Siziphile Land Occupations, Wilderness Farming, Threat of the Wild and Livelihood Vulnerability in Western Lupane District

Abstract

Abstract Land self-provisioning has been a strategy not only for land access for the landless, but also to rebuild or improve livelihoods for people recovering from livelihood shocks. An analysis of siziphile land occupation of an abandoned safari ranch by communal area residents in south-western Lupane District, reveals the limitation and livelihood risks of such occupations. It shows how by extending farming activities into a safari ranch (which was home to a variety of wild life), farmers were exposed to a great threat from wild life and to their livelihoods. Yet, these farmers typically lacked the means to protect their crops from wild animals. They had no means to recover from the loss of what they had invested after elephants destroyed their crops. The paper emphasizes the risk taken by households to farm a former safari ranch and how it worked to further impoverish households as opposed to improving their livelihoods situation.