180
III. Institutions involved in the settlement program
Prior to 1993, several government institutions were involved either directly or indirectly in
the initiation, planning, and administration of settlement schemes. The ZNS ran 41 Rural
Reconstruction Centers scattered throughout the country. The MAFF 10 had a large number of
settlement schemes under its control (see annex 6.1); the Ministry of Labor and Social Services was
responsible for schemes for the handicapped; the Ministry of Local Government and Housing was
involved in identifying settlement areas; the ZCCM ran two settlement schemes for people it retired,
and the Department of Resettlement was established to run settlement schemes for other retired people.
Cooperative schemes were run by the Department of Co-operatives, and the Ministry of Education
schemes served as outlet for the two agricultural colleges established in the 1960s. Schemes to
encourage tobacco production were also run.
Settlement of people from urban areas back into their home villages or other villages of their
choice was yet another settlement scheme supported by the GOZ. While most of the resettled people
have gone to the government-planned settlement schemes, there are some who have resettled in
unplanned areas, either due to their traditional beliefs or to their desire to settle back in their villages
rather than in one of the established settlement schemes. Frequent reference is made to the fact that
those people who have indicated a desire to return to the land for agricultural purposes, but not via
settlement schemes, have also been assisted by the government. There is, however, no mention of how
many people in this category have been settled, in which areas the settlers are, which organization
actually coordinates the program, or what they are doing.
Not only were there many institutions involved in running settlement schemes, but the policies
that governed the implementation of the schemes were also quite varied. The data available do not
allow for a detail listing of all of the groups and subgroups that were responsible for the various
aspects of all of the settlement schemes, but where data do exist, the picture of a layered
administrative structure is clear. For example, at the implementation level, ten committees were
responsible for the Rural Reconstruction Centers. Table 6.2 below outlines the committees and their
functions.
With so many players, it can be assumed that there were divergent views about how the
settlement programs were to run, and what policy and implementation strategy were to guide them.
Such divergent views in planning, policy formulation, and implementation strategy could only lead
to the introduction of conflicting measures that would in turn lead to the failure to achieve any goal.
Also, with the diverse functions of resettlement, it became clear to government that no one
ministry11 could handle the planning for and management of settlement schemes for the entire
country. In 1989, a new department—the Department of Resettlement—was established in the office
of the prime minister, and full responsibility for planning of settlement programs and coordination of
10 Formerly the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Development.
11 Land demarcation is performed by the Ministry of Agriculture; water, wells, and boreholes by the Ministry of Energy;
and schools, clinics, and social services by the ministries of Education, Health, and Community and Social Services, among
others.