The Situation of Commercial Farm Workers after Land Reform in Zimbabwe

An executive summary and recommendations are followed by 5 chapters: on the land question, reform and farm workers; the scope and process of fast track reform; the impact of land reform on farm workers’ livelihoods; food security, vulnerable groups, HIV-AIDS and coping strategies; and after the ‘promised land’ – towards the future. Study reveals that by early 2003, only about 100,000 of the original c.320,000 farm workers were still employed on the farms, the others are jobless and landless and have lost their entitlement to housing, basic social services and subsidised food. Only a quarter received severance packages. Family structures are under severe stress. There is an uneasy relationship with land reform beneficiaries, with conflicts over housing, land, water, and food. A series of recommendations on inputs, infrastructure, coping strategies, HIV/AIDS, informal settlements, skills, compensation, the need for transparent agrarian reform, conflict resolution, citizenship, and future models in the Southern African region – in which farm workers need to be integrated from the beginning.