Claiming God’s Land: Spiritual Struggles and Migrant Belonging on Zimbabwe’s Urban Edge
Published in Social Sciences, Sustainability, and Arts & Humanities
The Story Behind the Research
In 2018, I first set foot in Lydiate, a rough peri-urban settlement west of Harare. I had heard whispers of families clearing abandoned plots at night, not out of defiance alone, but because they truly believed the land was a divine gift. As a Zimbabwean who grew up hearing stories of displacement and colonial labour migration, I felt a deep personal pull to understand how these migrants, many descendants of Malawian workers, wrestle space, dignity, and belonging in a city that often ignores them.
My motivation was twofold. Intellectually, I wanted to expand the concept of insurgent citizenship beyond legal battles into the moral and mystical realms that shape everyday life on the urban fringe. Emotionally, I was driven by the resilience I witnessed: grandmothers tending maize under twilight skies, spirits invoked to guard their plots, and neighbours standing as witnesses when disputes erupted. These moments demanded a narrative that honoured both the material and spiritual dimensions of land struggle.
Listening to Voices from the Margins
Over eighteen months, I sat with fifty Lydiatians across generations, farmers in their seventies, young women sowing seeds by the railway buffers, community leaders navigating local politics. I learned that land is not just soil and crops; it is kinship, ritual, and moral economy. Jemtias, an elder, told me, “This land belongs to God! No one should monopolise what the Creator shared.” Petro, a devout Muslim, reminded me of the universal rights of all creatures under Allah.
These conversations revealed a package of tactics: silent night-time seizures of under-utilised plots; communal endorsements by fictive kin; simultaneous claims on multiple parcels as a hedge against eviction; and even the haunting rhythms of Nyau ritual dancers emerging from nearby graveyards to ward off would-be trespassers. Each practice was a voice saying, “We belong here,” in ways that official titles never could.
Theoretical Lenses and Conceptual Innovations
Traditional urban theory often ties citizenship to formal rights and bureaucratic recognition. What I discovered in Lydiate is a richer, more complex claim-making process. Drawing on Holston’s insurgent citizenship, I argue that land seizures become moral-spatial assertions: migrants are not merely breaking rules, they are reframing land as a divine commons.
Bringing moral economies and spirituality to the foreground, this study extends insurgent citizenship into mystical terrain. Rituals like Nyau performances and the strategic invocation of witchcraft deterrence are not fringe phenomena but central tactics for asserting belonging. They remind us that urban struggles in many African contexts are as much about cosmology and moral order as they are about policy and law.
Challenges in the Field
Ethical dilemmas surfaced daily. I navigated the fine line between documenting occult practices and not sensationalizing them. Some migrants feared retribution if their belief in witchcraft became public. Politically, the settlement existed in a grey zone: local authorities turned a blind eye to farming on buffer zones but cracked down on more visible land grabs.
Emotionally, listening to stories of threat, from Chinese investors fencing lands they used to farm to neighbours wielding spells, was taxing. I had to confront my own scepticism about witchcraft while bearing witness to how deeply these beliefs shaped people’s lives. Ensuring anonymity, gaining trust, and respecting sacred rituals required constant reflection on my role as both observer and confidant.
Key Findings
- Self-Allocation as Survival: Migrants clear unused land, roadside strips, commons, abandoned war-veteran farms, to feed their families, believing they have no other options.
- Divine Justification: The refrain “This is God’s land” transforms personal necessity into moral entitlement, challenging exclusive property regimes.
- Communal Safeguards: Consistent use, multiple claims, and endorsements by neighbours create a network of informal tenure security.
- Spiritual Deterrence: Nyau cult processions and witchcraft threats act as powerful deterrents against eviction, no permit needed when fear of the occult stands guard.
These findings show that land access is not just about digging soil; it’s about digging deep into shared beliefs, alliances, and moral claims.
Why It Matters
Urban agriculture is lauded for food security, yet policies rarely account for how vulnerable groups actually get land. Recognising informal access systems, tempered by moral and spiritual dimensions, can guide planners towards more inclusive, flexible governance.
When policymakers see land as more than a commodity, they can legitimise vernacular practices through participatory planning that respects spirituality and migrant livelihoods. This approach strengthens social justice, enhances food resilience, and fosters urban environments where no group is labelled a perpetual outsider.
Reflections and Hopes
I hope readers come away with a new lens: one that sees the spiritual pulse of urban margins, not as a relic, but as a living strategy for survival and dignity. For the general public, this means recognising that permaculture thrives not only through plots and policies but through rituals, communal bonds, and moral energies.
For policymakers, the message is clear: integrate adverse possession frameworks and community-led mapping to formalise what is already working on the ground. For activists and students, let this research be an invitation to listen, truly listen, to unheard voices whose dreams of home and belonging challenge dominant urban scripts.
A Note to Fellow Researchers
Working in politicised, emotionally charged contexts demands humility and reflexivity. Build long-term relationships, respect cosmological beliefs, and engage ethics beyond paperwork: ask who benefits, who is at risk, and how your presence reshapes local power dynamics. Collaborate with community leaders, co-produce knowledge, and be prepared for surprises that defy academic neatness. Above all, carry empathy as your compass.
I am an interdisciplinary researcher and critical urban scholar whose research revolves around four key themes: (a) urban informality, (b) geographies of urban inclusion and exclusion, and (c) urban transformation and (d) cities, space and power. My goal is to contribute to knowledge, public debate, policy discussions and practice around these themes. I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town. My current research is on Urban water adaptation: Exploring practices of adaptive governance for building urban water resilience in Cape Town’s informal settlements. I hold a Ph.D. in Social Sciences (Migration and Land Settlement), an M.Sc. in Social Ecology, and a B.Sc. in Urban and Regional Planning both from the University of Zimbabwe. I am also affiliated with the African Center for Cities (ACC) where I teach the module - Climate Change and the City for the Masters in Sustainable Urban Practice program. I am also a former Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) at the University of Zimbabwe. I have published extensively in High Impact International Journals like Urban Forum, Sustainable Development, Land Use Policy, Anthropology Southern Africa, Pan-African Conversations, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Town and Regional Planning, African Identities, and International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, among others. My recent BOOK: “COVID-19 Lockdowns and the Urban Poor in Harare, Zimbabwe: Emerging Perspectives and the Morphing of a Sustainable Urban Future, published by Springer, Cham is available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-41669-9. Outside academia, I have more than 7 years experience in applied policy and development research, undertaking commissioned research and program evaluations and baseline studies on issues such as affordable housing, urban innovation, local economic development and inclusive urban economies, urban economic resilience, urban poverty and inequality (urban social geography), climate justice for marginalized populations, immigrants and racialized people’s experiences for national and local government agencies, civil society and international organizations such as USAID, FAO, CESVI Zimbabwe, Center for Affordable Housing Finance (CAHF), and Homeless International, among others. My research and professional experience spans across countries such as Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, China, Germany, South Africa, Lesotho, Morocco, Belgium, Ghana, and Switzerland, among others.
Follow the Topic
-
Discover Global Society
This is an interdisciplinary, international journal that welcomes research on the complexities of modern global society, its development and its challenges.
What are SDG Topics?
An introduction to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Topics and their role in highlighting sustainable development research.
Continue reading announcementRelated Collections
With Collections, you can get published faster and increase your visibility.
Climate Change and the Future of Society: Risks, Resilience, and Transformation
Climate change is the most significant anthropogenic challenges of the 21st century. The activities of mankind writ large are ramping up greenhouse gas emissions, land-use change and industrial activity. Global warming, severe weather, increased sea levels and biodiversity loss are the result of this. Long-term alterations in weather conditions is climate change. It also refers to the changes in climate patterns at regional levels on a global scale. The fast global warming process has started from pre-industrial era. Until the beginning of the 21st century, 1850 to 1900 was by a large margin. These days, the climate is mainly influenced by anthropogenic activities. Climate change and its manifestations are widely recognized as threat multipliers. It jeopardizes both the future global and regional peace and security. An urgent need exists to take climate change and the future of society seriously.
The future of society and climate change are the focus of this special issue, which examines critical levels of concern. Set of forward-looking scientific contribution in this special issue. They review the risks, resilience, and transformations associated with climate change for sustainable development and how they may impact the success of SDGs by the year 2030. The subject is quite relevant as climate action and sustainable development are interdependent, which is acknowledged in the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. In order to mitigate climate risk to the SDGs, global action is needed on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience building so that multiple benefits can also be realised which will enable us to achieve SDGs in a synergistic way. One example would be to move to renewable energy, which could both lower emissions and increase access to clean energy, thereby advancing progress on climate action and affordable clean energy. We can achieve progress on food security by managing the risks of climate impacts on sustainable development of agriculture and livestock models in the country. According to estimates, 80% of SDG targets can possibly be supported by climate mitigation actions.
Researchers world over are invited to contribute in computer science, environmental science, social sciences, economics, policy science, urban studies and allied fields. This Special Issue aims to provide novel contributions from a variety of theoretical and empirical perspectives. The results will trigger new initiatives and contributions from researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the field. It will be produced a new way to model risks and formulating strategies to achieve co-benefits and synergies of low carbon development and sustainable development goals.
Potential themes and topics include, but are not limited to:
The special issue “Climate Change and the Future of Society: Risks, Resilience, and Transformations” has potential themes and topics that may include wide-ranging interdisciplinary thematic areas illustrating complex linkages between climate disruption and the UNSDGs by 2030 and beyond. They consist of:
Synergies and Trade-offs in Climate Action and SDG Achievement:
Climate action must deliver multiple SDGs for strengthening synergies and avoiding trade-offs. Illustration includes renewable energy transitions are compatible with low carbon growth (SDG 8), they also support affordable energy (SDG 7), climate action (SDG 13) and energy access for the poor (SDG 1). Such a development must not cause costly trade-offs such as large scale bioenergy deployment competing with food security (SDG 2) or land use (SDG 15) among others.
Climate Risks and Vulnerabilities Impacting SDGs:
Climate change severely affects sustainable development practices. Food production and availability of water resources are impacted by warming and extreme weather events. Furthermore, an additional global threat to people’s health is climate change. In addition, climate change is affecting the pattern of disease in the world. The rise in temperature all around the globe is adversely impacting the ecosystem. Most significantly, the greatest impact of climate change has been seen on poor and vulnerable people.
Building Resilience through Integrated Approaches:
Examination of Nature-based Solutions, Ecosystem-based Adaptation, and Disaster Risk Reduction will occur. Research on how climate-resilient infrastructure affects one’s adaptive capacity (SDG 13.1), and strengthening social protection systems to reduce inequalities (SDG 10). Resilient communities can be supported by this NbS and EbA.
Transformative Pathways and Systemic Change:
Efforts to achieve fair low-carbon societies have led to significant changes in energy decarbonisation, sustainable industry, sustainable food, land and water, oceans, and digital revolutions for sustainability. The aim of this workshop is to discuss conceptualising and implementing the just transition through a gender and inequality lens.
Sectoral and Regional Case Studies:
Contributions on agriculture and food systems resilience (e.g., drought-tolerant crops, sustainable land management), water and soil resource management, renewable energy adoption, urban planning for climate-resilient cities, health-climate intersections (e.g., heat-related illnesses, vector-borne diseases), and biodiversity conservation amid changing climates.
Governance, Policy, and Finance for Synergistic Progress:
Analyzing enabling conditions like climate finance, policy coherence between the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda, loss and damage mechanisms, carbon border adjustments, and international cooperation to accelerate SDG-aligned resilience-building and equitable transformations.
Equity, Justice, and Intersectional Perspectives:
Addressing psychosocial dimensions, gender and intersectionality in adaptation, indigenous knowledge integration, and efforts to prevent climate change from exacerbating inequalities or reversing development gains.
These themes draw on emerging research trends, including renewable energy, ecosystem services protection, life cycle assessments, food security in vulnerable regions, policy synergies, and remote sensing applications, while inviting empirical, theoretical, and modeling-based studies to foster global collaboration and inform pathways toward a resilient, sustainable future.
Publishing Model: Open Access
Deadline: Dec 20, 2026
Gender, Environment, and Sustainability: Bridging Gaps and Building Future
The pressing challenges of environmental degradation and climate change demand innovative solutions that are sustainable, inclusive, and equitable. Gender, as a critical dimension of social structure, shapes the vulnerabilities, experiences, and responses of communities worldwide facing environmental risks. Women play diverse and pivotal roles as leaders, decision-makers, resource managers, activists, and scientists in addressing ecological issues; yet, they continue to face barriers to access, participation, and recognition within environmental sectors.
This collection, "Gender, Environment, and Sustainability: Bridging Gaps and Building Future," explores the intersection of gender and the environment as a transformative lens for achieving sustainability and social justice. The collection welcomes contributions that examine how gender-based disparities influence environmental outcomes, how women’s empowerment enhances ecological stewardship, and how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be advanced through gender-inclusive policies and practices. Submissions may cover topics such as gendered impacts of climate change, women’s leadership in environmental governance, gender mainstreaming in sustainability science, and case studies from diverse social, cultural, and geographical contexts.
By bringing together global perspectives, empirical analyses, and practical frameworks, this topical collection aims to foster rigorous research and constructive dialogue on the shared journey toward a more sustainable and equitable future for both genders. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from diverse backgrounds are invited to contribute their insights and innovations to bridge the gaps and build resilient pathways for future generations.
Keywords:Climate Action, Women’s Empowerment, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, Environmental Sustainability, Quality Education
Publishing Model: Open Access
Deadline: Oct 30, 2026
