Climate change adaptation and sustainable development Narratives from post-fast-track land reform female farmers in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Rural farmers in Africa, and particularly women, are engaging in various adaptation strategies within and beyond farming. In countries such as Zimbabwe, adaptation is taking place within a socioeconomic crisis context. Analysis of adaptation in this paper is pitched within this specific context in relation to sustainable development. Based on narratives of women farmers in a resettlement area that emerged out of the fast-track land reform programme of the early 2000s, the outcomes of adaptation strategies adopted by these women are examined. The paper is framed using the concept of sustainable adaptation. The study shows that adaptation is, largely, producing undesirable outcomes in terms of sustainable development. Some of the strategies are threatening biodiversity. Competition between people and livestock over natural resources is also producing undesirable outcomes. Income-generating strategies are failing to assist the women to deal with deprivation and poverty. Any policy interventions in promoting women’s adaptive capacities should therefore take note of these intersecting problems, in order to steer adaptation onto sustainable trajectories.