Shifting Gender Dimensions and Rural Livelihoods after Zimbabwe’s Fast-Track Land Reform Programme

Zimbabwe’s Agrarian livelihoods have drastically changed within the last decade due to the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme (FTLPR) that saw massive transfer of land from white commercial farmers to black farmers. The agricultural revolution led to re-peasantization processes coming back on the national agenda, with women participating in the process of land acquisition and investing in farming activities. In this article, we discuss the role that women have been playing in the new agricultural sphere in Zimbabwe, in light of land acquisition modes, the crops that are grown and the different entrepreneurial activities undertaken by women. The article demonstrates how re-peasantization processes have led to the recognition of land as a central resource shaping rural livelihoods, especially for women, in terms of contributing to the national and household food baskets.