Formerly one of Africa’s most promising economies, Zimbabwe has begun a process of economic reconstruction after decades of political turmoil and economic mismanagement. The advent of a national unity government in February 2009 launched a new but tentative era of political stability. Zimbabwe: Picking Up the Pieces chronicles the steps that led to the downturn of the Zimbabwean state and economy before assessing what can be done to resuscitate a once-thriving society. Leading experts from and on the region explore the country’s options on key governance issues, from strengthening institutions to addressing food security to promoting private sector development to mobilizing donor country assistance.

This book examines how processes such as land acquisition, allocation, transitional production outcomes, social life, gender, and tenure, have influenced and been influenced by the forces driving the program. It also explores the ways in which the land-reform program has created a new agrarian structure based on small- to medium-scale farmers. In attempting to resolve the problematic issues the reforms have raised, the authors argue that it is this new agrarian formation which provides the greatest scope for improving Zimbabwe's agriculture and development.

The ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe has led to an unprecedented exodus of over a million desperate people from all strata of Zimbabwean society. The Zimbabwean diaspora is now truly global in extent. Yet rather than turning their backs on Zimbabwe, most maintain very close links with the country, returning often and remitting billions of dollars each year. Zimbabwe's Exodus. Crisis, Migration, Survival is written by leading migration scholars many from the Zimbabwean diaspora. The book explores the relationship between Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis and migration as a survival strategy.