Business models in land reform

Abstract

This paper reviews the types of business models, or landuse models, being implemented in land reform projects involving the transfer of rural land to communities and other groups in South Africa, under both the restitution and redistribution programmes. It draws heavily on the series of Diagnostic Studies prepared as part of the Sustainable Development Consortium’s (SDC) work on post-settlement support, but also draws from other studies on restitution, notably that conducted by the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE) in 2005, and the wider literature on redistributive land reform in South Africa. The aim of this paper is first to identify the types of business model emerging within land reform, and to analyse how they have been implemented and the implications for sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The subject matter inevitably overlaps with other thematic papers in this series, particularly that on livelihoods, but focuses specifically on the business models and aims to avoid repetition of issues discussed in more detail elsewhere