Understanding Community Perceptions of Land Use Changes in the Rangelands, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the user communities' understanding and interpretation of changes in rangeland use and productivity in the communal lands of Zimbabwe. While external knowledge has been instrumental in defining the drivers and effects of ecological changes hitherto, the role of local knowledge is becoming increasingly important in explaining factors that inform user community perceptions and guide their decisions on the use of rangeland resources. Data on community perceptions were collected in four villages, using Participatory Rural Appraisals in each village and household surveys with a total of 104 households. This study showed that user communities in Nkayi district differentiate rangelands among seven categories of livestock feed resources and how these have changed over time. Communities viewed rangelands not as one continuous, designated and specialized land parcel, but differentiated the land by location, productivity, management and uses in different times of the year. Although land use changes affecting these livestock feed resources were considered to be widespread and multi-directional (both negative and positive) they did not cause widespread degradation. Rangelands converted to croplands were not completely lost, but became important dual purpose land parcels fulfilling both household food security needs and dry season livestock feed requirements. The importance of croplands as a feed resource is reflected in the emergence of new institutions governing their use for livestock grazing and to guarantee security of tenure. On the other hand institutions governing the use of common property rangelands decreased or weakened in their application. The study concludes that while this situation presents ecological challenges for the rangelands, it offers opportunities to find innovative ways of utilizing croplands as the new frontier in the provision of dry season feed resources to smallholder farmers in highly variable environments. Implications for livestock water productivity need to be investigated and water saving technologies should be promoted in the land use intensification processes.

Vegetation Changes in the Miombo Woodlands in Northwestern Zimbabwe: A Case Study of Nkayi District 1990 to 2017

“…The main driver for the expansion of croplands into forests appears to be the increase in household numbers. This is in contrast with the findings by Kamusoko and Aniya [15], Mapedza et al [19], and Sibanda et al [23] who cited population increase as the main factor in expansion of croplands in nearby Gokwe. Population increase did not necessarily result in increase in field sizes per se, but rather a new homestead is mandatorily allocated a field which basically means that a new area is opened up in the woodlands.…”

Economic trade-offs of biomass use in crop-livestock systems: Exploring more sustainable options in semi-arid Zimbabwe

“…Farmers open the crop fields after grain harvest for the communities to let their animals graze on the CR. Reserving more CR implies that CR are becoming a private resource of economic value (Sibanda et al, 2011). Feeding CR to livestock increases the availability of manure, which can contribute to maintaining and increasing crop yields.…”

Assessing the potential of dual-purpose maize in southern Africa: A multi-level approach

“…Dual-purpose crops providing higher and more nutritious biomass are seen as a way to compensate for rangelands converted to croplands and poor quality of remaining rangelands (Sibanda et al, 2011). Dual-purpose maize can be introduced in relatively short term through the same channels that have promoted maize grain production and help farmers to achieve higher outputs per unit land, making greater use of the synergies between crops and livestock, especially where alternative feed options are limited (Thorne et al, 2002;Lenné et al, 2003;Tarawali et al, 2011).…”

“…Therefore, maize has been identified as one of the key agricultural commodities to enhance food production and food security at continental and sub-regional levels (AU, 2006). Nevertheless, maize yields remain low in many parts of southern Africa (except for South Africa), stagnating at around 1 t/ha for the last decade (Smale et al, 2011;Kassie et al, 2012). Past growth in total maize production has been achieved through land expansion instead of crop intensification.…”