A Policy Analysis on Command Agriculture: An Attempt to Revamp Agricultural Production in Zimbabwe

Abstract: Once the breadbasket of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe has undergone a radical transformation. Agriculture provides employment and income for the majority of the population in Zimbabwe. After the Fast Track Land Reform and its negative effects on the agricultural sector the government of Zimbabwe has employed a significant number of strategies to modernize its agriculture sector and again become the breadbasket of the African continent. This thesis explores the implementation of the Command Agriculture (CA) Program, and its attempt to increase agriculture production and food security in the country. The data collected for this research is via a literature review on the strengths and shortcomings of the CA program. It is then analyzed using a social policy analysis model by Karger and Stoesz (2006). Concludingly, the research question is studied using a theoretical framework based on Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (2012) theory of extractive institutions. Thereof, this paper finds that programs such as the CA is compromised because of the country’s political and economic institutions developed to extract income and resources from the mass population to the narrow elite.