Understanding the Turn to Farming by the Retired Elderly: A Case Study of Pensioners in Munyati Resettlement Area, Chivhu, Zimbabwe

In this thesis I intertwine ageing and rural change. These two concepts have surprisingly largely been developed in relative isolation from one another although in real life they tend to be very close to each other. To do this I focus on the phenomenon of elderly Zimbabweans who turn to the rural areas and pursue farm-based livelihoods, following retirement from careers in formal ur-ban employment and residency in urban settings. I use the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) as a case study through which I investigate these retired elderly’s participation in farming activities. To be able to analyse my case study I draw from some important concepts. Of particular interest to my analysis from the ageing literature such as the social construction of retirement and ageing. I also examine the issue of agency among the elderly. Examining if and how their decisions are influenced by culture and economic conditions. I thus use these concepts in my contribution towards the debates on rural change in Zimbabwe giving special attention to the dynamics brought about by the FTLRP. This I do using an elderly generation lens. My argument is constructed as follows: There exists an existing pattern of the elderly’s turn to the land following life within the urban sphere that dates back to colonial times. I argue that this phenomenon cannot be reduced to a mere continuation of socio-historical patterns. By juxtaposing the life course trajectory of the cohort of ‘retired the elderly’/ ‘new farmers’ in this study with the political-economic developments in Zimbabwe I bring out how important points of convergence between these two rhythms of development. This cohort grew up in an era where land was unequally distributed. They then lived their adult lives under an economy that was doing relatively well with employment opportunities being available. As the Zimbabwean economy was exhibiting signs of collapse, their retirement was also in sight and an uncertain future for these soon to be retired the elderly was presented. It was at this juncture of the unknown that the Fast Track Land Reform Programme was implemented. Having observed the important intersections of these two trajectories of both historical times in Zimbabwe and the elderly’s lives, I noticed how studies on land reform in Zimbabwe have generally omitted ‘age’ as a variable. Furthermore, where age is included in the rural transformation debates it tends to be limited to how young people are leaving farming and rural areas. Very little is mentioned with regards to the elderly’s staying, or even returning to the land. The participation of the elderly in the Fast Track Land Reform Programme is not elaborated on and therefore difficult to determine at least from the debates proffered on the issue. I argue that the literature on rural change thus needs to incorporate work on ageing in order to fully comprehend the phenomenon of ‘ageing new farmers’. Currently this body of work is largely concerned with processes of agrarian differentiation which are illuminated through a class-based analysis. Without dismissing the immense value of this work, I argue that it fails to take into cognisance this ostensibly insignificant phenomenon of ‘ageing new farmers’ as a socio-cultural process shaped by the elderly’s efforts to become successful older persons in socio-cultural terms. I construct this argument by attending to the value of land in relation to the social construct of the elderly and how the construction of ‘musha’ and farming signifies an important form of ‘labour’ among the elderly in Zimbabwe. In conclusion, this thesis makes two key contributions. Firstly, it demonstrates the importance of adopting an interdisciplinary perspective that weaves together bodies of literature that are seldom put in conversation. Second, it calls for a deeper conceptualization of temporalities within development studies by seeking to integrate the temporal dynamics of individual life course trajectories with broader politico-economic trajectories of development.