ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the experience of the first three to four years which were marked by a rapid process of land acquisition by the government for resettlement, and by a rapid acceleration in the numbers resettled, and the building up of institutional capacity to handle such a programme. It explores the political forces that were at work in shaping policies and the context for their implementation, generating constraints that among other things explain why and how the ambitious targets set at the outset were not realised. One avenue through which sentiments critical of the programme were articulated was the Parliament's Estimates Committee. International forces have consistently helped to shape land reform policy, whether through the broad, anonymous influences that define whether global capitalism has 'confidence' in the Zimbabwe economy, through specific diplomatic initiatives by global or regional powers, or through the rural programmes of aid agencies. The talks broke down and the UK Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, suspended the Patriotic Front from Lancaster House.
