Access to land ownership and gender in the light of African Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe amongst the Shona in Chiredzi District, Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe (original) (raw)

2022, African Sun Media eBooks

This chapter is based on a study on women's access to land ownership in the Chingwizi Resettlement area of Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which women enjoy land ownership rights and the challenges they encounter. The investigation was a qualitative, empirical study. It involved a purposefully selected sample of twenty participants of whom 14 were female and 6 were male. Of the 14 females, seven, including two from polygamous marriage unions, had independent land ownership while seven, who were in monogamous marriages, did not. All six males were married and had land allocated to them and registered in their names. Data were collected using face to face and telephone interviews. The study established that land (Zvokuomba & Batisai, 2020:151) allocation in the Chingwizi area was not based on gender but on age, and whether one had been accredited, from the previous place of residence in Chivi or Masvingo District, to get a piece of land. While married women in monogamous unions did not have independent land ownership-that is, land allocated to them and registered in their names-those in polygamous unions had pieces of land registered in their names. It was concluded that while the allocation of land in Chingwizi showed gender sensitivity and was in keeping with the spirit of the Zimbabwean Constitution (2013), with its firm commitment to gender equality, gender inequality was evident as married women in monogamous unions were not allocated pieces of land. It was recommended that land redistribution be revisited in such a way that married women also get pieces of land registered in their names.

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