Abstract

The objectives of the study were to determine the level that resettled farmers in Mashonaland Central Province of Zimbabwe utilise their land in the production of field crops as well as to determine their mean yields per hectare. Factors that affect yield and land utilisation were also determined. Data was collected from 245 households using a questionnaire as the main instrument. The majority of the households in the resettled areas, A1 (91%), A2 (87%) and the old resettlement areas (70%) were male-headed and had at least primary education. A2 farms have the lowest mean yield per hectare of US$714.80 which significantly differed from A1 (US$854.60) and the old resettled farms (US$846.55) which had higher but similar mean yield per hectare. The mean land utilisation rate varied significantly (p<0.05) with the land reform model with A2 having highest land utilisation rate of 67%. The A1 and old resettlement households had land utilisation rates of 53 and 46% respectively. Average total revenue varied significantly with the model of land reform. Sex, marital status, age of the household head, education and household size significantly affected land utilisation (P<0.05). 

Key words: Land reform, land utilisation, old resettlements, revenue, yield.