|
|
| PROGRAMS
- Land Resources - Land Use |
|
|
COMMUNITY BASED LAND AND LAND USE MANAGEMENT: MOZAMBIQUE AND ZIMBABWE (OXFAM).
Regional Land reform strategies seem not to have benefited local communities says the 1998 ZERO and IUCN study of five countries in SADC (Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), yet local communities have considerable knowledge and capacities to manage their resources. The year 2000 marked the end of the first phase of a project designed to understand and document community perceptions and natural resource management systems. Having begun in 1999 with community level assessments and dialogue using PRA, much work centered on analysing and packaging the results of the assessments as well as publishing the results thereof.
The following is a synopsis of the outcomes and lessons that emerged from community assessments and consultations in Zimbabwe.
 Given that the President holds communal land in trust for the people. Communal farmers
only have use rights (usufruct). Communal farmers are unable to transfer the "ownership"
of that land to another person or community. This system of land tenure is in direct
conflict with that of ownership where an individual has exclusive, inalienable rights to
exchange land for cash. Each system tends to have its own merits and demerits.
Customary practices of land occupancy and use tend to be inclusive rather than
exclusive. No one who needs land is supposed to go landless. However this practice
works only when there is adequate land. Where there is land shortage, as is the case in
the study areas, those who have de facto control over cultivatable land become less
willing to make it available to others. The same can be said about private ownership. As
demand for land increases, those without land put more pressure on those who own
land. The result is usually physical confrontation.
Conflict exists between the traditional leadership system and the decentralised local
government system. Under the present set-up, the traditional leadership is subservient to
the administrative interests of Rural District Councils. The Communal Lands Act (1982)
and the Rural District Councils Act (1988) empower District Councils to administer
communal areas. As a result of these legal provisions, administrative decisions are made
in a top-down manner. Chiefs preside over their people and their environment. The
Chiefs sometimes extend their functions to land allocation in contravention of the Rural
District Councils Act. The present customary land tenure is sometimes viewed as
collusion between colonial officials and Chiefs. Colonial officials appropriated "traditions"
in order to lend an aura of legitimacy over the control of Chiefs and patronage of land.
(Colson, 1971; Ranger, 1983).
The ability of village communities to manage their interactions with their social, political,
economic and physical environment has been disrupted by
centralised, usually sectoral,
decision-making structures. These new structures or orientations tend to replace the
traditional focus of attention, which places emphasis on the long-term view of the total
people environment system. What is also challenged and even compromised is the
village people's ability to apply their well-tested indigenous knowledge to farming
methods. The knowledge imposition process is often supported and encouraged by
state apparatus in the name of technology or improved ways of living. However,
changes in resource utilisation and management ought to be in harmony with the total
socio-economic circumstances of the beneficiaries.
Village people rarely depend on one activity for their livelihoods. However, most of their
activities draw upon primary natural resources. It is unlikely that this will change in the
foreseeable future. There is therefore a need for alternative and supplementary livelihood
systems in order to reduce pressure on land-based resources. However, diversification
control efforts so far used have had a narrow focus on land and natural resources
management. The problem is multi-faceted and therefore requires more holistic
approaches than has been so far suggested. Therefore emphasis should be on the
improvement of family assets.
A needs analysis exercise should be carried out to determine precise needs such as food
availability and water as well as to determine people capacities and capabilities. In
addition to the needs analysis, a root cause analysis should also be carried out. This
analysis assumes that all decisions have a clearly definable cause and that all problems
must be torn apart in order to find the root cause. The suggested exercise would involve
questioning the reason(s) for trying to solve these problems. The involvement of the
people in the analysis of their needs and cause of their problems is of great importance.
The management and control of resources take place in the context of social structures
and organisations. Organisations help to determine people's access to resources,
allocation and control of resources. Local level organisations, initiated, managed and
controlled by the villagers, would ensure that the people's concerns are articulated. Such
organisations at the village level are still weak.
There were divergent views on the land reform process. The majority of the wards
reported that there existed an urgent need to resettle some people in other areas.
Among those singled out for priority resettlements were widows and female divorcees.
The current resettlement process was criticized for its slow pace. Only two wards
reported that a few people had been resettled.
|
|
ZERO - Regional
Environment Organisation - All Rights Reserved 2005 |
|
Land