Labor Processes in Large-Scale Land Investments: The Case of Sugar Estates in South-Eastern Zimbabwe

Abstract

Large-scale land investments have been a characteristic feature of Zimbabwe’s land reforms. This has been evident in the mega sugarcane estates in the Lowveld, which requires an in-depth analysis of the different actors, labor processes, and labor arrangements. Labor reserves in the large-scale sugarcane plantations emanate from the different surrounding communal and fast track farms creating new pools of labor and also the need to understand how different social arrangements influence the reason why individuals and communities invest their energy in working the sugarcane plantations. This, therefore, leads to an understanding of why and how the labor platforms are crafted, utilized, and appreciated by the management in the large-scale land investments. This study anchors its empirical investigations on one of the large-scale sugar estates in the Southern Lowveld and strong orientations from political economy particularly the class dimension of how people are stratified in plantations and the role that different political and economic factors affect the farmworkers. It concludes by recommending the need for society-centered policies on the labor force in sugar estates in Zimbabwe.