Policies on the Cultivation of Vleis in Zimbabwe and Local Resistance to their Enforcement: A case study of Mutoko and Chivi Districts

Case study
, 24 pages
PDF (194.93 KB)
X168IIED.pdf
Language:
English
Published: January 2000
Area(s):
Managing Africa's Soils Series
ISBN: 9781843692072
Product code:X168IIED

Farmers in Zimbabwe have for many years been forbidden to cultivate fertile wetland areas known as vleis, ostensibly in the name of protecting the environment. This paper analyses how local people and extension agents have responded to a deeply unpopular policy put in place by the colonial government, and maintained even after independence. The study covers two contrasting areas: Chivi in the south, where the State almost succeeded in suppressing the cultivation of vleis, and Mutoko in the north, where there was strong local resistance to the ban on this activity. The paper also highlights the marked difference between the policy concept and its implementation on the ground

Cite this publication

Mukamuri, B. and Mavedzenge, T. (2000). Policies on the Cultivation of Vleis in Zimbabwe and Local Resistance to their Enforcement: A case study of Mutoko and Chivi Districts. .
Available at https://www.iied.org/x168iied