Zimbabwe: Landuse in Dry Tropical Savannas

Commercial farming systems

Commercial farming systems in the dry savannas of Zimbabwe have the following characteristics. They occur in areas held under private tenure, the sizes of the holdings are large and support a small human population, the production motive is primarily influenced by economic objectives. Most of these farming systems in the southern part of Zimbabwe focus on livestock ranging and lately wildlife farming.

Private tenure allows the owners to experiment with various land use strategies. In the dry savannas these farms have been used for commercial livestock production. Where the comparative economics of ranching with game as against cattle seem to stacked against cattle, especially if meat can be combined with hunting safari operations.(Child, 1988). Some of these farms have been turned to wildlife and related activities (Child, 1988). This flexibility arises from the fact that the owners do not need the consent of many other groups.

Commercial livestock systems have sometimes been characterised by monocultural uses of the land. The production motive for commercial farming system is profit. In those cases where conservation issues will interfere with economic goals, the former suffers. Wildlife has been removed from these areas when it was seen to be a threat to livestock populations. This has resulted in a threat to hunting dog populations for example.

The inequitable distribution of land

About forty percent of Zimbabwe's land area is under commercial farming systems. Ownership of commercial farming systems in Zimbabwe is dominated by whites (Population, 4 000). This is a relic from the colonial days when government policy was against private ownership of land by indigenous African people. After independence a few African people, mainly elites from the ruling class are now part of the commercial farming system.

Commercial farming systems are currently threatened by government's land redistribution programmes. The government argues that some of the farms are not being adequately utilised. At the same time there is land pressure in the communal lands . Some of the farms will be designated for redistribution to communal area farmers. In some circles it is believed that the stocking of the commercial farms with wildlife , while ostensibly a form of diversification and conservation, is in actual fact a ploy to avoid designation by the government.