Zimbabwe: Land Hunger and the war veteran-led occupations movement in 2000

In 2000 Zimbabwe witnessed a dramatic nationwide land occupations movement led by veterans of the 1970s guerrilla war. The dynamics, geographical breadth, politics as well as the position of the state distinguished it qualitatively from preceding waves of land occupations. The war veterans' growing disappointment over land and conflicts with the government they considered to have betrayed liberation objectives led to direct confrontation and eventually an about-face by the Zimbabwean state, also subject to tremendous international pressure to halt the controversial fast-track land reform. Although the authorities increasingly latched onto this land movement 'from above' after 2000, it nonetheless brought an end to white control of large farms. Yet for war veterans and farm workers, many questions remain as to the fairness of land distribution and the capacity of the current framework to eliminate social inequalities in the countryside.