Evaluation of rural development experiences in Africa: the case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

At independence In 1980, the Government of Zimbabwe inherited a socio-economic system which was characterized by social, economic and technological dualism, evidenced by the existence of a modern sector (commerce industry, commercial agriculture) dominated by the European settler population, and a peasant sector which was generally under-developed, largely subsistence in character and poorly served in terms of both social and physical infrastructure. This dualism/dichotomy was under-pinned by a racially based political system, which made legal and legislative distinctions between the interests of the European settlers and that of the African population. However, In spite of the distinctions it is clear that the two sectors were Inter-dependent, and that the development of one (the commercial sector) was largely at the expense of the other (the peasant communal sector).