Abstract: | This paper examines the macroeconomic effects and social expectations of land reform in Zimbabwe. As a consequence of colonial land policies, the new government of Zimbabwe, which took over at independence in 1980, inherited a dualistic agricultural sector with, on the one hand, highly productive and powerful commercial farmers, and on the other, hungry powerless peasant farmers with great expectations for change. The crucial question for the government was how to redress the inequalities of the past and how to effect the transformation of the communal areas and redistribute the land without affecting the productivity and efficiency of the overall agricultural sector. The British government, as part of the Lancaster House Agreement, undertook to provide funding for the acquisition of land needed for resettlement. Four different resettlement schemes were introduced. The early targets of the Transitional National Development Plan (1982/83-1984/85) to resettle 162,000 families in the first five years after independence have not been reached. After 15 years of independence 4,000 white farmers still own half of the country's arable land while 7 million Africans remain crowded on communal land with limited agricultural potential and high vulnerability to droughts and economic recession. Bibliogr. |