ABSTRACT
Plotholders on irrigation schemes, like peasant farmers in purchase areas, are prevented by their lease agreement from seeking work outside their scheme, and the wages of the few who succeeded in getting away from Zuva are so low as to be insignificant in the total income of plotholders. Apart from crops, plotholders on both irrigation schemes make money from growing vegetables and from their cattle. Many families have asked their scheme manager to allow them to plant part of their fields with vegetables because these would bring them a higher return than crops. Cattle contributed more money to the budgets of both Mvura and Zuva plotholders in 1968–1969 than did fruit and vegetables. Of the 17 Mvura plotholders, 11 sold one head of cattle each for an average price of £35. If this income is averaged out among all 17 plotholders, cattle contributed about £23 to each family budget.
