Beneficiaries are actors too.pdf - Southern Institute of Peace ...

vicinity, a special arrangement was required for the people in that
area so that they could equally benefit from the programme. The
whole district, with an approximate population of 284 910 in
2003 ( www.icrizimbabwe.org),
only had 200 households which
benefited from the Fast Track Land Reform programme in
Chikomba district of Mashonaland East (Utete, 2003). As a result
of this unfortunate situation, no significant decongestion was
witnessed in the District. Presently, the situation in drier parts of
the district (Buhera South) is getting even more critical. Coupled
with the perennial droughts that ravage the area, population
pressure on the land is increasing with resultant negative
consequences on the environment. The increasing numbers of
households as a result of the youth bulge and early marriages has
dictated that people divide the small portions of land that they
have so as to accommodate the new households. This however is
only a short term and a stop gap measure that can only hold in the
interim. As the population continues to grow, even more pressure
will be put on the land and ultimately conflicts might arise as a
result of competition for the little pieces of land available as well
as other resources.
The problem of land shortage is not only found in the southern
part of the district but in the north as well. Since the district is 100
percent communal, people had hoped that the government would
come up with a special plan to accommodate them in the
programme. From all the seven districts of Manicaland province,
a total 13 000 households benefited from the fast track
programme (Utete, 2003). As already mentioned, Buhera had the
least number of beneficiaries; a mere 200 families. In
Mashonaland East province, the same unfortunate situation
seems to have characterised the fortunes of Mutoko, Mudzi and
Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP). These areas did not also have
any commercial farms and hence had only negligible numbers of
beneficiaries, with a combined figure of 9000 applicants on the
waiting list (Utete, 2003). As a result, there was no significant
decongestion in these areas.
These areas are certainly not the only places in need of land after
the completion of the land reform programme, they are just a tip of
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