By Nyasha Dube, Zvishavane
Cultural dynamics have always played a critical role in determining who owns land in most communities.
Women were oftenly excluded when it comes to possessing or inheriting land because of patriachal beliefs that viewed them as minors.
Men were entitled to all the land and properties, and it is in rare cases that husbands or fathers left land in possession of their wives and daughters. When a woman married they would lose their belongings and register as their husband’s dependant.
However, nowadays traditional leaders have shifted their perspectives and have started viewing women as active citizens who can actually be productive when given the opportunity and assets.
This is a critical development as traditional leaders are the custodians of land.
Civil society organisations have also played a major role in being mediators and engaging communities on the importance of women’s land rights.
One such organisation is Konrad Adenauer Striftung (KAS) which is working with traditional leaders from Midlands, Manicaland and Matebeleland to foster women empowerment through land ownership.
KAS in partnership with MELUCT has successfully engaged chiefs, and recently they had an exchange visit for traditional leaders in Shurugwi.
Chief Mufiri from Shurugwi hosted Chief Mabhikwa of Lupane and Chief Sachirarwe from Mutasa, along with some village heads and councillors.
The main aim of the visit was to provide a platform for peer learning on the best practices in strengthening women’s land rights.
The traditional leaders in attendance pledged to continue leading in women’s land rights advocacy, after noticing how some beneficiaries have productively utilised the land they acquired.
“What we have seen as traditional leaders is that most women don’t own land. We are here for this exchange visit to see how the Shurugwi community has empowered women. In Lupane we are still in the first stages of implementing this project and this is a great opportunity to learn,” said Chief Mabhikwa of Lupane.
He added that it is important to give women access to land as they are often left out when it comes to land possession and inheritance.
“Even the constitution promotes women’s land rights and we are just fulfilling its obligation. Every woman in our communities should have access to land. The reason why it’s important for this project to be implemented by chiefs is because some cultural beliefs prohibit women from owning land and we intend to educate communities and change perspectives,”
Chief Mabhikwa, Lupane
The history of unfair land distribution based on gender dates back to the pre and post colonial periods, which saw government making a move to allow women to access agricultural land during the land reform programme.
Such a stance was an effort to dismantle traditional customs through which some women would only acquire land with the permission of their husbands, fathers or male relatives.
Chapter 2 section 17 of the constitution of Zimbabwe outlines how gender imbalances should be corrected, whilst chapter 16 section 289 points out that land allocation and distribution should be fair and gender sensitive.
Female traditional leaders also challenged women to rise above the structural and cultural barriers they face.
One of the village heads from Shurugwi Beauty Zariro said although it was a challenge to teach communities about women’s land rights, more women have proven to be capable of productively using land just like their male counterparts.
“As a female leader it makes me happy to see fellow women being emancipated. In my village there are two women who have benefited from this project. It is because of the education we got from KAS that I managed to help them inherit their parents’ belongings,”
Village head Zariro, Shurugwi
Another female village head from Mutasa, Manicaland, Agatha Bingura says some communities are yet to accept that women can own properties and land.
“We have had scenarios where parents pass on and the girl child is left with nothing. But we continue advocating for gender equality so that the girl child equally benefits,”
Village head Bingura, Mutasa
Cultural diversity in KAS programming is also playing a critical role in experience sharing and understanding of the background and context of different cultural groups.
For example in Manicaland, chiefs have been known to allocate land and possessions to their daughters (vakunda), whilst in the Ndebele and Karanga culture, majority of the land has been owned or inherited by males.
Such differences help in appreciating differences as well as coming up with engagement strategies, with one end goal of ensuring gender equality.
KAS Project Coordinator for One World No Hunger Project Goodhope Ruswa says traditional leaders as the custodians of land at local government level play a significant role in strengthening women’s land rights.
“Through our engagements and capacity building efforts traditional leaders in our target districts of Shurugwi, Lupane and Mutasa are slowly emerging as advocates of women’s land rights. For instance in Mfiri village in Ward 5 Shurugwi, 12 women headed households (out of the total of 85 households in the village) have been allocated land by traditional leaders trained by community based organisation, MELUCT in partnership with KAS. Traditional leaders are now beginning to use both general law and some aspects of customary law to promote and protect women’s land rights which is key in ending hunger and fostering development,”.
Ruswa, KAS Project Coordinator