New research has delivered a surprising verdict on Zimbabwe's deeply contentious land reform programme, suggesting it has helped thousands of small-scale farmers become more resilient to the escalating climate crisis.
An Unexpected Legacy of Resilience
The study, led by Professor Ian Scoones from the Institute of Development Studies, indicates that smallholders on redistributed land are now seeing bumper crops compared to those working in traditional communal areas. This finding emerges 25 years after the programme's violent and chaotic inception, which was widely condemned and linked to economic collapse.
The data is based on monitoring roughly 1,500 households over a quarter of a century. It shows farmers in reform areas produce, on average, two to three times more maize and sell nine to ten times more than their counterparts in unreformed communal zones. These farmers also invest significantly more in critical infrastructure like water tanks and irrigation pumps.
Beyond the Narrative of Failure
Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform Programme, launched by former President Robert Mugabe in 2000, forcibly displaced around 4,000 white farmers and redistributed land to approximately one million Black Zimbabweans. The government framed it as a correction to colonial injustices, but it triggered a severe economic downturn. Agricultural output plummeted by two-thirds between 2000 and 2008, fuelling hyperinflation.
"Land reform in Zimbabwe has been extremely controversial, especially in the UK - but most media coverage has dwelt on the dispossession of white farmers, not what has happened since," Professor Scoones told The Independent. He argues the research corrects a one-sided narrative, revealing an "unexpected outcome that runs against the standard narrative of the 'failure' of land reform."
According to the study, reform beneficiaries have more land, greater agricultural sales, and more diversified crops. This has allowed them to sell surpluses and reinvest. Many have used extra income to buy affordable Chinese-made solar panels and pumps, whose prices have fallen sharply.
Land Rights: A Missing Link in Global Climate Talks
The research publication follows the recent COP30 UN climate conference, where observers criticised the lack of focus on farming and food systems. Notably, the conference's landmark "Global Goal on Adaptation" made no mention of land reform, redistribution, or tenure as tools for helping the world's 500 million smallholders adapt.
Rachel McMonagle, Climate Change Programme Director at land rights NGO Landesa, emphasised the connection: "Land tenure security is foundational for effective climate action... This can lead to greater productivity and increases in crop yields, as well as uptake in sustainable management practices... critical strategies for smallholders to adapt to climate change."
The findings are particularly timely as Zimbabwe recovers from a devastating drought in the 2024-5 season that caused widespread crop failure and left an estimated six million people food insecure. With many young farmers abandoning agriculture due to climate pressures, Scoones suggests redistributing land and securing land rights could be "part of the solution."
