Abstract
M.A.
This research project assesses the impact of South Africa’s Land Reform Programme on the Land Redistribution Programme and thus on the, productivity and sustainability of farming operations in Limpopo Province.
The impact of the Land Redistribution Programme was examined on five farms within four district municipalities in Limpopo Province, namely: Capricorn Municipality (Vaalkop 656LS), Vhembe Municipality (Spitzkop), Waterberg Municipality (Hartebeespoort 84 KR, Speculatie 139LQ and St Catherine 1257LQ). Landsat 5 remote-sensing images and quantitative and qualitative survey techniques were employed to source the information. Evidence thus gleaned led to the conclusion that land was either abandoned or used less productively after redistribution. The primary factor causing a decline in the productivity of the land was found to be that the land redistribution policy is not sufficiently sensitive to the diversity of livelihood in a rural environment. Secondary factors include a lack of equipment, business skills, an ineffectual entrepreneurial spirit among subsistence farmers, insufficient finance, an irregular rainfall, a decline in agricultural education at school level, a lack of interest in agriculture among the youth, natural disasters such as droughts and floods, a limited sense of ownership by members involved in agricultural projects, poor organisational methods employed on the farms, gender inequalities, HIV/AIDS and an imbalance in the age distribution of the population. Regional political diseconomies, namely poor tenure relations and a persistent urban bias were also found to hinder change.
This research project sets out to critically examine the impact of the land distribution programme on the sustainability and productivity of commercial farmland and thus on the success that farming operations meet with. Field-test methodologies for assessing the impact and sustainability of land reform projects within Limpopo Province are elaborated upon.
Such findings lead in turn to policy recommendations aimed at a land reform policy encompassing broadened definitions of viability and at improving monitoring and evaluation techniques in the region.
Furthermore, this research project seeks to provide relevant information for debates at grass roots level. The focus is on implementation strategies and monitoring and evaluation systems, with the objective of feeding into broader policy debates at regional and national levels. The research also focuses on a series of in-depth case studies involving the systematic collection of both qualitative and quantitative information according to the defined research agenda.
In addition to the primary data gleaned for this research project, the analyses that this research and recent research case studies within Limpopo Province have come up with have shown that the Land Redistribution Programme is inherently flawed. It focuses too heavily on agriculture, is not set within the context of broader rural transformation, and is insensitive to the diverse nature of earning a livelihood in a rural environment.
This study has shown a lack of agricultural productivity on lands transferred as part of South Africa’s Land Reform Programme. An analysis of land reform in Limpopo Province showed a decline in agricultural activity and even abandonment of farmlands. The intention of the programme was to enhance rural earning power and to alleviate rural poverty by providing people with a means to garner an income. Productive agriculture was part of the plan to transform rural areas but, as of yet, very little transformation, measured through land reform, has occurred.