Structural adjustment, agriculture and the role of farmers' organisations in Zimbabwe: a meso-scale study of the Shamva District

A research paper on the implications of economic structural adjustment policies on the viability of agricultural activities of Zimbabwe's rural farmer in the mid-1990's. A case study of Zimbabwe's Shamva District.In mid-1990, the Zimbabwe Government announced its intention to inaugurate an economic reform programme, the so-called Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) which was to begin with some liberalisation measures in October of the same year. The detailed programme was to start in 1991 and run in phases, the first phase being from 1991-95. At the end of the first phase, it became prudent to assess the impact of the programme on the various sectors of the economy and society. This study looks at the impact on Agriculture but more specifically, on the role of farmers' organisations. The focus is on the Shamva District in the Mashonaland Central Province