Resettlement: Zimbabwe's first step

More than a year after independence, the main changes in agriculture in Zimbabwe have been minimum wage legislation, a high maize price accompanied by an exceptionally good growing season, the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) reinstallation and food programmes and the small beginnings of resettlement (and larger numbers of squatters). Certain food subsidies also affect rural areas although their greatest benefits accrue to those with urban incomes and urban diets. In addition the ‘former tribal trust lands’ are subject to increasing politicization as the newly elected district councils flex their muscles, providing at the same time an apparent attempt at decentralization and local participation with greatly increased expectations of assistance from the state. The future is uncertain, but it is evident that while the standard of living for the majority in rural areas remains so starkly low, the government will be forced to contend with sharply polarized forces, both within and outside the state apparatus, that seek to speed or dissipate the rate of change.