Farm size protection, informal subdivision: the impact of subdivision policy on land delivery and security of property rights in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Beyond Phase I of Zimbabwe’s Land Reform and Resettlement Program (1980-1998) and fast track resettlement, the private land market has created an important process of shadow land reform and de facto land redistribution. However, legal constraints on subdivision and the high costs of subdividing and defining property rights on the ground are creating a legal limbo where the current owner is de facto subdividing property but the new claimants are unable to secure land rights or financial capital to aid in development. This paper analyzes the legal and institutional constraints to subdivision and consolidation, the financial and time constraints to subdivision, and the contribution of subdivisions and consolidations to the expansion and/or contraction in land supply. It also presents findings of current case study research contrasting subdivision constraints with de facto subdivision that is nonetheless occurring on the ground, and the detrimental effects informal subdivision is having on land use management and capital investment unless current policies are modified.