In the Shadow of a Conflict: Impacts of Zimbabwe's Land Reform on Rural Poverty and Development in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia

While much attention has been devoted to Zimbabwe's fast-track land reform - its causes, manifestations, and impacts on Zimbabwean society - comparatively little has been written about the fates of those who left the country because of the conflict. In pa rticular, the processes by which they entered and settled into rural communities in neighbouring countries remains unresearched. Nor has attention been given to what has been learned from the Zimbabwean experience by South African white farmers, especiall y in those areas adjoining Zimbabwe. The aim of this study is to reveal the stories of the commercial farmers and farm workers that left Zimbabwe as a result of the conflict and to trace the process of their settlement into communities in Mozambique, Sout h Africa, and Zambia, the three main recipients of the migrants. An underlying theme of the research is the extent to which one particular crisis, and the migration it spawns, breeds new conflicts in the areas into which migrants settle, and the conditi ons under which conflict-driven migration also may spawn positive effects in terms of agricultural production and rural development. A further issue is how the recent migration of farmers and farm workers can be seen in relation to historical events in a region traditionally characterised by extensive population movements. We believe this project will culminate in important lessons related to conflict, migration, ethnicity, citizenship, state formation, and rural development. The research will shed light on the processes by which an historically privileged ethnic minority adapts to and in turn affects societies that are also struggling with histories of racial discrimination, civil war, poverty, and tensions over access to land and natural resources, and how a generation of naturalised Zimbabweans cope with the sudden condition of statelessness.