From colonial ploughs to NGO projects: how modernisation discourse undermines food system sustainability in Zimbabwe

Increasing evidence shows global food systems are not functioning sustainably, contributing to malnutrition, environmental degradation and increased vulnerability. This raises stakes for policy-makers and activists to develop coherent, sustainable policies and programmes to build resilience. However, insufficient understanding of food systems complexity, combined with persistent faith in modernisation as development paradigm, has led to interventions that inadvertently undermine sustainability. This article examines how well-intentioned government policies and development programmes often exacerbate food system dysfunction. It contributes to scholarly debates about neoliberal development approaches’ effectiveness and linear modernisation theories’ limitations in addressing complex food system challenges. Through analysing food systems theory, Zimbabwe's national food system trajectory, and detailed investigation of local food systems in the Gokwe districts, we explore why development interventions frequently fail. Using mixed methods including stakeholder workshops, focus groups, interviews, and market surveys, we reveal how colonial legacies of land appropriation, technological imposition, and knowledge suppression established patterns that post-independence policies and contemporary NGO programmes have largely perpetuated, supporting scholars who argue donor-driven neoliberal policies undermine African food system sustainability.