As production and marketing has increased from the new resettlement farms, the demand for transport has grown. The earlier blog series highlighted the importance of transport operators as part of the expanding ‘hidden middle’. Transporters facilitate value chains of all sorts, transporting people and goods both locally and further afield.
Since land reform exchange networks are more localised, with transport from field to sales points being often only a few kilometres. This links to the growth of small towns as sites for marketing. For this reason the demand for small motorised vehicles is high. This sort of transport can move goods in relatively small quantities and on a regular basis. Such transporters in turn link to bulk transporters who move agricultural goods over longer distances to larger markets, auction floors or retail outlets.
This article is from Zimbabweland, a blog written by IDS Research Fellow Ian Scoones. Zimbabweland focuses on issues related to rural livelihoods and land reform in Zimbabwe.