BOOK REVIEWS 119the redistribution e.g. targeting and how to identify the poor. The potentialcosts of the suggested policy are not discussed. This could have beenmore helpful to policy makers in Zimbabwe. For policy purposes, thestudy has achieved little success, and is already out of date. As Economists,we should be trying to look at the possible solutions to our problemsrather than spend our resources on analysing the "by-gones". What is theway forward?Dr. Mlambo's book is especially suitable for the upcoming scholarswho are really keen on knowing the origins of ESAP in Zimbabwe.ReferencesE. L. BACHA, (1987), "IMF conditionality: Conceptual problems and policyalternatives", World Development, No. 15, (12).R. DAVIES, J. RATTSO, AND R. TORVIK, (1994), "The macroeconomics ofZimbabwe in the 1980s: A CGE-model analysis", Journal of AfricanEconomies No. 3.H. DASHWOOD, (1996), "The relevance of class to the evolution of Zimbabwe'sdevelopment strategy, 1980-1991", Journal of Southern African Studies,xxii, (i), pg. 27-48.DE JANVRY AND SADOULET (1996), Quantitative Development Policy Analysis(Baltimore Inc).R. DORNBUSCH, (1982), "What have we learned from stabilization?", WorldDevelopment, 10 (September).I. A. ELBADAWI, D. GHURA AND G. UWUJAREN, (1992), "Why structural adjustmenthas not succeeded in Sub-Saharan Africa", World Bank WPS 1000(October).C. PAYER, (1987), "The IMF and India", in J. J. Havnevik (ed), 77je IMF andWB in Africa: Conditionality, Impact and Alternatives (Uppsala,Scandinavian Institute of African Studies).F. TARP, (1993), Stabilization and Structural Adjustment (Routledge, London).L. TAYLOR, (1993), The Rocky Road to Reform: Income Distribution, Politicsand Adjustment in the Developing World (Cambridge, MIT Press).University of Zimbabwe A. M. CHIDAKWAThe Practice of Smallholder Irrigation: Case Studies from Zimbabwe E.Manzungu and P. van der Zaag (eds.). Harare, University of ZimbabwePublications, 1996, 235 pp, ISBN 0-908307-51-9, Z$60.This edited volume is a multi-disciplinary study of smallholder irrigationin Zimbabwe. Eight case studies make up the book. The case studies focuson interaction between technical and social aspects of smallholderirrigation, standardisation in schemes managed by government,120 BOOK REVIEWSmanagement under water scarcity, social and political relations amongirrigators from diverse physical and ideological backgrounds, strategiesadopted by resource deficient irrigators, interface issues at catchmentlevel and irrigation schemes initiated by farmers.There is a dearth of post-independence literature on smallholderirrigation in Zimbabwe: this book is therefore very welcome. A jewel of thebook is that it is a positive attempt to go beyond the 'disciplinaryfragmentation... which inhibits the ability to integrate knowledge in an allencompassing totality which spans the entire spectrum of experience'(Murphree, 1977, 3).1 This has been achieved without compromising ondetailed presentation of evidence to support conclusions.Furthermore, one does not see a romanticised view of the farmers, arefreshing departure from some of the accounts that uncritically see apanacea in indigenous technical knowledge systems. Also a welcome featureof the book is that farmers are not viewed as a homogeneous group. Thecases presented in this book show that within the 'community' of farmers,are several groups with different and sometimes competing interests.A glaring omission in the literature review is A. K. H. Weinrich'sAfrican Farmers in Rhodesia.2 Weinrich's account of smallholder irrigationin the colonial era is valuable in that she does not take a dualistic approachto state peasant relationships. May be because of this omission, Manzunguand van der Zaag's book falls into what Moyo observes as a weakness ininstitutional studies that are based on 'the vision of a monolithic state,identified in Zimbabwe around such institutions as Agritex and DistrictAdministration . . . For such a perspective may miss the heterogeneouscharacter of the state's role including its negotiated involvement in localadministration, local power issues and in critical matters surroundingland (or water)' (Moyo, 1995, 69).3A topic not adequately addressed in any of the case studies is that ofproduce marketing. Fortunately, the authors are aware of this. As theypoint out in the book, there is a need for 'more in-depth inquiries intohousehold strategies, the obstacles faced and the alternatives sought'regarding the issue of marketing (p.223).The Practice of Smallholder Irrigation is a welcome contribution to thestudy of communal area irrigation. It is valuable to students of appliedscience regardless of orientation.University of Zimbabwe ELIAS MADZUDZOMurphree M W "Strategic considerations for enhancing scholarship at the University ofZimbabwe". Zambezia, XXIV, (i), 1-112, 1997.Weinrich, A. K. H., African Farmers in Rhodesia, Old and New Peasant Communities inKarangaland (Oxford, OUP, 1975).Moyo, S., The Land Question in Zimbabwe (Harare, SAPES Books), 1995. Addition in bracketsnot in original.