Browsing Working Papers by Title
Now showing items 4-23 of 80
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Beyond the “proper job:” Political-economic analysis after the century of labouring man
(Beyond the “Proper Job:” Political-economic Analysis after the Century of Labouring Man, 2018-04)This programmatic article proposes an approach to global political-economic inquiry in the wake of the failure of long-established transition narratives, notably the narrative centred on a universal trajectory from ... -
The case for re-strategising spending priorities to support small-scale farmers in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010-04)This paper summarises what is known about South Africa’s public expenditure trends in respect of small-scale farmers, and discusses the growing contradictions between the policy priority placed on small-scale farming and ... -
Changes in South Africa’s global agricultural trade regime, 1996–2013
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2014-10)This paper presents an examination of the major trends in South African international trade in agricultural products between the years 1996 and 2013. The analysis covers three broad areas: (1) the changing weight of key ... -
Changing customary land tenure regimes in Zambia, implications for women’s land rights
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2023-03)This paper argues that the formalisation of customary land through a rural certification programme in Nyimba District, Zambia, has triggered the establishment of a new tenure regime that transcends the dualism between ... -
The changing nature of large-scale commercial farming & implications for agrarian reform: Evidence from Limpopo, Western Cape and Northern Cape
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2012-12)The privileged position of white commercial farmers in South Africa came to an end by the early 1990s, when political and policy changes removed the certainty provided by controlled marketing, protective tariffs and weak ... -
The changing nature of large-scale commercial farming & implications for agrarian reform: evidence from Limpopo, Western Cape and Northern Cape
(PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2012)The privileged position of white commercial farmers in South Africa came to an end by the early 1990s, when political and policy changes removed the certainty provided by controlled marketing, protective tariffs and ... -
Collapse, conflict or social cohesion? Learning from livestock dipping associations in Kwazulu-Natal
(2020-06-29)This working paper is about the revival of communal cattle dipping in post-apartheid KwaZulu-Natal, which has improved animal healthcare and strengthened the livelihoods of the black rural households that keep cattle in ... -
Commercial biofuel land deals & environment and social impact assessments in Africa: Three case studies in Mozambique and Sierra Leone
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)The rapid increase in attempts by foreign investors to acquire large tracts of land in Africa for biofuel developments has generated substantial concern about their potential negative impact on the communities living in ... -
Commercialisation, deagrarianisation and the accumulation/reproduction dynamic: Massive maize production schemes in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2012-12)The post-apartheid era has seen the South African government trying to reverse ‘deagrarianisation’ in the former homelands by introducing ‘modern’ farming techniques and agribusiness principles. This paper situates the ... -
Community opportunities in commercial agriculture: Possibilities and challenges
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2017-11)Aquaculture has potential to contribute towards food and nutrition security, job creation and income for South African communities, provided that the challenges and limitations for their participation in commercial ... -
Conservation and ecotourism on privatised land in the Mara, Kenya: The case of conservancy land leases
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2012)This paper investigates private sector investment in conservation and ecotourism through conservancy land leases in the Mara region of Kenya. In a recent and growing tourism development, groups of Maasai landowners are ... -
Contested paradigms of ‘viability’ in redistributive land reform: perspectives from southern Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-06)‘Viability’ is a key term in debates about land reform in southern African and beyond, and is used in relation to both individual projects and programmes. ‘Viability’ connotes ‘successful’ and ‘sustainable’ - but what is ... -
Corporate power in the agrofood system and South Africa’s consumer food environment
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2016-05)This report maps the extent of corporate power in the South African agro-food system using a value chain approach. It identifies major corporate actors in the various nodes of the agro-food system as of 2014. Some nodes ... -
Crew members in South Africa’s squid industry: Whether they have benefited from transformation and governance reforms
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2008-10)Although crew members form bedrock of the squid industry, they have not benefited from the transformation and governance reforms because: the harvesting technique necessitates incentivisation of individual effort; they are ... -
Defining Lone Motherhood in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2013)The purpose of this document is to define the group of people whom we are considering as part of the project ‘Lone Mothers in South Africa: The role of social security in respecting and protecting dignity’. Setting to one ... -
Deflating the fallacy of food deserts: Local food geographies in Orange Farm and inner city Johannesburg
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2016-08)The availability and accessibility of food is constrained by the environments where people live, work and purchase goods, and the pathways which they use to traverse these. This recognition has given rise to innovative ... -
Differentiation and development: The case of the Xolobeni community in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
(PLAAS, 2019-11-15)Most agrarian scholars argue that long historic processes of colonialism, capitalist development and implementation of neo-liberal structural policies in Sub-Saharan Africa have resulted in deagrarianisation and its sub-genre ... -
Digital tech in African agriculture: the case of German actors
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, 2024)This study examines German actors involved in the digitalisation of agriculture in Africa. In order to understand the underlying structures, a typology was developed on the basis of literature. This typology was then applied ... -
The disjunctures of land and agricultural reform in South Africa: Implications for the agri-food system
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2013-08)Land reform was introduced in South Africa in the 1990s to redress the injustices of colonialism and apartheid. But compromises in the transition to democracy saw a trade-off between political participation on one side ... -
Drivers and actors in large-scale farmland acquisitions in Sudan
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2012)This study analyses the political, economic and social impacts of the land and ‘virtual water’ grab in Southern Sudan. The ‘virtual water’ concept, which explains the absence of water wars through water embedded in ...