Institutions, Projects and Farmers – Some Issues Arising from the Land Resettlement Programme in Zimbabwe Available to Purchase

The land resettlement programme in Zimbabwe was undertaken not just as a land redistribution exercise but as a carefully planned and managed development programme. Despite the problems of adjusting government institutions to independence, an organisational framework was successfully established to plan and implement resettlement. This owed much to the fact that implementing resettlement was consistent with each institution′s objectives. On the other hand, the early economic success of the programme has become increasingly jeopardised as the institutions′ requirement for programme operation has not been matched by that for planning and implementation. An understanding of the organisational objectives of individual institutions can go some way to explain this. The experience of resettlement in Zimbabwe may not be unique and the experience will add to the increased emphasis being given in agricultural development to the establishment of appropriate farmer‐oriented institutions at the local level.