“Resettled and Yet Unsettled?” Land Conflicts and Food (in) security in Insiza North, Zimbabwe, 2005-2013

Abstract

The Land resettlement programme in Zimbabwe beginning around 2000 has been hotly contested within and outside the country. The land occupations had far reaching effects on the social, political and economic landscape of the country in general and Insiza district in particular. The state-led resettlement programme has brought to the district and country unanticipated and incessant conflict. In the Insiza district, this conflict has been between and amongst the following: national political parties; the Shona and Ndebele in the area; the only remaining white rancher and the resettled farmers who violated boundaries, among other things; the local government administration and the resettled farmers. These conflicts were heightened by the return of one Chief Jahana to Insiza with many of his subjects in 2006 to reclaim ‘his motherland’ having been displaced by the colonial regime in the 1960s. Having the support of some of the locals and influential politicians, Jahana’s movement has seen tension heightening by the day. This paper uses the case of Insiza District to evaluate the post-colonial state’s land resettlement exercise. It demonstrates how the conflicts are intricately woven with the food security situation in the region. By and large, we argue, the resettled farmers in Insiza are ‘unsettled’. The paper uses interviews, newspapers and District Council minutes to arrive at a number of conclusions. We note that, in a number of ways, the land conflicts have a potential to derail the success of the resettlement exercise.