Land reform in Zimbabwe

Land reform in Zimbabwe began in 1980 under the Lancaster House Agreement following internationally recognised independence, aiming to redistribute land from white commercial farmers to black subsistence farmers. White farmers controlled a disproportionate share of arable land and dominated the commercial agricultural sector, which accounted for a large share of exports and formal employment. Land hunger was a key issue during the Rhodesian Bush War. The Lancaster House framework, which ended the war, allowed land acquisition on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, with the United Kingdom funding half of the cost.

In the late 1990s, when British funding ended, the Zimbabwean government led by Robert Mugabe launched a “fast-track” land reform programme, involving the forcible seizure of white-owned farms. The programme was criticised for violence, contested boundaries, inadequate resettlement and compensation, and was followed by a sharp decline in agricultural production and exports. Land reform had a serious negative effect on the Zimbabwean economy during the 2000s. By 2013, almost all white-owned farms had been expropriated. Compulsory acquisition without compensation was formally discontinued in 2018 following the ousting of Mugabe, and later efforts focused on compensating dispossessed farmers.