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A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Takuva, Tinashe
Other Authors: Swart, Sandra S.
Format: Thesis
Language:en_ZA
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author Takuva, Tinashe
author2 Swart, Sandra S.
author_browse Swart, Sandra S.
Takuva, Tinashe
author_facet Swart, Sandra S.
Takuva, Tinashe
author_sort Takuva, Tinashe
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/124890
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language en_ZA
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:46:45.739Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
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source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/124890 A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992 Takuva, Tinashe Swart, Sandra S. Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History. Droughts -- Zimbabwe -- 20th century Zimbabwe -- Social conditions -- History -- 20th century Zimbabwe -- Environmental conditions -- History -- 20th century Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- History -- 20th century UCTD Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores eight decades of social, environmental, and political history of drought in Zimbabwe from around 1911, when the first major drought under colonial rule occurred, to 1992, which saw the worst drought of the post-colonial era and perhaps of the whole twentieth century. It argues that the socio-economic capacity, the environmental setting and the political structure of a society or country is central in abating or exacerbating the impact of drought before, during and after the dearth incidence. The thesis reveals the shifting socio-economic responses of both the state and African peasants to drought. It traces how peasants deployed various socio-cultural methods, both enduring and novel, to cope with drought from colonial to post-colonial period, and the changing efforts of the state towards African peasants during drought. The thesis draws on global, regional and local historiographies on drought, the African environmental historiography and the Zimbabwean land and agrarian historiography to historicize drought, analysing the shifting patterns of occurrence, impact and response by the government and African peasantry. This thesis engages with these broad historiographies in order to understand the historical processes that created underlying conditions within which drought occurred. Thus, it explores the changing social, environmental and political nature of drought in Zimbabwe. In doing so, this study localised drought in the land and agricultural history of twentieth century Zimbabwe. This interconnectedness of different types of droughts will be explored by this thesis, and made visible in the agricultural history of Zimbabwe. Moreover, it applied Sen’s model, the entitlement approach, in the Zimbabwean context. Sen’s entitlement approach entails the ability of a person to secure enough food within the legal framework of a society. Changing peasant-state relations in Zimbabwe, within the context of drought, were characterised by the state’s use of food entitlements to either ameliorate or worsen the drought survival capacity of the peasantry. In response, the peasants negotiated their own survival through engaging private traders, the state and nature to command enough food for both human and livestock. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek agt dekades van die sosiale, omgewings- en politieke geskiedenis van droogte in Zimbabwe vanaf ongeveer 1911, toe die eerste groot droogte onder koloniale bewind plaasgevind het, tot 1992, die ergste droogte van die post-koloniale era en waarskynlik die hele twintigste eeu. Dit argumenteer dat die sosio-ekonomiese vermoeë, die omgewingskonteks en die politieke struktuur van 'n samelewing of land bepalend is vir die impak wat `n droogte voor, tydens of na die hoogtepunt van `n droogte het. Die tesis onthul die wisselende sosioekonomiese reaksies van beide die Staat en Swart kleinboere op droogte. Dit dui aan hoe kleinboere verskillende bestaande maar ook nuwe sosio-kulturele metodes tydens die prekoloniale en koloniale periodes aangewend het om droogtes te hanteer. Dit belig ook die veranderende reaksies van die Staat teenoor kleinboere tydens droogtes. Die tesis maak gebruik van globale, streeks- en plaaslike historiografieë oor droogte, die omgewingshistoriografie van Afrika en die Zimbabwiese historiografie oor grond en landbou om droogte in sy historiese konteks te plaas deur die veranderende patrone in die voorkoms en impak van droogtes asook die reaksie van die Staat en Swart kleinboere te analiseer. Die tesis ondersoek hierdie breë historiografieë in `n poging om die historiese prosesse wat die onderliggende toestande geskep het waarbinne droogte plaasgevind het, te verstaan. Dit ondersoek dus die veranderende sosiale, omgewings- en politieke aard van droogte in Zimbabwe. In die proses het die studie hom beperk tot droogte in die grond- en landbougeskiedenis van Zimbabwe in die twintigste eeu. Die tesis sal dus die onderlinge verwantskap van verskillende soorte droogtes in die landbougeskiedenis van Zimbabwe ondersoek en aantoon. Die tesis pas Sen se toeeieningsmodel binne die konteks van Zimbabwe toe. Sen se toe-eieningsbenadering behels die vermoeë van `n persoon om voldoende voedsel binne die wetlike raamwerk van `n samelewing te bekom. Die veranderende verhouding tussen kleinboer en Staat in Zimbabwe, binne die konteks van droogte, is gekenmerk deur die Staat se gebruik van voedsel toe-eiening om die vermoeë van kleinboere om droogte te oorleef of te verbeter of te verswak. In reaksie hierop het die kleinboere hul eie voortbestaan probeer verseker deur privaat handelaars, die Staat en die natuur te betrek in hul pogings om genoeg voedsel vir beide mens en dier te verseker. Doctoral 2022-03-11T07:35:42Z 2022-04-29T09:39:34Z 2022-03-11T07:35:42Z 2022-04-29T09:39:34Z 2022-03 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124890 en_ZA Stellenbosch University 243 pages : illustrations, map application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Droughts -- Zimbabwe -- 20th century
Zimbabwe -- Social conditions -- History -- 20th century
Zimbabwe -- Environmental conditions -- History -- 20th century
Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- History -- 20th century
UCTD
Takuva, Tinashe
A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992
title A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992
title_full A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992
title_fullStr A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992
title_full_unstemmed A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992
title_short A social, environmental and political history of drought in Zimbabwe, c.1911 to 1992
title_sort social environmental and political history of drought in zimbabwe c 1911 to 1992
topic Droughts -- Zimbabwe -- 20th century
Zimbabwe -- Social conditions -- History -- 20th century
Zimbabwe -- Environmental conditions -- History -- 20th century
Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- History -- 20th century
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124890
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