A rural village household in Zimbabwe

ZIMSEC O Level History Notes: Zimbabwe 1894-1969: The Land Husbandry Act (1951)

  • Europeans saw that the Land Apportionment Act could not suppress the desire of Africans to own land
  • The land and environment were also deteriorating at a faster rate in natives reserves
  • So to improve the situation they passed the land Husbandry Act of 1951
  • The act was to replace communal ownership of land among natives with private ownership
  • Each family was allocated 8 acres of land which could not be subdivided among their children and this conflicted with existing traditional beliefs
  • The power to distribute land was stripped from chiefs to distribute land and given to the District Commissioners
  • Compulsory conservation methods were introduced to regulate farming practices
  • These were the construction of contour ridges, destocking and storm drains
  • The number of cattle owned by African families was limited to five
  • Those who failed to get in the reserves had to work for Europeans in mines and factories
  • Africans were forced to get involved in public projects such as construction of dams, bridges and roads
  • Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act was subject to punishment either by fine payment of imprisonment
  • The act was rejected by natives and paved way for the starting of the Second Chimurenga
  • This project failed, was abandoned in 1961 and replaced by the Land Tenure Act.

To access more topics go to the History Notes page.


Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge