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Relevance and potential impact of the research outcomes
Land redistribution is critically important in southern Africa.
Relevance and impact
Land redistribution is critically important in southern Africa. There is a clear political imperative to redress historical injustice, but land reform is also claimed to be a mechanism to alleviate poverty and improve livelihoods for previously marginalized sectors of society. The pros and cons of land reform are hotly contested, but there is currently a huge data gap on the livelihood impacts of land redistribution in southern Africa, despite lengthy experience of land reform (since 1980 in Zimbabwe, 1990 in Namibia and 1994 in South Africa).
Recent developments in the southern African region have shifted the focus of debate towards more critical awareness of both the impact and sustainability of land reform efforts. Until recently discussions have revolved around getting land to people (lodging and processing land claims, applying for grants, mobilising new settlers etc.). But now, as more people have received land, through whatever means, issues of appropriate land use, sustainability and the contribution to livelihoods have become more prominent. This in turn has focused attention on the impacts of land redistribution, and the important related issues of quality of service delivery in resettlement areas, security of tenure, economic diversification, partnerships with private sector operators, added-value processing and marketing.
However, it is widely recognized that there is no comprehensive strategy in place for monitoring the livelihood impacts of land redistribution at either regional or national level. Given the political and practical importance of the debate about land reform in the region, this is a major gap, which this project aims to address. The project will:
Land redistribution is critically important in southern Africa. There is a clear political imperative to redress historical injustice, but land reform is also claimed to be a mechanism to alleviate poverty and improve livelihoods for previously marginalized sectors of society. The pros and cons of land reform are hotly contested, but there is currently a huge data gap on the livelihood impacts of land redistribution in southern Africa, despite lengthy experience of land reform (since 1980 in Zimbabwe, 1990 in Namibia and 1994 in South Africa).
Recent developments in the southern African region have shifted the focus of debate towards more critical awareness of both the impact and sustainability of land reform efforts. Until recently discussions have revolved around getting land to people (lodging and processing land claims, applying for grants, mobilising new settlers etc.). But now, as more people have received land, through whatever means, issues of appropriate land use, sustainability and the contribution to livelihoods have become more prominent. This in turn has focused attention on the impacts of land redistribution, and the important related issues of quality of service delivery in resettlement areas, security of tenure, economic diversification, partnerships with private sector operators, added-value processing and marketing.
However, it is widely recognized that there is no comprehensive strategy in place for monitoring the livelihood impacts of land redistribution at either regional or national level. Given the political and practical importance of the debate about land reform in the region, this is a major gap, which this project aims to address. The project will:
- Increase the evidence base for effective policy and development interventions in the region.
- Develop a replicable, usable methodology for livelihood impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation.
- Provide inputs into the specific designs of support programmes for post-land reform settings.
- Facilitate exchanges between researchers, government officials and NGO personnel engaged in land reform to share experiences and reflect on research findings, including exchanges between these stakeholders and land reform beneficiaries.
- Create links to policy discussions on land reform strategies for southern Africa.
User engagement
This will be ensured through a comprehensive user engagement and outreach strategy. With good links to policy networks in each provincial study site and more broadly in the region, the research team are in a good position to execute this. The strategy will include both networking and communication elements, linking on-going interaction with diverse users at national, regional and international levels (including the SADC Land Reform Technical Facility and DFID country and regional offices), with a dissemination strategy which connects a PLAAS-hosted website and publication series with a range of face-to-face events, including workshops, briefings, and lesson learning exchanges (details in separate section).
Preliminary discussions with government officials (particularly at provincial levels) and donors (including informal interactions with DFID-Pretoria and a donor round-table discussion in Zimbabwe in mid-2005 hosted by DFID) have consistently shown high demand for the project focus.
A new start for Zimbabwe? by Ian Scoones
