IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/agspub/v6y2017i1p79-112.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changing Forms of Wage Labour in Zimbabwe’s New Agrarian Structure

Author

Listed:
  • Walter Chambati

Abstract

This essay examines the changing nature of farm wage labour in the context of the extensive redistributive land reform since 2000. Using field research from two districts in Zimbabwe with contrasting agro-ecology and socio-economic patterns, it shows that agrarian wage labour is not the preserve of large-scale capitalist farms (LSCFs), which it is usually associated with. The new agrarian structure dominated by the peasantry not only employs an expanded base of unpaid family labourers, but also employs ‘informal’ wage labour whose character and conditions of employment are qualitatively different from the full and part-time labour of the past. Yet, there is continuation of the super-exploitation of agrarian wage labourers that is reflected by the payment of poor wages and differing degrees of the institution of the residential labour tenancy in both the old and new farm compounds. Landlessness and/or land shortage continues to be a key characteristic of farm wage labourers as in the past suggesting the persistence of the labour reserve dynamic.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Chambati, 2017. "Changing Forms of Wage Labour in Zimbabwe’s New Agrarian Structure," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 6(1), pages 79-112, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:6:y:2017:i:1:p:79-112
    DOI: 10.1177/2277976017721346
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2277976017721346
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2277976017721346?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maertens, Miet & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Trade, Standards, and Poverty: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 161-178, January.
    2. Rigg, Jonathan, 2006. "Land, farming, livelihoods, and poverty: Rethinking the links in the Rural South," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 180-202, January.
    3. Sam Moyo & Blair Rutherford & Dede Amanor‐Wilks, 2000. "Land reform & changing social relations for farm workers in Zimbabwe," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(84), pages 181-202.
    4. Hellum, Anne & Derman, Bill, 2004. "Land Reform and Human Rights in Contemporary Zimbabwe: Balancing Individual and Social Justice Through an Integrated Human Rights Framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1785-1805, October.
    5. Sam Moyo, 2011. "Land concentration and accumulation after redistributive reform in post-settler Zimbabwe," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(128), pages 257-276, June.
    6. Sirisha C. Naidu & Lyn Ossome, 2016. "Social Reproduction and the Agrarian Question of Women’s Labour in India," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 5(1), pages 50-76, April.
    7. Jennifer Adams, 1991. "The Rural Labour Market in Zimbabwe," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 297-320, April.
    8. Waeterloos, Evert & Rutherford, Blair, 2004. "Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Challenges and Opportunities for Poverty Reduction Among Commercial Farm Workers," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 537-553, March.
    9. Sam Moyo, 2016. "Family farming in sub-Saharan Africa: its contribution to agriculture, food security and rural development," Working Papers 150, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Freedom Mazwi & Rangarirai G. Muchetu & George T. Mudimu, 2021. "Revisiting the Trimodal Agrarian Structure as a Social Differentiation Analysis Framework in Zimbabwe: A Study," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 10(2), pages 318-343, August.
    2. Lyn Ossome & Sirisha C. Naidu, 2021. "Does Land Still Matter? Gender and Land Reforms in Zimbabwe," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 10(2), pages 344-370, August.
    3. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    4. Bart Minten & Anneleen Vandeplas & Johan Swinnen, 2011. "Regulations, Brokers, and Interlinkages: The Institutional Organization of Wholesale Markets in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(7), pages 864-886, May.
    5. Roger Southall, 2011. "Too Soon to Tell? Land Reform in Zimbabwe," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 46(3), pages 83-97.
    6. Gómez, Miguel I. & Ricketts, Katie D., 2013. "Food value chain transformations in developing countries: Selected hypotheses on nutritional implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 139-150.
    7. Maertens, Miet & Verhofstadt, Ellen, 2013. "Horticultural exports, female wage employment and primary school enrolment: Theory and evidence from Senegal," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 118-131.
    8. Houssa, Romain & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2015. "The Unintended Consequence of an Export Ban: Evidence from Benin’s Shrimp Sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 138-150.
    9. Schipmann, Christin & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Supply chain differentiation, contract agriculture, and farmers’ marketing preferences: The case of sweet pepper in Thailand," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 667-677.
    10. Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane & Koru, Bethlehem & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum, 2018. "Productivity and efficiency in high-potential areas," IFPRI book chapters, in: The economics of teff: Exploring Ethiopia’s biggest cash crop, chapter 7, pages 149-180, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Stephanie BARRIENTOS & Gary GEREFFI & Arianna ROSSI, 2011. "Economic and social upgrading in global production networks: A new paradigm for a changing world," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 150(3-4), pages 319-340, December.
    12. Johan F.M. Swinnen & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2007. "Vertical coordination, rent distribution, and development," LICOS Discussion Papers 18407, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    13. Cuong Van Hoang & Tuyen Quang Tran & Yen Hai Thi Nguyen & Lan Thanh Nguyen, 2020. "Forest resources and household welfare: Empirical evidence from North Central Vietnam," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 311-333, November.
    14. Amare, Mulubrhan & Hohfeld, Lena & Waibel, Hermann, 2011. "Finding Quality Employment through Rural Urban Migration: a case study from Thailand," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 4, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    15. Chiputwa, Brian & Spielman, David J. & Qaim, Matin, 2015. "Food Standards, Certification, and Poverty among Coffee Farmers in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 400-412.
    16. Yen H. T. Nguyen & Tuyen Q. Tran & Dung T. Hoang & Thu M. T. Tran & Trung T. Nguyen, 2023. "Land quality, income, and poverty among rural households in the North Central Region, Vietnam," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 150-172, June.
    17. Elena Baglioni, 2022. "The Making of Cheap Labour across Production and Reproduction: Control and Resistance in the Senegalese Horticultural Value Chain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(3), pages 445-464, June.
    18. Eyal RONEN, 2017. "Quantifying the trade effects of NTMs: A review of the empirical literature," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 263-274, September.
    19. Miet Maertens & Liesbeth Colen & Johan F. M. Swinnen, 2011. "Globalisation and poverty in Senegal: a worst case scenario?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 38(1), pages 31-54, March.
    20. Gianluca Orefice, 2017. "Non-Tariff Measures, Specific Trade Concerns and Tariff Reduction," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(9), pages 1807-1835, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:agspub:v:6:y:2017:i:1:p:79-112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.