Over the years there has been, in Southern Africa, a steady flow of populations from the overcrowded communal areas into those marginal zones which previously were sparsely populated. Usually it is post-independent leadership which encourages and facilitates settlement into these marginal areas currently occupied by minority ethnic groups which have failed to secure political representation since independence. The influx of people into these marginal areas affects the development of existing programmes aimed at sustainable utilisation of natural resources. This article shows how politicians in Zimbabwe facilitate the resettlement of people into the previously sparsely populated Zambezi Valley. In addition, it shows that the huge influx of people into the valley has tended to affect the development of a community-based natural resource management project which was starting to benefit the Tonga people.
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