Achieving Employment-Intensive Land Reform In SA

A new study suggests that significant increases in the employment intensity of agriculture can be achieved if land, situated specifically in four local municipalities, is redistributed to smallscale farmers. According to Ben Cousins, emeritus professor at the University of the Western Cape’s Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, by focusing on specific types of farming in these four areas, almost 24 000 job could be created.

- Ben Cousins

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis has clearly demonstrated the vulnerability of the livelihoods of many South Africans and highlighted food insecurity as one key aspect. Many now argue that reducing the vulnerability of the livelihoods of the poor, and associated food insecurity, must become a key focus of policy.

Some assert that structural reform, thus tackling these problems at their root, is required more urgently than before. Land reform has this potential. If successful, it could play a significant role in reducing the vulnerability and food insecurity of the rural population, who comprise one-third of the population, as well as some urban residents. Enhancing employment and thus income is one key thrust of pro-poor land reform.

Land reform is necessary in post-apartheid South Africa to help address inherited historical injustices, especially those resulting from land dispossession of the black majority. It involves the restitution of land to individuals and communities who lost their homes and land due to forced removals. It also creates secure rights to land held by the black majority. In addition, the process aims to create a more equitable pattern of land ownership.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, land reform has encountered many difficulties, and progress has been slow. One problem is that elites have captured many of the benefits. Another is its limited impact thus far on poverty and unemployment.

A recent study, ‘Assessing the potential for employment-intensive land reform in South Africa’, commissioned by the government, funded by the EU, and conducted by experts from different institutions with me as the leader, focused on the potential contribution of redistributive land reform to employment creation.