Research team

B.Z. Mavedzenge

Land interview with Blasio Mavedzenge

BZ  is a senior research technician with the Agricultural Research and Extension Service of Zimbabwe, based in Masvingo. From 1981-2004 he was team leader of the Masvingo province team of the Department of Research and Specialist Services’ Farming Systems Research Unit. He is a contributing author to ‘Hazards and Opportunities: Farming Livelihoods in Dryland Africa – Lessons from Zimbabwe’ (Zed, 1996). BZ led the field team for the Livelihoods after Land Reform project in Zimbabwe, and coordinated work in the Gutu and Masvingo clusters. He is a resettlement farmer himself with an A1 plot in Shashe farm near Mashava

Ian Scoones

Ian is a Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK. He is an agricultural ecologist by training, interested in exploring the links between environment, livelihoods and policy processes. A social and institutional perspective is at the centre of his work, which explores the linkages between local knowledges and practices and the processes of scientific enquiry, development policy-making and field-level implementation. He has worked in Zimbabwe since the mid-1980s when he did his PhD studies on livestock and livelihoods in Mazvihwa communal area. He worked with the then Farming Systems Research Unit, including BZ Mavedzenge and Felix Murimbarimba, from the early 1990s, when they undertook research in Chivi on dryland farming, soils management and policy issues, resulting in a number of books, including ‘Hazards and Opportunities’ (1996), ‘Dynamics and Diversity’ (2001), ‘Pathways of Change’ (2002) and ‘Understanding Environmental Policy Processes (2003). Work on the Sustainable Livelihoods in Southern Africa acted as a precursor to the ESRC/DFID project on Livelihoods after Land Reform.

Chrispen Sukume

Chrispen is an agricultural economist and was formerly an Assistant Professor in the Department for Agricultural Economics and Extension at the University of Zimbabwe. He is now an independent consultant based in Harare. He has contributed extensively to recent discussions about land reform, including inputs into the 2005 World Bank review. Key publications include: ‘Comparative advantage of crop production in Zimbabwe’ (USAID, 2000); ‘Land reform in Zimbabwe: farm level effects and cost-benefit analysis’ (IFPRI, 2002) and ‘Impact of subdivision policy on land delivery’ (CASS/Land Tenure Center, 2003)

Nelson Marongwe

Nelson is an urban and rural planner by original training and works with the CASS Trust, based in Harare. He has been a Research Fellow on an IDRC funded Research Project, focusing on fast track resettlement in Zimbabwe and its impact on forestry resources.  Other recent work has included research on the role of Traditional Authority in Community Based Natural Resource Management, and on Fast Track resettlement in Mazowe, Shamva and Makonde Districts, focusing on the infrastructure development needs and the state of the environment in the newly settled areas. He has an MA  in Environmental Policy and Planning, and completed his PhD at PLAAS - Interrogating Zimbabwe’s Fast Track Resettlement Programme: a focus on beneficiary selection.

Felix Murimbarimba

Land interview with Felix Murimbarimba

Felix trained as an agricultural extensionist and worked as a member of the Farming Systems Research Unit in Chivi from 1980. He then transferred to working with Agritex until resigning to take up full-time farming. He is a resettlement farmer with an A2 sugar plot on the Hippo Valley estate. He has been involved in the Livelihoods after Land Reform project as the lead field researcher for the Ngundu/Chiredzi cluster.

Jacob Mahenehene

Land interview with Jacob Mahenehene

Jacob is a farmer in the Chikombedzi area, where he has lived since birth. He has been involved in the resettlement programme, both in an informal settlement and more recently in a A1 resettlement scheme near his home in the communal areas. He has been a research assistant on a number of projects, and worked closely with Will Wolmer in his work in the lowveld which resulted in the book, ‘From Wilderness Vision to Farm Invasions’. Jacob oversaw the fieldwork in the Chikombedzi cluster during the Livelihoods after Land Reform project.