Another 400 villagers in Mushenjere are expected to face displacement as the expansion of Dinson Iron and Steel Company deepens a crisis that has already pushed women, children and vulnerable families to the edge.
At night, the glow from the Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO) plant illuminates the Manhize landscape.
For some, the floodlights represent Zimbabwe’s ambitions for industrialisation and economic transformation. For families living on the margins of the sprawling steel project, however, the same lights cast a very different shadow — one of lost farmland, empty boreholes, disrupted education and an uncertain future.
In Manhize, the cost of industrial expansion is being measured not only in hectares of land lost, but in meals skipped, kilometres walked to school and livelihoods that have disappeared.
For women, the consequences are particularly severe.
Since 2021, more than 100 families have lost agricultural land to the development associated with DISCO. The latest wave of evictions is expected to affect about 400 people in Mushenjere, with women and children making up an estimated 70 percent of those facing displacement.
Among them are schoolchildren preparing to sit for the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations.
Their classrooms may be only a few kilometres away on a map. On foot, however, the journey can become an exhausting trek along dusty mining roads.
When the fields disappeared
For generations, rural women have played a central role in household food production, cultivating maize, groundnuts and drought-resistant small grains to feed their families.
Those fields are now gone for many households.
Instead, families have been moved onto rocky relocation plots where, residents say, crops struggle to survive.
The consequences have been immediate: reduced food production, increased dependence on purchased food and growing household vulnerability.
Some families are reportedly surviving on a single meal of sadza accompanied by dried pumpkin leaves.
For mothers responsible for feeding children, the loss of productive land has meant more than losing an economic asset. It has removed one of the most important foundations of household survival.
The Rural Young Women Support Network (RYWSN) has condemned the handling of the evictions, arguing that women have borne a disproportionate share of the social and economic burden.
The organisation says women are being forced to carry increased caregiving responsibilities at a time when food and household resources are becoming increasingly scarce.
The price children are paying
The crisis is also reaching the classroom.
Students from the affected communities reportedly walk between eight and 12 kilometres each day to attend school, often along roads heavily used by mining and industrial traffic.
By the time some learners reach school, they are already exhausted and exposed to dust from the roads.
Teachers and community members fear that the disruption could affect examination performance, particularly among candidates already preparing for ZIMSEC examinations.
For girls, the burden can be even greater.
Water shortages have forced families to search for water in unsafe riverbeds after boreholes in the relocation areas reportedly dried up. Girls, who often carry a disproportionate share of household water-collection duties, can spend hours searching for water instead of studying.
The result is a vicious cycle: displacement reduces access to livelihoods; water shortages increase household labour; and the additional responsibilities eat into children’s study time.
The national education picture has added to those fears.
Zimbabwe’s June 2026 O-Level examination pass rate was reported at just 3 percent, intensifying concerns about the challenges facing learners in already disadvantaged communities.
For Manhize students, residents fear that displacement and poverty could compound those existing educational difficulties.
Empty boreholes, cracked walls
The problems do not end with food and education.
Infrastructure in some relocation areas is reportedly deteriorating.
Six solar-powered boreholes drilled by DISCO have reportedly gone dry, leaving families struggling to find reliable sources of water.
Residents attribute the water shortages to falling groundwater levels associated with industrial and mining activity, although the precise causes require independent technical assessment.
Relocation houses have also developed cracks, raising concerns about the safety and durability of the structures.
Meanwhile, families depending on subsistence allowances of about US$200 say payments can be irregular or delayed for months.
Many households that have lost productive farmland and other sources of income, in the wake of these delays face devastating consequences.
A payment that might once have been supplementary income can become a family’s primary means of purchasing food, water, school supplies and other necessities.
A climate of fear
Beyond material hardship, community members and civil society groups say another problem is emerging: fear.
Reports from relocation areas allege that women who attempt to organise relief efforts or publicly raise concerns about living conditions have faced intimidation from government officials and security agents.
Families have reportedly been warned against criticising the relocation process.
Such allegations, if substantiated, raise questions not only about the treatment of displaced communities but also about their ability to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives.
For women already struggling with food insecurity, water shortages and increased caregiving responsibilities, being unable to speak openly about their circumstances adds another layer of vulnerability.
The law and the question of consent
At the heart of the controversy is a fundamental question: what happens when national development goals collide with the rights of communities living on land earmarked for industrial expansion?
Section 74 of Zimbabwe’s Constitution provides protection against arbitrary eviction, stating that no person may be evicted from their home or have their home demolished without a court order made after consideration of the relevant circumstances.
The circumstances surrounding individual Manhize relocations therefore require careful examination, including whether affected households received appropriate notice, consultation, compensation, alternative land and other safeguards required by Zimbabwean law.
Zimbabwe is also a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which requires states to address discrimination against women and promote their equal access to resources and opportunities.
Where displacement disproportionately affects women because of their economic and caregiving roles, questions of gender equality become inseparable from questions of land and development.
Civil society calls for action
Civil society organisations, including the Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) and RYWSN, are calling for urgent measures to protect affected families and students.
Among the demands are emergency food assistance and water bowsers for displaced communities, reliable transport for students travelling to school, and special consideration by ZIMSEC for learners whose education has been disrupted by relocation.
They are also calling for stronger protection of women community leaders and greater accountability from DISCO under corporate social responsibility obligations.
Organisations working with affected families, say the issue is not opposition to development itself but about whether development can proceed without leaving the people living closest to its footprint behind.
Development at what cost?
The Manhize steel project is part of Zimbabwe’s broader push to expand domestic industry, increase mineral beneficiation and create economic opportunities.
But economic transformation is ultimately experienced at household level.
It is experienced in whether a mother can feed her children.
Whether a farmer can still grow food.
Whether a girl has enough time to study.
Whether a child can walk to school safely.
Whether a family has access to clean water.
And whether people whose homes and livelihoods are affected by major projects have a meaningful voice in decisions that reshape their lives.
For the women of Manhize, the loss of land is therefore about far more than property.
It is about food security, economic independence, dignity and the ability to provide for their families.
As the steel plant continues to expand and its lights illuminate the surrounding landscape, the contrast is difficult to ignore.
Inside the industrial complex is a symbol of Zimbabwe’s aspirations for economic growth.
Outside its perimeter are families asking whether they, too, will have a place in that future.
For the children preparing for examinations, the question is even more immediate: will displacement become another barrier between them and the education they need to build lives beyond the hardships of today?
Unless the concerns surrounding land, water, food security, education and women’s rights are urgently addressed, Manhize risks becoming a powerful example of a development dilemma facing communities across Africa , how to pursue industrialisation while ensuring that those who bear its social and environmental costs are not left behind.