ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a deeper understanding of peasant agriculture in Rhodesia and to work out the factors which lead to greater satisfaction and security among African peasants, to higher family incomes and to a better use of the land. During the nineteenth century the country between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers, known today as Rhodesia, was only thinly occupied by shifting cultivators. Small compact settlements, surrounded by fields, were scattered over the land and wide open spaces between these settlements were used as hunting grounds. The common form of agriculture in Africa today is still communal land tenure, though under modified tribal systems. Irrigation schemes have become a most important means for economic planning in underdeveloped countries. Growing crops under strict control according to tested agricultural techniques should guarantee a large output. Many African countries have experimented with irrigation schemes.
