Matabeleland food shortages. Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo finally reconciled their political differences by late 1987. The roots of discord remained, however, and in some ways increased as Mugabe's rule became increasingly autocratic into the 21st century. In the early 1990s, a Land Acquisition Act was passed, calling for the Mugabe government to purchase mostly white-owned commercial farming land for redistribution to native Africans. Matabeleland has rich central plains, watered by tributaries of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, allowing it to sustain cattle and consistently produce large amounts of cotton and maize. But land grabbing, squatting, and repossessions of large white
Matabeleland North Province from the Matabele or Ndebele people, the province's largest ethnic group. Matabeleland North is bordered by Matabeleland South and Bulawayo to the south, Midlands to the east, Mashonaland West to the northeast, Botswana to the west, and Zambia to the north, which is separated from Zimbabwe by the Zambezi river. It has an area of , equal to 19.2% of the total area of Zimbabwe. It is the largest in area of the country's ten provinces. Matabeleland North is located on the edge of the Kalahari Basin, giving it an arid climate. Its economy is dominated by agriculture, with 83%