It has been a busy year with our research on 25 years after land reform in Zimbabwe. Biographical interviews have been undertaken with around 100 people from our long-term sample, exploring changes over time, and the 2025 survey was undertaken with around 1500 households across A1 and A2 areas in Mvruwi, Gutu, Masvingo and Matobo, with comparator communal areas nearby. Tracking all the households we had surveyed before plus adding in new ones was a major task! We have also been undertaking some in-depth interviews on ‘social reproduction’ together with Sandra Bhatasara and investigating land use change across our sites with Keen Marozwa. We are now in the midst of compiling all the data and looking forward to a period of analysis and writing during 2026, as well as some follow up fieldwork on key themes.
A highlight of the year was an exchange visit with 16 farmers from our A1 sites (8 men, 8 women chosen by the communities we have been working with over so many years.) They visited each others’ sites during an intensive 10 days in May (see the lead photo). Much learning resulted and the group have kept connected through a WhatsApp group and continue to share ideas as the 2025-26 agricultural season unfolds. Alport Ndebele and team are in the process of finalising a short film on the exchange visit, which we will share across the sites in the new year, as well as posting here.
It’s been a busy year for the blog too, with 45 blogs and so posts nearly every week. We have shared early research results around a series of themes (links to the first in each series below):
- Accumulation and investment: Accumulating and investing: trajectories of change in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas (4 blog series).
- Success rankings: What is ‘success’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas? (9 blog series)
- Young people/generational change: Young people’s experiences of land, livelihoods and migration in post-land reform Zimbabwe (10 blog series)
- Small towns and land reform: The continuing growth of small towns in Zimbabwe (3 blog series)
- Medium-scale A2 farms: Zimbabwe’s medium-scale farms: challenges and opportunities. (5 blog series)
As has become traditional, here are the top 20 posts this year in terms of views (of course biased towards the beginning of the year). Older posts continue to be widely viewed and overall there have been around 30k views from many countries across the world. If you missed out on any of the blogs – whether from the blog series or from one-off news posts and alerts of new publications – you can find the links for the festive top 20 of 2025 posts below.
- New businesses in small towns in Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/02/03/new-businesses-in-small-towns-in-zimbabwe/
- Twenty-five years after Zimbabwe’s land reform: understanding change https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/01/20/twenty-five-years-after-zimbabwes-land-reform-understanding-change/
- How do young people get land in post-land reform Zimbabwe? https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/03/03/how-do-young-people-get-land-in-post-land-reform-zimbabwe/
- Why working with – not against – the informal economy is essential: some lessons from Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/09/15/why-working-with-not-against-the-informal-economy-is-essential-some-lessons-from-zimbabwe/
- The continuing growth of small towns in Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/01/27/5408/
- Is going to school still worth it? Dilemmas for young people in post-land reform Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/is-going-to-school-still-worth-it-dilemmas-for-young-people-in-post-land-reform-zimbabwe/
- The politics of land: introducing an important new collection https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/10/06/the-politics-of-land-introducing-an-important-new-collection/
- Why land redistribution must be central to human flourishing in an era of extreme inequality https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/why-land-redistribution-must-be-central-to-human-flourishing-in-an-era-of-extreme-inequality/
- Towards ICARRD+20: debating land, life and society in Cape Town https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/09/29/towards-icarrd20-debating-land-life-and-society-in-cape-town/
- Agriculture is driving small town growth in post-land reform Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/02/10/agriculture-is-driving-small-town-growth-in-post-land-reform-zimbabwe/
- Debating uncertainty: from a politics of control to a politics of care https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/09/22/debating-uncertainty-from-a-politics-of-control-to-a-politics-of-care/
- What does ‘success’ look like in Zimbabwe’s communal areas, and how does this compare with land reform areas? https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/what-does-success-look-like-in-zimbabwes-communal-areas-and-how-does-this-compare-with-land-reform-areas/
- South African confusions over land reform https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/south-african-confusions-over-land-reform/
- The next generation is redefining what is meant by a ‘farm’ and ‘home’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/03/10/the-next-generation-is-redefining-what-is-meant-by-a-farm-and-home-in-zimbabwes-land-reform-areas/
- Rethinking disaster risk reduction https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/rethinking-disaster-risk-reduction/
- Understanding success in the villagised land reform farms in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/understanding-success-in-the-villagised-land-reform-farms-in-masvingo-province-zimbabwe/
- Livelihood bricoleurs: young people composing livelihoods in post-land reform Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/04/21/livelihood-bricoleurs-young-people-composing-livelihoods-in-post-land-reform-zimbabwe/
- Accumulating through tobacco: the case of Mvurwi in Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/07/21/accumulating-through-tobacco-the-case-of-mvurwi-in-zimbabwe/
- Success in a livestock-based economy: the case of land reform sites in Matobo district, Zimbabwe https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/05/05/success-in-a-livestock-based-economy-the-case-of-land-reform-sites-in-matobo-district-zimbabwe/
- Reinventing tradition: new forms of inheritance in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2025/03/17/reinventing-tradition-new-forms-of-inheritance-in-zimbabwes-land-reform-areas/
This post was written by Ian Scoones and Tapiwa Chatikobo and first appeared on Zimbabweland.