via Land audit commendable but … | The Zimbabwean 9 July 2014 by Nelson Sibanda

The proposed government land audit and redistribution of farms has been commended, but women fear the exercise might disadvantage them if it remains centralised at the Zanu (PF) Politburo.

Government has given in to calls from many quarters for a proper audit of farms acquired under the land redistribution programme. But it is not clear whether those found to have accumulated multiple properties will actually see them being re-distributed to deserving and needy citizens.

Glanis Changachirere, director and founder of the Institute for Young Women’s Development, welcomed the audit but emphasised the need to decentralise the land redistribution exercise to village or ward level.

“It would seem the land redistribution exercise is centralised at the Zanu (PF) Politburo. Given the polarised nature of the country some sections of society might be discriminated against,” she said, urging government to correct previous mistakes.

According to Changachirere, high levels of corruption at all levels of government would make it difficult for land to be fairly distributed.

Despite women making up the majority of Zimbabwe’s population, they remain a minority in land ownership. In the case of married women, the husband claims ownership of the land.

Marginalised young women at mines and villages remain the poorest, Changachirere noted, and deserve to be allocated land.

The land audit is expected to kick off 2015 if government secures the $35 million for the exercise. The European Union, United Nations Development Programme and World Bank have all indicated willingness to support the initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands Action Plan 2014-2016.

To help empower women through land ownership, the new A1 permits launched recently by President Robert Mugabe in Chinhoyi, will allow for inheritance by spouses.

Following the land redistribution programme, 20 percent of land owners and leaseholders are women, up from 5 percent. The target is 50%. Some 245,000 blacks were allocated land under both the A1 and A2 programmes.

Thandiwe Chidavarume, director for Women and Land in Zimbabwe, an NGO campaigning for greater land access for women, said: “Since 2000 both males and females could access land, hence the increased number of women owning land.”

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, women produce 80 percent of the region’s basic foodstuffs.