The social, political and economic transformative impact of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme on the lives of women farmers in Goromonzi and Vungu-Gweru Districts of Zimbabwe

This is the field-work report for a project that aimed to learn from women and their lived-experiences at the grass roots, and to respond to their needs through action research. The main purpose of the research, carried out in partnership by the Women Farmers Land and Agriculture Trust and the University of Zimbabwe, was to generate knowledge about the linkages between access, rights, and security, and barriers to access land faced by women beneficiaries of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme so as to identify opportunities arising for economic, social and political empowerment of women farmers, and to draw conclusions that can contribute to the wider dialogue on securing women’s access and rights to land.

The project attempted to fill some of the gaps in knowledge around women’s access to and utilization of land by learning from the women themselves, and promote ways in which women can benefit more from the land and other natural resources, thereby improving their own and their families livelihoods. The project built capacity amongst the women farmers and provided a platform for dialogue with relevant stakeholders, including policy makers and the private sector. A number of recommendations are suggested to improve the social, political and economic transformative impact of land reform in Zimbabwe.

You can download this publication below or from the website of the International Land Coalition.

This work was carried out as part of a 3-year collaborative project entitled “Securing Women’s Access to Land: Linking Research and Action”, coordinated by the International Land Coalition (ILC), the Makerere Institute for Social Studies (MISR) of Makerere University in Uganda, and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) of the University of Western Cape in South Africa. This report is part of a wider initiative on Women’s Land Rights. If you would like further information on the initiative and on the collaborating partners, please feel free to contact the International Land Coalition.