ABSTRACT
This chapter summarises the Government of Zimbabwe's perspective on land reform issues, as presented at the 1998 School of Oriental and African Studies conference. Its contents are derived from a press statement issued by the Zimbabwe High Commission in London in December 1997 and circulated at the conference, and from the presentations and contributions made by representatives of the Zimbabwe government at the 1998 conference. The need to provide land to the landless has been central to the Government of Zimbabwe's efforts to raise the standard of living for the deprived majority in over-crowded, over-stocked and over-used communal areas. The Land Acquisition Act of 1991 was enacted by the Government of Zimbabwe to address the prevailing inequities of land distribution in Zimbabwe. Re-organising and re-planning the structure of the villages, the infrastructure that supports the villages and the support needed for production purposes, is an ongoing programme in Zimbabwe.
