SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Agriculture occupies a very important place in the Zambian economy as a source of foreign exchange and as a source of food. Whatever the explanations that have been offered for low productivity - droughts, excessive rains etc., the legal framework for agriculture has been a relevant factor even though it has received the least attention from lawyers and economists alike. Law and development studies have only assumed importance in the last twenty years, that is, since the attainment of independence of many African countries. This thesis seeks to add to the growing literature on the effect of law on the agricultural development of Zambia. It is divided into five substantive chapters and a conclusion. The thesis opens with a general introduction showing the manner in which the colonial government used the law to encourage the development of a viable agricultural base from the time it assumed control from the British South Africa Company, through the depression years to the period leading up to independence. Chapter Two examines the land tenure systems that relate to agricultural land on State Land (formerly Crown Land). After independence government intervention through the land reforms of 1975 was calculated to give the State greater powers of land control. While the government has taken active steps to ensure the development of State Land, it has avoided interference with customary systems of landholding in the Reserves and Trust Land. Chapter Three, therefore, examines the systems of landholding in the Reserves and Trust Land and evaluates the same in the context of agricultural development. It also draws attention to the need for government to extend control to these areas and to provide a proper legal framework to enable those who are dissatisfied with customary land tenure to obtain documentary titles to land. In order to speed up agricultural development, the role of the State has been extended to the provision of credit and marketing facilities. Chapter Four examines government credit policy as contained in policy statements as well as through the operation of its own specialised credit institutions and includes a discussion of the importance of various forms of security to all categories of farmers. Chapter Five examines the use by the government of statutory boards to control the production and marketing of agricultural commodities and the purposes of such control. The final chapter attempts to outline the reasons for the limited success of Zambian government policy in this area and demonstrates the limited role of law and legal solutions in promoting agricultural development. The law is dated as of March, 1987.