Land Reform and Rural Production in South Africa

The Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture (2019) argued that ‘land reform must be oriented around growing the agricultural sector to foster economic development, and not purely be an endeavour to transfer land’. I plan to research especially the links between land reform and agricultural production. A key aim is to explore what models and schemes are working to enhance agriculture and rural incomes. My view, broadly speaking, is that land reform should be guided by past racial injustices in access to land, but that it should also contribute to rural standards of living, development and national economic growth. In a context where state funding and capacity is limited, private sector partnerships provide a parallel way forward. It is possible to enhance opportunities for commercial agriculture at the same time as drawing on skills and capital for land reform. I have gathered some information on joint ventures and partnerships in sugar, forestry, wool, dairy, beef, citrus and sub-tropical fruit, macadamia and maize, which may have absorbed as many as 80,000 smaller black farmers over the last two decades. This, as well as successful smallholder projects, will be an important part of further research and writing – with the aim of a short book.