Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Support for agricultural development

Abstract

In South Africa, land reform has to be more than securing land rights and transferring a certain number of hectares to black people. Broadly speaking, it has to take into account the uneven spatial development patterns created under colonial and apartheid rule. People who have secured land rights and access to land must be enabled to improve their livelihoods and deal with other challenges afflicting rural areas: high unemployment, poverty, HIV/Aids and dilapidated infrastructure. Land reform as a whole, particularly the redistribution and restitution programmes, have assisted poor rural people to gain access to land for a range of purposes. Most land reform beneficiaries are interested in using the land for agricultural production. Although this is an integral part of equalising access to agricultural resources and facilitating sustainable, land-based livelihood strategies and support after land transfer has been neglected by the state. Small-scale production to support multiple livelihood strategies has gained little attention in official policy circles.