vongai zvidenga Nyawo | Midlands State University, Zimbabwe (original) (raw)

Papers by vongai zvidenga Nyawo

Events in the last decade around the land question in Zimbabwe and the broader political contexts... more Events in the last decade around the land question in Zimbabwe and the broader political contexts in which they have played out have been dramatic and transformative around the family fabric. The political history and the political economy continue to mould the quality of life for most families in significant ways. The family is a pillar of society as it influences the way society is structured, organized and functions, yet the Fast Track Land Reform Programme of 2000 in Zimbabwe came with disruptive tendencies to the family fabric and disadvantaged especially women. This paper targets the notion of split households as families spread their risk through maintaining dual farming households as fall back plan if ever they were evicted in one farm. The research sets out to establish the nature and extent of split households resulting in increased insecurity for the family unit, some women and their children. The study also examins how new farmers have invested in new marital and cohabitation relationships in order to manage split households as well as how the structure of the family as it stood in the fast track exposed women to challenges of all kinds. Desktop research and also interviews were carried out with members of families that split as well as with citizens who witnessed the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Recommendations are that the government should carry out a programme that campaigns for the promotion of family values, for families that were split by the land reform to get back together or restore the traditional respectability of the family.

Third world thematics, Apr 17, 2023

Industry is the production of an economic good or service within an economy. These industries are... more Industry is the production of an economic good or service within an economy. These industries are often classified into five divisions, first, primary, largely extractive industry where agriculture, tertiary, concerned with providing services. Fourth, quaternary, whose business is knowledge production. Fifth, quinary, which is about culture and research. Industry operates on the basis of production, target consumers and geographical reach. Following the Industrial Revolution, perhaps a third of the world's economic output is derived from manufacturing industries more than from agriculture. However, Sachikonye (1984) asserts that, in developing countries, Zimbabwe included, agriculture is the mainstay of the bulk source of inputs for agro-based and manufacturing industry accounting for the majority of export and employment. This article argues that agro-based industry in Zimbabwe has been losing its grip gradually and there is an imperative to re-invest in it. The power and domin...

When the second liberation war guns died down in Zimbabwe, a cease fire, and a Lancaster House Ag... more When the second liberation war guns died down in Zimbabwe, a cease fire, and a Lancaster House Agreement and independence followed. Post-colonial Zimbabwe has been another country in terms of what transpired in the dispensation that set in. Of interest has been how the different events strewn in the contemporary era that has seen words changing their meaning. In common use, almost every word has many shades of meaning and, therefore the need to interpret meaning cannot be over emphasized. Meaning has been influenced invariably in the context of gender, generations and historical epochs which are sometimes driven by politics, the economy, socio-cultural and religious happenings. Using different events in contemporary Zimbabwe as its background, this research sets out to identify and trace how meaning of words has been altered over time. Purposive convenience sampling was used to collect data from different parts of Zimbabwe, at each particular time depending on the event that occurre...

Using Bikita as a case study, this paper aims at analyzing the Native Land Husbandry Act (NLHA) o... more Using Bikita as a case study, this paper aims at analyzing the Native Land Husbandry Act (NLHA) of 1951 and the policy of Community Development and why these policies were met with massive opposition. We argue that the two policies, concerned with reshaping the social and economic order of the reserves actually heightened conflicts between and among individuals, families and communities. Land disputes between village heads, headmen and chiefs became common as they competed and jostled for land. Lawlessness spread into the countryside as peasants confronted government officials and defied state orders. These developments threatened settler rule and so NLHA was abandoned in 1962, to be replaced by the policy of Community Development. Again, it was hoped that community development would bring order and stability in the countryside by dampening peasants‟ protests and nationalist activities.Unfortunately for the colonial state, community development had the unforeseen consequence of fu...

International Research Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2013

The Zimbabwe Military Museum in Gweru seems to be struggling to come out of the colonial shell in... more The Zimbabwe Military Museum in Gweru seems to be struggling to come out of the colonial shell in which it was established. The permanent collection on display represents the kind of legacy which elevates the white settler ideologies. Through objects on display, supported with English text panels, the Zimbabwe Military Museum documents and memorialises in a seemingly celebratory manner, the colonial dominance. The task of this paper is to advocate for a national museum that claims both the past and the present to construct a decolonised future for the local indigenous people. As public institutions whose purpose in life is to serve the public, museums in Zimbabwe need to seriously consider offering services that are meaningful and relevant to the local indigenous communities. For that noble obligation to be fulfilled, the local indigenous communities should be actively involved in museums' programmes and activities. Using the qualitative and quantitative methodologies the paper examines the Zimbabwe Military Museum's exhibitions, analysed the literature that goes with it and interviewed users and officials of the Zimbabwe Military Museum.

Since the discovery of the vast fields of diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange District, Manicaland pr... more Since the discovery of the vast fields of diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange District, Manicaland province, life has not been the same for the people of the area and the surrounding districts, especially Marange, Mutare and Buhera. Diamond mining, both formal and informal, has impacted on their way of living, from their agriculture, their health, their values, the upbringing of their children, especially of school going age, their moral probity, including their language. Activities around the mine, the population traffic into a small place previously unknown to many even within the country, not to mention those from different countries have, in one way or the other, altered the way the people of Chiadzwa live. A people”s life had been transformed and history had to record the transformation. The research set out to document the changes noticeable in the way of life of the people of Chiadzwa and its hinterland. In tracing and recording the socio-economic activities around Chiadzwa, th...

Indigenous Knowledge Systems, also known as ethno-sciences or traditional ways of knowing are cri... more Indigenous Knowledge Systems, also known as ethno-sciences or traditional ways of knowing are critical in matters of food security, heritage, lifestyles, conservation, relations and the economy among other aspects of life. The Zimbabwe fast track land reform programme starting 2000, a corrective measure in the distribution of land post independence dispensation, came and disregarded these centres of traditional knowledge. This study sets out to assess the impact of the fast track land reform on IKS in resettled areas with emphasis on matters of food security. A survey of resettled areas shall be conducted in 5 A1 and 5 A2 farms in Chinhoyi Mashonaland West and the same number in Mavise- Midlands Province. Findings are largely that because of the relocation of people from communal areas into farmlands, burning of forests, cutting down of trees and mixing of people from different cultures, some indigenous knowledge got destroyed, eroded and even erased

Africa at large suf ered several discriminatory infamous acts that include notorious land acts wh... more Africa at large suf ered several discriminatory infamous acts that include notorious land acts which dispossessed black Africans of their land. In South Africa, the Natives Land Act of 1913 was the first major piece of segregation legislation passed by the Union Parliament, and remained a cornerstone of apartheid until the 1990s when it was replaced by the post- apartheid policy of land restitution. The Act decreed that only certain areas of the country could be owned by natives. These areas totaled only 13% of the entire land mass of the Union. The Act created a system of land tenure that deprived the majority of South AfricaA­s inhabitants of the right to own land which had major socio-economic repercussions. The 1913 Land Act turned 100 on the 19th of June 2013 and saw 2 major conferences being held, one in Cape Town (called Land Divided Conference) and another in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (under the theme A«Land Reform, Land Grabbing and Agricultural development in 21st Century AfricaA­), to reflect on the trajectory of an Act that came to be known as the original sin. The conferences were on the 19th of June 2013, the 19th year after the demise of apartheid which passed the Native Land Act on the 19th of June 1913. Through desktop, this paper set out to document the history of the 1913 Land Act in South Africa, analyse its impact on natives and examine how it has shaped issues of land to today. Findings are that the Act was the fulcrum of apartheid and its impact are far reaching.

DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2018

This article calls for a shift of attention from the colonial urban planning methods to a focus o... more This article calls for a shift of attention from the colonial urban planning methods to a focus on the post-colonial planning methods being adopted in new towns such as Ruwa. The core of the studies on urban planning in Zimbabwe has been centred on colonial established urban centres tending to promote the reproduction of spatial disparities in urban areas. This article argues that the only way to decolonise urban space in Zimbabwe is through establishing new towns which are not linked to the colonial planning system. All of the major towns in the country except Ruwa were established during the colonial era based on a planning system which segregated the African population. The colonial planning methods produced uneven development between areas occupied by Europeans and Africans. Although urban policies were deracialised during the post-colonial era, the physical nature of the built environment remained the same. While it was possible to change colonial urban policy, it was impossibl...

Oral History Journal of South Africa, Feb 4, 2015

Zimbabwe Peoples' Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the armed wing of Zimbabwe African People's Unio... more Zimbabwe Peoples' Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the armed wing of Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) which waged the war to liberate Zimbabwe. It operated from its bases in Zambia between 1964 and 1980. Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) was the ANC's armed wing which sought to liberate South Africa from minority rule. Both forces (MK and ZIPRA) worked side by side until the attainment of independence by Zimbabwe when ANC guerrillas were sent back to Zambia by the new Zimbabwean government. This paper argues that the failure of ZIPRA and Umkhonto Wesizwe to deploy larger numbers of guerrillas to the war front in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and South Africa was mainly caused by bio-physical challenges. ZAPU and ANC guerrillas faced the difficult task of crossing the Zambezi River and then walking through the sparsely vegetated areas, game reserves and parks until they reached villages deep into the country. Rhodesian and South African Defense Forces found it relatively easy to disrupt guerrilla movements along these routes. Even after entering into Rhodesia, ANC guerrillas had environmental challenges in crossing to South Africa. As such, they could not effectively launch protracted rural guerrilla warfare. Studies on ZIPRA and ANC guerrilla warfare have tended to ignore these environmental problems across inhospitable territories. For the ANC, surveillance along the Limpopo River and in the Kruger National Park acted more as impediments than conduits. The ANC also had to cope with almost all challenges which confronted ZIPRA guerrillas such as the Zambezi, Lake Kariba and various parks which Rhodesians always used as a first line of defense, but geographically speaking had a difficult task in South Africa where the environment was not favourable for guerrilla warfare.

This study seeks to identify features of environmental change in Mwenezi District and explore app... more This study seeks to identify features of environmental change in Mwenezi District and explore approaches to food security in the face of natural disasters with the aim of unmasking mass violence that occurred as a result of the flooding of Tokwe Mukorsi Dam. Mwenezi is a multicultural district comprising the Nambia, Shona, Ndebele, Venda and Shangani ethnic groups who are intermingled yet each has strong cultural traits. The District, which falls in Zimbabwe’s geographical region 5, which receives very little rainfall, has faced numerous environmental challenges. As a result of little food resources and given the recent flooding disaster at Tokwe Mukorsi Dam, the District is prone to mass violence where it comes to resource sharing. Network referencing was used to select 40 respondents among members of Mwenezi District to respond to a self-administered questionnaire interview schedule. Respondents of 40 years and above, and who have stayed in the District for more than 30 years we...

International Journal of African Renaissance Studies, Jul 3, 2014

Events in the last decade around the land question in Zimbabwe and the broader political contexts... more Events in the last decade around the land question in Zimbabwe and the broader political contexts in which they have played out have been dramatic and transformative around the family fabric. The political history and the political economy continue to mould the quality of life for most families in significant ways. The family is a pillar of society as it influences the way society is structured, organized and functions, yet the Fast Track Land Reform Programme of 2000 in Zimbabwe came with disruptive tendencies to the family fabric and disadvantaged especially women. This paper targets the notion of split households as families spread their risk through maintaining dual farming households as fall back plan if ever they were evicted in one farm. The research sets out to establish the nature and extent of split households resulting in increased insecurity for the family unit, some women and their children. The study also examins how new farmers have invested in new marital and cohabitation relationships in order to manage split households as well as how the structure of the family as it stood in the fast track exposed women to challenges of all kinds. Desktop research and also interviews were carried out with members of families that split as well as with citizens who witnessed the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Recommendations are that the government should carry out a programme that campaigns for the promotion of family values, for families that were split by the land reform to get back together or restore the traditional respectability of the family.

Third world thematics, Apr 17, 2023

Industry is the production of an economic good or service within an economy. These industries are... more Industry is the production of an economic good or service within an economy. These industries are often classified into five divisions, first, primary, largely extractive industry where agriculture, tertiary, concerned with providing services. Fourth, quaternary, whose business is knowledge production. Fifth, quinary, which is about culture and research. Industry operates on the basis of production, target consumers and geographical reach. Following the Industrial Revolution, perhaps a third of the world's economic output is derived from manufacturing industries more than from agriculture. However, Sachikonye (1984) asserts that, in developing countries, Zimbabwe included, agriculture is the mainstay of the bulk source of inputs for agro-based and manufacturing industry accounting for the majority of export and employment. This article argues that agro-based industry in Zimbabwe has been losing its grip gradually and there is an imperative to re-invest in it. The power and domin...

When the second liberation war guns died down in Zimbabwe, a cease fire, and a Lancaster House Ag... more When the second liberation war guns died down in Zimbabwe, a cease fire, and a Lancaster House Agreement and independence followed. Post-colonial Zimbabwe has been another country in terms of what transpired in the dispensation that set in. Of interest has been how the different events strewn in the contemporary era that has seen words changing their meaning. In common use, almost every word has many shades of meaning and, therefore the need to interpret meaning cannot be over emphasized. Meaning has been influenced invariably in the context of gender, generations and historical epochs which are sometimes driven by politics, the economy, socio-cultural and religious happenings. Using different events in contemporary Zimbabwe as its background, this research sets out to identify and trace how meaning of words has been altered over time. Purposive convenience sampling was used to collect data from different parts of Zimbabwe, at each particular time depending on the event that occurre...

Using Bikita as a case study, this paper aims at analyzing the Native Land Husbandry Act (NLHA) o... more Using Bikita as a case study, this paper aims at analyzing the Native Land Husbandry Act (NLHA) of 1951 and the policy of Community Development and why these policies were met with massive opposition. We argue that the two policies, concerned with reshaping the social and economic order of the reserves actually heightened conflicts between and among individuals, families and communities. Land disputes between village heads, headmen and chiefs became common as they competed and jostled for land. Lawlessness spread into the countryside as peasants confronted government officials and defied state orders. These developments threatened settler rule and so NLHA was abandoned in 1962, to be replaced by the policy of Community Development. Again, it was hoped that community development would bring order and stability in the countryside by dampening peasants‟ protests and nationalist activities.Unfortunately for the colonial state, community development had the unforeseen consequence of fu...

International Research Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2013

The Zimbabwe Military Museum in Gweru seems to be struggling to come out of the colonial shell in... more The Zimbabwe Military Museum in Gweru seems to be struggling to come out of the colonial shell in which it was established. The permanent collection on display represents the kind of legacy which elevates the white settler ideologies. Through objects on display, supported with English text panels, the Zimbabwe Military Museum documents and memorialises in a seemingly celebratory manner, the colonial dominance. The task of this paper is to advocate for a national museum that claims both the past and the present to construct a decolonised future for the local indigenous people. As public institutions whose purpose in life is to serve the public, museums in Zimbabwe need to seriously consider offering services that are meaningful and relevant to the local indigenous communities. For that noble obligation to be fulfilled, the local indigenous communities should be actively involved in museums' programmes and activities. Using the qualitative and quantitative methodologies the paper examines the Zimbabwe Military Museum's exhibitions, analysed the literature that goes with it and interviewed users and officials of the Zimbabwe Military Museum.

Since the discovery of the vast fields of diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange District, Manicaland pr... more Since the discovery of the vast fields of diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange District, Manicaland province, life has not been the same for the people of the area and the surrounding districts, especially Marange, Mutare and Buhera. Diamond mining, both formal and informal, has impacted on their way of living, from their agriculture, their health, their values, the upbringing of their children, especially of school going age, their moral probity, including their language. Activities around the mine, the population traffic into a small place previously unknown to many even within the country, not to mention those from different countries have, in one way or the other, altered the way the people of Chiadzwa live. A people”s life had been transformed and history had to record the transformation. The research set out to document the changes noticeable in the way of life of the people of Chiadzwa and its hinterland. In tracing and recording the socio-economic activities around Chiadzwa, th...

Indigenous Knowledge Systems, also known as ethno-sciences or traditional ways of knowing are cri... more Indigenous Knowledge Systems, also known as ethno-sciences or traditional ways of knowing are critical in matters of food security, heritage, lifestyles, conservation, relations and the economy among other aspects of life. The Zimbabwe fast track land reform programme starting 2000, a corrective measure in the distribution of land post independence dispensation, came and disregarded these centres of traditional knowledge. This study sets out to assess the impact of the fast track land reform on IKS in resettled areas with emphasis on matters of food security. A survey of resettled areas shall be conducted in 5 A1 and 5 A2 farms in Chinhoyi Mashonaland West and the same number in Mavise- Midlands Province. Findings are largely that because of the relocation of people from communal areas into farmlands, burning of forests, cutting down of trees and mixing of people from different cultures, some indigenous knowledge got destroyed, eroded and even erased

Africa at large suf ered several discriminatory infamous acts that include notorious land acts wh... more Africa at large suf ered several discriminatory infamous acts that include notorious land acts which dispossessed black Africans of their land. In South Africa, the Natives Land Act of 1913 was the first major piece of segregation legislation passed by the Union Parliament, and remained a cornerstone of apartheid until the 1990s when it was replaced by the post- apartheid policy of land restitution. The Act decreed that only certain areas of the country could be owned by natives. These areas totaled only 13% of the entire land mass of the Union. The Act created a system of land tenure that deprived the majority of South AfricaA­s inhabitants of the right to own land which had major socio-economic repercussions. The 1913 Land Act turned 100 on the 19th of June 2013 and saw 2 major conferences being held, one in Cape Town (called Land Divided Conference) and another in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (under the theme A«Land Reform, Land Grabbing and Agricultural development in 21st Century AfricaA­), to reflect on the trajectory of an Act that came to be known as the original sin. The conferences were on the 19th of June 2013, the 19th year after the demise of apartheid which passed the Native Land Act on the 19th of June 1913. Through desktop, this paper set out to document the history of the 1913 Land Act in South Africa, analyse its impact on natives and examine how it has shaped issues of land to today. Findings are that the Act was the fulcrum of apartheid and its impact are far reaching.

DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2018

This article calls for a shift of attention from the colonial urban planning methods to a focus o... more This article calls for a shift of attention from the colonial urban planning methods to a focus on the post-colonial planning methods being adopted in new towns such as Ruwa. The core of the studies on urban planning in Zimbabwe has been centred on colonial established urban centres tending to promote the reproduction of spatial disparities in urban areas. This article argues that the only way to decolonise urban space in Zimbabwe is through establishing new towns which are not linked to the colonial planning system. All of the major towns in the country except Ruwa were established during the colonial era based on a planning system which segregated the African population. The colonial planning methods produced uneven development between areas occupied by Europeans and Africans. Although urban policies were deracialised during the post-colonial era, the physical nature of the built environment remained the same. While it was possible to change colonial urban policy, it was impossibl...

Oral History Journal of South Africa, Feb 4, 2015

Zimbabwe Peoples' Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the armed wing of Zimbabwe African People's Unio... more Zimbabwe Peoples' Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the armed wing of Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) which waged the war to liberate Zimbabwe. It operated from its bases in Zambia between 1964 and 1980. Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) was the ANC's armed wing which sought to liberate South Africa from minority rule. Both forces (MK and ZIPRA) worked side by side until the attainment of independence by Zimbabwe when ANC guerrillas were sent back to Zambia by the new Zimbabwean government. This paper argues that the failure of ZIPRA and Umkhonto Wesizwe to deploy larger numbers of guerrillas to the war front in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and South Africa was mainly caused by bio-physical challenges. ZAPU and ANC guerrillas faced the difficult task of crossing the Zambezi River and then walking through the sparsely vegetated areas, game reserves and parks until they reached villages deep into the country. Rhodesian and South African Defense Forces found it relatively easy to disrupt guerrilla movements along these routes. Even after entering into Rhodesia, ANC guerrillas had environmental challenges in crossing to South Africa. As such, they could not effectively launch protracted rural guerrilla warfare. Studies on ZIPRA and ANC guerrilla warfare have tended to ignore these environmental problems across inhospitable territories. For the ANC, surveillance along the Limpopo River and in the Kruger National Park acted more as impediments than conduits. The ANC also had to cope with almost all challenges which confronted ZIPRA guerrillas such as the Zambezi, Lake Kariba and various parks which Rhodesians always used as a first line of defense, but geographically speaking had a difficult task in South Africa where the environment was not favourable for guerrilla warfare.

This study seeks to identify features of environmental change in Mwenezi District and explore app... more This study seeks to identify features of environmental change in Mwenezi District and explore approaches to food security in the face of natural disasters with the aim of unmasking mass violence that occurred as a result of the flooding of Tokwe Mukorsi Dam. Mwenezi is a multicultural district comprising the Nambia, Shona, Ndebele, Venda and Shangani ethnic groups who are intermingled yet each has strong cultural traits. The District, which falls in Zimbabwe’s geographical region 5, which receives very little rainfall, has faced numerous environmental challenges. As a result of little food resources and given the recent flooding disaster at Tokwe Mukorsi Dam, the District is prone to mass violence where it comes to resource sharing. Network referencing was used to select 40 respondents among members of Mwenezi District to respond to a self-administered questionnaire interview schedule. Respondents of 40 years and above, and who have stayed in the District for more than 30 years we...

International Journal of African Renaissance Studies, Jul 3, 2014