Land use change in Hariana A1 resettlement area, Mvurwi, northern Zimbabwe

As discussed in the previous blog, a participatory discussion was conducted in Hariana in March 2026. The group consisted of  15 participants, consisting of both men and women of different ages. These people were highly knowledgeable of the area, and all have lived in the area since 2000.

The discussion started with what the participants understood by the term ‘environment’. In the ‘local lexicon. The word ‘environment’ was understood variously as ‘nharaunda’ or ‘zviwanikwa’. This included trees, grass, water, soils, forests, wildlife, climate and people themselves. Some also identified the quality of infrastructure, including roads. The discussions then turned to the environmental challenges that people are now facing 25 years later.

Environmental challenges

People complained that they no longer have trees, while others said that wildlife has been depleted. As one participant noted, ‘There are no large wildlife anymore – we are now left with small hares.’  Women also complained that fish and fruits had been depleted. They pointed out that environmental changes were also linked to changes in leadership (kuchinja kwavatungamiriri).

We asked why these changes were happening. The participants identified several factors that have resulted in these environmental changes. The participants said that trees have been heavily depleted in the area because of selling firewood, tobacco farming and cooking. Here are some quotes.

“Poverty has contributed to the depletion of trees. When we first came here, our produces were bought with good prices. However, things have since changed. The changes in leadership have meant that changes in prices for our commodities. Because of poverty, we are now cutting down and selling trees.”

“The farming of tobacco has resulted in the depletion of trees.”

“Miners are also depleting trees. These miners come and poach firewood here.”

“Veld fires are also destroying grasses. This is usually caused by hunters who would be trying to catch mice”…. “Imagine burning the whole forest (sango) to catch a small hare!’

Participants also complained about the problem of water hyacinth in dams. “Our dams are fast shrinking because of water hyacinth. I think the white farmers planted them in the dams before they left.”

Others pointed to wider environmental causes of environmental changes such as either drought or incessant rains. For example, one male participant noted: “Too much rain causes soil leaching”.

Another participant said, “In the past few years, we did receive little rains and we did not have a lot of grass as a result. We need good rains for us to have grass. Otherwise, if there is a shortfall in rains, the grass won’t grow.”

“The outbreak of January Disease affected the provision of manure, which is important for improving soil fertility”, participants explained.

Underlying causes: institutions and politics

Participants also told us that ‘kusabatana kwevanhu’ (lack of unity) amongst people has also contributed to environmental changes. “For example, if we say let’s come and fix eroded roads, someone will tell you ‘Ah, I don’t have a car’”.

“Since settlement, we only have one primary school, despite this farm being one of the farms to be acquired for settlement. Our children attend school in garages. There are no buildings. The quality of the education is very bad. As a result, this has implication for environment as our children do not have enough knowledge and education about the environment” (Male participant).

“Over the past years, we have seen changes in institutions and personnel in relation to authority. In the past, we had ‘Committees of Seven’, and later masabhuku were later installed, but were removed and VIDCOs were reinstated, now we are told that we are going to have masabhuku and headmen as our leaders again. There have been many changes which affect environment.” (Male participant).

“The problem these days is that the selection of leaders is no longer based on merit. The chief just hand-pick his people whom he wants to be a sabhuku, and it doesn’t matter whether or not that person is competent. The selection is based on totems. For example, if the chief is of Moyo totem he/she would also pick a Moyo to be his sabhuku. Such selection process hinders development. This is very different to the selection of chairpersons, which is based on merit. If we are not happy with the chairperson, or we have an underperforming chairman, we can report him/her to his/her superiors, and we can have the chairperson removed or recalled. Or we can vote him/her out in the next election. But this is different to masabhuku as they are handpicked by the chief, and we therefore have the powers to remove.”

“In most cases, chiefs just handpick their own relatives to be the leaders, and in most cases, such leadership is very undemocratic and leads to oppression (kudzvanyirira). This is very different to party leadership as we get to select our leadership through the vote. If we have problem with the VIDCO, we can simply report the matter to the councilor and the councilor will come quickly and resolve the matter.”

However, another participant challenged the argument:

“I think the traditional leadership (masabhuku) was better because the VIDCO has sold the whole commons here. All the areas that were designated and set aside for grazing (kuma-paddocks) have been allocated to people by VIDCO/party members.  This happened a few years ago, and we no longer have grazing. These leaders sold land, even to people from outside. As a result, we no longer have grazing areas. These were high areas, with forests, which were good for grazing during the rainy season. Such places allowed for cattle to rest under tree shades and also to lie down when they want to rest. Such places are now settled, and we are now grazing our cattle in wetlands. How can cattle rest or lie down in wetlands?”

“In 2018, some people were settled by the party (musangano). After that, there were some VIDCO and party members who started selling land. That’s why people are now complaining.”, a participant who used to be part of the VIDCO herself.

Enclosing the commons

Discussions turned to the problems arising from the individualisation of land use and the enclosure of the commons. Everyone agreed that there were no commons/ grazing areas anymore. These grazing areas have been settled. “Today, commons no longer exist. You can’t cut any tree. The moment you start cutting a tree, someone would appear and say this is my area, you can’t cut the tree in my area.” Sites within common land that were once protected as sacred places (Nzvimbo dzinokosheswa) can be encroached. As participants noted, these include particularly mountains and wetlands.

There has been ‘privatizing’ of space, often near the homestead/crop fields. Most people have such places, which they claim as theirs. There is also part of the commons which was recently allocated to someone as a site to build an abattoir. The participants claimed that a member of the VIDCO sold the land. However, there was an ongoing conflict, and no structure has been built on the site as of yet.

Interpreting the maps

We identified four areas on the maps where significant changes had occurred over time (indicated by coloured numbers in the figure below). Discussions focused on each of these to highlight the reasons why such changes had happened.

Area 1: Near Mandindindi turn-off. “The area was initially left aside as grazing area, but there are now crop fields. There are also some small hills there. This area is located at the edge of the area, and people from farms (Bright, Mandindindi and Machere farms are cutting trees and grazing relatively large herds there. This area has a sacred grave, and Chief (mambo) ordered that it should not be allocated to people. This place was therefore left vacant. However, farmers from neighbouring villages took advantage, and are now using it as commons – cutting trees and grazing their herds. In an attempt to ‘guard’ the area, some people were settled near the area.”

“The chief said that we mustn’t settle people there because there is a sacred grave there. So, this area was left unoccupied. However, people from other neighbouring farms such as Bright, Mandindindi and Machere farms have taken the advantage and are now using the area to graze their cattle and cutting down trees. This area has therefore seen deforestation because no one controls the area anymore”. Another participant commented, “This is the area where you find a lot of muzhanje trees. It maybe that the only trees you see remaining are muzhanje trees.”

Area 2: Corner Hariana. “This area was settled by mainly ‘children’ of the A1 settlers. In the past, there were lots of trees there, but now all cleared as they opened up their ‘stands’. These people were allocated ‘70m by 60m’ stands. This development came through the ‘party’, with the aim to settle ‘youth’. Another commented, “This came through the party. The VIDCOs were ordered by the party to give youth stands. Then the VIDCOs would move around identifying open places for settlement of these youths. This is how it all happened. This was happening during every election… Some corrupt VIDCO members would also take the opportunity to sell land to others, not necessarily ‘children’ from the area.“

Area 3: Crop field consolidation. “In the past, some people would cultivate only two ha of their six ha of arable land. People would even do crop rotation. But as time goes on, people started cultivating all their land as adult children also took up farming. For example, as a farmer I might have a son who has been working in Harare in the early years, and he later decided to farm. As children get involved in farming, such farmers would be compelled to borrow or lease in additional arable land from others. This is why we see crop fields consolidating. In addition, those with a leeway to extend their crop fields have also done so, especially at the edges with room for expansion. Around 2001, people were not cultivating their whole arable plots. Other people are also coming all the way from Chiweshe to rent unused arable land. So you will find that all the arable land is now being cultivated. No area is left fallow these days. Nowadays, people are now interested in venturing into the farming industry. So, there is now a high demand for land for leasing.”

Area 4: Gan’a near Kwa-Fex near the gardens. “In the early 2000s, there was lot of water there (wetlands). “In the past, there was a lot of mukute trees (waterberry trees) which ‘holds’ water. However, these trees have been cut down over the years. Moreso, cattle were not grazed in these areas. But over the years, people have grazed their animals there, and because of the hoof action, there is now a lot of seepage, that’s why the water disappeared.”. Another noted: “In the past, white farmers would fence off wetlands to prevent cattle from grazing those areas.”

The analysis of the time-series satellite images revealed how environmental change is not linear. Wetlands disappear and reappear depending on rainfall and patterns of land use, with livestock pressure resulting in soil compaction and reduced wetland recharge, for example. The same applies to forested areas. Periods of clearing and extensive cultivation as happened in the 2000s resulted in declines in forest cover, while with the lack of draft power and labour today, forests are again encroaching in some areas on what were fields as cultivated areas become concentrated around homes.

As we discovered, changes in land use are often quite time and location specific. One area can see reforestation, while another can see cutting down of trees and clearance for fields. Market institutions, such as land leasing, can drive field expansion as more people require land. Drivers of change are almost always social and political, with encroachment of areas once protected from neighbouring villagers or where party officials allocated land to young people during election times being pointed to as cases of why fewer trees were seen in a particular period and place.

Snapshot views on environmental change are therefore always wrong. Environments are dynamic and we must understand the intersecting environmental, social, economic and political drivers of change. As we found in our participatory discussions of the images in Hariana, the best insights naturally come from those who are on the ground observing and responding to these changes every day.

This is the second in a blog series on land use and environmental change and was written by Tapiwa Chatikobo, Keen Marozva, Felix Murimbarimba and Ian Scoones. The blog first appeared on Zimbabweland