4 in 2016, but I did not write the final exams. In 2017, I then got a job as a supervisor at Frys restaurant in Maphisa, where I worked until 2018. In January 2020, I then went to South Africa through border jumping. I paid ‘omalayisha’ R1500 for transport and facilitation to cross the border illegally. This was during lockdown period, but I was fortunate to get a job at mobile MTN shop. However, the place had too much police presence, and the police were always hunting illegal foreigners there. So, I decided to quit the job and find another job as an assistant hairdresser at Nigerian-owned saloon in Mayfair. I knew nothing about the job, and I had to learn quickly. In South Africa, you can’t say I don’t know this or that. I returned home in December 2020 because I was missing my child. Moreso, life is very difficult in South Africa when you don’t have papers. You have to constantly run away from the police. Life was really uncomfortable. I returned with R2000 that I had saved from my wages, and never returned to South Africa.
I was born in 1994 in Bulawayo and grew up there. I came here to Matobo in 2000 when my parents acquired land here. I ended school at form 2 in 2009 due to lack of money. After dropping out of school, I then did a nine-months welding and grinding course in Bulawayo. After completing the course, I returned home and helped my mother to farm. In 2013, I then went to South Africa. Once there, I stayed with my cousin in Tembisa and worked for him as a storekeeper for his spaza for a year. I then got another job in a Zimbabwean-owned construction company, laying tiles. In 2015, I returned home and got a job as a herder at a nearby A2 farm. In 2016, I returned to South Africa. While there I set up my own stall business, selling fruits and vegetables, while also working as a security guard. However, the police were a big problem. In 2022, I decided to return home because I have been away for a long time, plus if you are in South Africa without a work permit you are not free.
Others returned from South Africa with debilitating sicknesses and injuries. Mrs M, from Wondedzo, narrated the ordeal of her brother:
My young brother used to work in South Africa. While there, his shack was set alight while he was inside and locked from the inside. He was severely burnt. He has since returned to Zimbabwe permanently injured. Before this incident, my two sons who were in school at the time were very keen to join him in South Africa. This experience changed their minds. They abandoned the idea of going to South Africa, and now they work with their father in his welding business.
Still others returned from South Africa with nothing, after years of monies being ‘eaten up’ or devoured ‘ukudliwa/kudyiwa’. They admitted to spending their always limited disposable income on girlfriends and alcohol. One returned immigrant, in his early 30s, described his experiences of ‘kudyiwa’/’ukudliwa’ as follows:
I went to South Africa in 2015 and only came back recently. I lived in many places, including Johannesburg and Durban. I worked in several restaurants as a waiter. I even got married to a South African lady. We had three children together. We spent most of my earnings in food, liquor and clothes, and never invested in anything back home. I abandoned the lady after she organised a robbery. I was keeping some money in the house, and so one day she tipped off robbers to come and rob me so that they could share the loot. I escaped without harm. So, I dumped her and left the town. I returned home in 2023. Upon my return, I tried to establish my own homestead at my father’s plot, and I even cleared the area and started building the homestead. But I was told by the leadership that I cannot do that, and if I want to build my homestead, I can only do it within my father’s homestead. Without land and a job, there no point for me to stay here. I am planning to return to South Africa.
The alternatives to such migration – short-term piece jobs in town, artisanal mining, trading and so on – are often precarious and not well remunerated. For many, therefore, the rural areas are much more attractive than they were. Asked which is better to have, a job or engage in farming, OG, a 34-year-old man from Wondedzo extension, remarked:
If I am to choose between farming and employment, I prefer to do ‘projects’ here. But I need to have access to water to do that. With access to water, I can do anything. Having access to water here would allow me to do horticulture and broilers here. I would also want to venture into fish farming. Having the projects in one place will make all these projects easier to manage. Currently, I am doing horticulture on 1ha piece at my uncle’s plot, and rearing turkeys here. It’s a challenging to manage. Having these projects in different place is very difficult to manage. If you have many projects, one will fail but the other one will be a success. For instance, when the broiler market is flooded, I would concentrate on fish farming. With adequate capital, I would choose to do projects here than going to work elsewhere as the salaries are very low. But without capital, it’s hard to rely on farming. This pushes me to look for employment elsewhere. Farming projects do not need ‘fake’ capital. If you invest small capital, you will also get small profits. At the moment, I don’t have a reliable and stable income to invest substantially in farming.
There may be other reasons to seek options in the rural areas too. A number of our interviewees mentioned moving back to look after ailing parents, offering care or helping out on the farm. Others thought it was easier to look after kids in the rural areas, as relatives were around to help out, and these days schools were available nearby. Issues of social reproduction therefore combined with production in many young people’s commentaries, from both men and women.
While people still move between rural and urban areas and indeed between rural areas as mineral rushes take places and attract population movements, the net migration of people back to rural areas remains significant, even if this is not to farming areas but just to growth points and small towns. It is here where the better opportunities lie, and why demand for land amongst young people is high.
This is the first 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