Soil Conservation and the White Agrarian Environment in Colonial Zimbabwe, c. 1908-1980

422 Pages·2013·13.31 MB·English

Soil Conservation and the White Agrarian Environment in Colonial
Zimbabwe, c. 1908-1980

by

Simeon Maravanyika

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree

Doctor of Philosophy

in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

Supervisors: Professor A. S. Mlambo
Professor 1. R. Phimister

September 2013

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“Mother earth (is) only a thin skin clothing the naked poverty of the rocky ribs below.” - The
Rhodesia Herald, 1 October 1917.

“...seeing him on his farm, I couldn’t decide if the man had shaped the land or the other way
round.” - A. Fuller, 2001, Don’t Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight, New York, Random House.

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Abstract

This thesis utilizes three theoretical approaches; political ecology, settler culture and
community conservation to examine soil conservation and the white agrarian environment in
colonial Zimbabwe to evaluate to what extent players in government and the agricultural
sector were conscious or concerned about preservation and conservation of the soil. The thesis
also examines the role of local and international ideas in the colony’s conservationist
tradition, and whether the soil conservation movement was identity-forming among the
colony’s settler farmers.

The history of conservation on settler farms in colonial Zimbabwe can be periodized into
three broad timeframes - from the 1890s to around the mid-1930s, between 1934 and 1965
and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) period. In the first three and half
decades of the 20th cent ury the history of conservation can best be described as being

characterized by a series of “dilemmas.” The British South Africa Company (BSA Co.)
administration did not pursue soil conservation in any significant, synchronized or sustained
manner. In the second period, from 1934 to 1965, there was considerable progress in the
construction of conservation works on settler farms. This process was the result of
recommendations made by Natural Resources Commission, a body that was appointed in
1938 to investigate the status of the colony’s natural resources.

The mid-1940s were characterized by the formation of Intensive Conservation Areas (ICAs)
in settler farming districts whose mandate was to oversee the construction of conservation
works to rehabilitate settler farms. With the support of the Natural Resources Board (NRB),
and the Department of Conservation and Extension (CONEX), formed in 1948 to provide
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expertise on conservation-related matters and extension support, all settler farming areas were
covered by trained CONEX staff, though in most instances very thinly distributed due to high
demand for their service and manpower constraints in the department.

The third period, the UDI era, was characterized by attempts by the minority settler
government to forestall majority rule in the colony. Malawi and Zambia (formerly Nyasaland
and Northern Rhodesia, respectively) had been granted their independence by Britain in 1964.
As decolonization was taking place in other parts of Africa, black majority rule in colonial
Zimbabwe also seemed imminent. To the alarm of the white minority government, Britain had
set out to grant majority rule to its African colonies, including Southern Rhodesia (renamed
Rhodesia after Zambia’s independence). The Ian Smith-led government of Rhodesia, feeling
betrayed, declared UDI on 11 November 1965, delaying Zimbabwean independence by
another 15 years. With the end of the Federation in 1963, the colony could no longer rely on
federal resources as it ha d done between 1953 and 1963. Sanctions, imposed in reaction to

UDI, further put the regime in a tight corner. Their impact was quite significant. Fuel had to
be rationed, and general belt-tightening across the board inevitably followed as major
Rhodesian exports such as tobacco and minerals were embargoed on international markets.
The start of the liberation war at the end of the 1960s further complicated matters.

Key Terms:
Soil conservation, white agrarian environment, community conservation, erosion, natural
resources, extension, Intensive Conservation Areas, Great Dust Bowl Disaster, settler farms,
environmentalist identity.
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Dedication

To the memory of my late parents, Shylet Zadzisai Mutombwa-Maravanyika and Solomon
Frederick Maravanyika. And to my wife Dr. Tendayi Mutimukuru-Maravanyika, with love. I
am very grateful for all your support and encouragement. I also dedicate this thesis to my
children Tafadzwa Mufadzi, Ndatenda Ndanatswa and Paidamoyo Simone.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to my Promoters, Professor A. S. Mlambo and Professor
I. R. Phimister for their guidance and support. They painstakingly went through several drafts
of this thesis and provided invaluable advice. I do not believe any student can remain the
same after such excellent mentorship. I would also want to thank them for securing vital
financial support for me from the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust (EOMT) and a post-
graduate bursary from the University of Pretoria. It would not have been possible for me to
embark on DPhil studies in the absence of this assistance. Finally, I would also like to express
my heart-felt gratitude to my promoters for arranging for me to travel to UK for the
“Commonwealth at 60” postgraduate conference at the University of Sheffield in June 2010.

I would also like to acknowledge support from the Historical and Heritage Studies
Department. I would like to particularly thank Ms. T. Van Rensburg and Ms. Z. Tsotso for

assisting me with administrative matters during my visits to Pretoria.

I extend my gratitude to the EOMT for their generous funding. I would like to mention Ms.
Clare Digby who I was constantly in contact with regarding my research and subsistence
expenses both in Zimbabwe and in South Africa.

I also want to acknowledge the University of Pretoria for granting me a bursary in the final
year of my studies.

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I would also like to express my gratitude to members of staff and the National Archives of
Zimbabwe (NAZ) for their assistance in locating files under extremely difficult conditions
and to University of Zimbabwe for granting me access to their libraries.

I would like to acknowledge the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Economic History
where my academic journey began. I am grateful to all members of staff, students and
colleagues that I have interacted with over the years. Drs. Mtisi, Machingaidze, Kramer,
Musiiwa and Nyambara deserve to be mentioned by name. Thanks for the guidance and the
inspiration.

At the risk of omitting many names, I would also like to acknowledge a number of a friends
for their being friends “in deed.” I would like to thank Verengai Mabika and Tapiwa
Mukwashi (and the entire DRI team), Dr. Brian Maguranyanga, Ushehwedu Kufakurinani and
Kudzai Biri for allowing me to work from their offices in Eastlea, Belgravia and Mount

Pleasant as I at one time hoped from office to office to beat load-shedding by the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA). I can only say gratis vobis ago.

I would also want to thank my research assistants at the National Archives of Zimbabwe,
Godfrey Hove and Tinashe Aldrin Magaya. Thanks for twuma ‘hunting instincts’ twuye
twuye.

I am also very grateful for the immense emotional and spiritual support from my church.
Pastors G. Chitsinde and C. Mavengawenyu, thanks for all your guidance.

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My gratitude also goes to my family. Mr and Mrs Maravanyika kuMarondera, Vimbai
Albertina Tserere-Nyamukachi and Esther Maravanyika, may our good Lord bless you for all
that you have done for me. Baba VaNhomba and Babamukuru Fabian Ruramai Nhengeze,
rest in peace. You can only rest, and not die, because you poured so much of what was in you
into me and others in the family. Thanks for investing in us.

My last “thank you” goes to my wife, Tendayi, and my children Taffy, Ndate and Paida.
Zvinoda kutendwa.

I would like to conclude by stating that I bear full responsibility for the arguments, opinions,
errors, omissions, short-comings and conclusions in this thesis.

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List of Abbreviations

ACM Adaptive Collaborative Management
BSA Co. British South Africa Company
CAMPFIRE Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources
CONEX Department of Conservation and Extension
FPACs Food Production Advisory Committees
FPCs Food Production Committees
GMB Grain Marketing Board
ICAs Intensive Conservation Areas
NAZ National Archives of Zimbabwe
NRB Natural Resources Board
PLO Privat e Locations Ordinance

RAU Rhodesia Agricultural Union
RNFU Rhodesia National Farmers’ Union
TGA Tobacco Growers Association
UDI Unilateral Declaration of Independence
UK United Kingdom
WAP White Agricultural Policy
ZANU Zimbabwe African National Union
ZESA Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority

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Table of Contents

Abstract.................................................................................................................................... ii
Key Terms .............................................................................................................................. iii
Dedication............................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. v
List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ viii
List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... xv

Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1
Overview of Historical Soil Issues in Africa ........................................................................... 8
The Development of Soil Conservation as a Discipline ..................................................... 12

Soil Erosion in Southern Africa: a Regional Context ......................................................... 17

Historiography of Resource Conservation in southern Africa .............................................. 22

Was Soil Conservation a Good Thing? .............................................................................. 26

Scope of Study ....................................................................................................................... 28
Rationale of the study ............................................................................................................ 32
The subject .......................................................................................................................... 32

The Period ........................................................................................................................... 35

The Study Area ...................................................................................................................... 37
Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 38
Research Methodology .......................................................................................................... 38
Context: Colonial Conservation in Perspective ..................................................................... 39
Analytical Framework ........................................................................................................... 44
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