Sugar, People and Politics in Zimbabwe's Lowveld

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4604656
AutoresI Scoones (0000-0001-8547-4464, University of Sussex, autor de correspondencia), Blasio Mavedzenge (Great Zimbabwe University), Felix Murimbarimba (Great Zimbabwe University)
Año2017
Volumen43
Número3
Páginas567-584
Fecha de publicación2017-05-04
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057070.2016.1187972
OpenAlexW2521005023
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11

The expansion of outgrower areas linked to large lowveld sugar estates has been an important \ncomponent of Zimbabwe’s land reform since 2000. This has involved the transfer of nearly \n16,000 ha to over 800 resettlement farmers on irrigated ‘A2’ plots of around 20 ha each. These \nfarmers now produce around a quarter of the sugar output linked to the Triangle and Hippo \nValley mills. Tongaat Hulett, a large South African conglomerate, is the dominant shareholder \nin Zimbabwe’s sugar industry, and its Zimbabwe operation represents a crucial part of the \noverall multi-million-dollar business. The new outgrowers are a mix of former civil servants, \nsugar industry professionals and business people, with some politicians and security service \npersonnel also with land. Through a detailed analysis over 12 years of the changing fortunes \nof a group of new outgrowers linked to Hippo Valley estate, the paper explores the patterns \nof production, employment and wider livelihood contexts of outgrowers and their workers. In \nparticular the paper examines the tensions and conflicts that have arisen, particularly between \nthe new outgrowers and the estate. The paper in turn explores the implications for sugar \npolitics in Zimbabwe’s Lowveld. The new outgrowers were drawn from a range of previous \noccupations and, compared to land reform beneficiaries in nearby dryland smallholder areas, \nwere richer, better educated and more well-connected politically. The paper asks how this \nnew group negotiated a relationship with a large-scale South African capitalist enterprise, \nand with what outcomes. More broadly, the paper examines how outgrowers, the state and \ncapital brokered a politically and economically acceptable post-land reform deal, suiting all \nparties. Based on the longitudinal case study insights, the paper concludes with an assessment \nof whether Zimbabwe’s very particular sugar outgrower model of land reform will work, and \nif it does, for whom

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