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In 1985, the government began a project to review the level of success and bottlenecks of the
settlement programs and, in collaboration with provincial authorities, to identify new areas for
settlement. With growing urbanization and unemployment, the government was also seeking ways to
make the program more attractive so as to encourage more people to return to the land. At the same
time, the government sought ways to make the settlement program more sustainable.
In the process, attention was called to the need to change the target group to include programs
for youth, the unemployed, and retirees, and to review the cost structure for running the schemes. The
task force concluded that the government approach for developing the settlement led to high
investment costs that could not be sustained and, therefore, needed to be changed. Despite this
definitive position statement, the committee's report did not indicate cost for the programs with a
comparison to other development costs. In fact, there is very little recorded information about the
actual cost for establishing the various schemes, and, where some information does exist, it is
incomplete. For example, the MAFF annual report for 1987 shows that as at the middle of 1986, the
cost of clearing 1 hectare of land in each province was estimated as follows:
► Central
K240
|
► |
Copperbelt |
K400 |
|
► |
Eastern |
K400 |
|
► |
Luapula |
K400 |
|
► |
Lusaka |
K240 |
► North-Western K400
► Southern K240
► Western K240
Alone, these figures tell very little. What would have been useful is a comparison of land
clearing cost in settlement areas and other areas, by method of clearing and type of vegetation, and
a breakdown of these costs over time. The same information would have been useful for other
investment costs.
The committee proposed a low-investment approach that would require that the government
provide an incentive package that included only such basic infrastructure as roads, demarcation of plot
boundaries, a few communal wells or boreholes, and a dam, leaving the rest of the farm development
cost to be borne by the settler.
As part of the exercise, each province was requested to identify possible areas of new land
as well as land areas of existing schemes that were underutilized for redistribution to settlers. In the
process, vast areas of land including former state farms and the 1.5 million hectare Tazara Corridor
were identified for the new schemes.
In 1989, the prime minister informed the national assembly of the changes that the government
had proposed to the implementation of the settlement program. In addition to the existing settlement
areas, it had been decided that the rural reconstruction centers and areas under the councils be fully
utilized for the purpose of resettling people. A requirement, however, was that settlers who were
already in place would be given title deeds prior to admitting newcomers. Table 6.3 shows areas that
were identified for settlement.