Synthesis

The first edition of this book in 1994 covered a century of Zimbabwe’s agricultural development experience because of the growing recognition that development is a long-term process that unfolds over decades, generations and centuries (Rukuni and Eicher, 1994). During Zimbabwe’s first decade of independence in the 1980s, Zimbabwe’s agricultural development experience was praised by scientists, practitioners and donor agencies in southern Africa and, in particular, by the United Nations264 because both smallholders and large- scale commercial farmers were flourishing. However, the success of the 1980s was followed by a number of setbacks in the early 1990s. As a result, the editors of the first edition reported in 1994 that Zimbabwe’s overall experience in food and agricultural development since independence represented a ‘qualified agricultural success story’ (Eicher and Rukuni, 1994). They also concluded that it remained to be seen whether Zimbabwe would find the political resolve to make the necessary political, institutional and economic policy changes to bring about a third agricultural revolution that was broad-based and of benefit to farmers and rural people in both favourable and unfavourable natural resource regions.

An overview of Zimmabwe's agrarian reforms.