Large Commercial Farmers and Land Reform in Africa

Part 1 Introduction: large farms and large farmers worldwide; large farms as object of redistributive land reforms. Part 2 Agrarian structure and the position of large farms in Zimbabwe: historic development; present political and economic status of the large commercial farmers; land policy since independence. Part 3 Outline of the large commercial farmers study: objectives of the research; the implementation; research areas and characteristics of the sample farms. Part 4 Characteristics of the surveyed farmers: personal and family data; historic background of the farmers' families. Part 5 Crop and animal production: crop production; use of irrigation; animal husbandry; wildlife. Part 6 Impact of the drought of 1991 and 1992: extent and effects on production and farm economy; countermeasures and lessons for the future. Part 7 Investment and finance: investment behaviour; finance facilities. Part 8 Farm labour and social issues: structure and quantitative development of farm labour; labour management; wages and living conditions; nutrition and health situation in the workers' families; the farmers' social consciousness, responsibilities and loyalties. Part 9 Professional environment and outlook to the future: the professional and political support system; commitment to farming; plans for the future; farmers' assessment of the new land redistribution programme; reactions to land reform. Part 10 The large commercial farmers in the Zimbabwean society: position in the society; assistance to other agricultural groups. Part 11 Final assessment of the large farmers' contributions and liabilities. Part 12 Concluding remarks: speculations on the future of the large farmers' community; lessons from the Zimbabwean land reform.