Social policy dimensions of land reform in rural Zimbabwe

This study repositions land reform as a critical social policy instrument within the transformative social policy framework (TSP), challenging its peripheral status in conventional welfare discourse. Employing a comprehensive analysis of Zimbabwe’s redistributive Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) based on longitudinal research conducted in 2015–2017 and 2022–2024 in Goromonzi and Zvimba districts, we demonstrate how compulsory land redistribution simultaneously addresses the multiple tasks of redistribution, production and social reproduction that define TSP. Our mixed-methods approach, incorporating household surveys, key stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions, reveals how land reform transcends simple asset transfer to reshape productive capacities and social relations within Indigenous communities. The findings highlight how access to land reconfigures resource allocation patterns, enhances beneficiaries’ productive potential through agricultural engagement and facilitates the regeneration of community social systems through improved livelihood security and investment. Through analysing changes in community socioeconomic indicators, we document how land reform serves as a vehicle for Indigenous self-determination and social justice. This paper contributes to expanding social policy conceptualisations by demonstrating how land-centred approaches can fulfil core welfare functions while addressing historical inequities. As it engages with the experiences of resettlement beneficiaries within the context of deliberate state intervention, this work advances a more inclusive framework for understanding social policy formation in postcolonial contexts, where land reform represents not merely an economic intervention but a comprehensive social policy tool capable of transforming community welfare outcomes.