Browsing by Subject "Land Reform"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Open Access
    Examining land reform in South Africa: evidence from survey data
    (2017) Ryan, Joanna; Leibbrandt, Murray; Piraino, Patrizio
    Land and land reform have long been contentious and highly charged topics in South Africa, with land performing the dual functions of redress for the past and development for the future. This research explores both these aspects of land, with the focus being on the impact of land receipt on household welfare and food insecurity, and social preferences for fairness and redistribution more generally. One of the main aims is to contribute to the land reform debate by providing previously-lacking quantitative evidence on the aggregate welfare outcomes of land redistribution, as well as the extent of social preferences for redistribution in the land restitution framework. In exploring these issues, the welfare outcomes of land are first explored using the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) data and unconditional quantile regression analysis. The focus is then narrowed to the food insecurity impact of land receipt, beginning with a methodological chapter outlining the development of a new food insecurity index applying the Alkire-Foster method of multidimensional poverty measurement (2009; 2011). This is followed by the presentation and discussion of food insecurity profiles of land beneficiary and non-beneficiary households. The new index is also used as an outcome measure in exploring the determinants of household food insecurity. These two sections again use the NIDS data. The final section shifts the emphasis from the economic welfare benefits of land redistribution to notions of fairness and social justice encapsulated by land restitution. A behavioural laboratory experiment is used to investigate social preferences for fairness, and the factors that influence redistributive inclinations, by exploring the relative weights placed on fairness considerations and self-interest, as well as the fairness ideal. The findings indicate that beneficiaries do not use the land received for productive purposes, a possible explanation for the limited economic welfare impacts of land reform that are observed. Despite this limited developmental impact, the laboratory experiment makes it clear that land reform plays an important role in addressing other needs and wants in society, particularly in respect of preferences for fairness and addressing historical injustices.
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    Fast track land reform and belonging: examining linkages between resettlement areas and communal areas in Zvimba District, Zimbabwe
    (University of Cape Town, 2020) Marewo, Malvern Kudakwashe; Chitonge, Horman; Matose, Frank
    This study examines whether beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) of 2000 in resettlement areas maintain linkages with communal areas of origin. Present studies about the FTLRP provide limited in-depth attention to the importance of understanding linkages with places of origin. The study sought to explore the extent to which beneficiaries of the FTLRP are connected to their communal areas of origin, as well as the implications of the ties. Analysis of linkages is through social relationships and labour exchanges between people in resettlement areas and communal areas. This was done through a conceptual framework of belonging, which helped explain the various attachments to places of origin. The study was guided by a qualitative research approach. A case study of Machiroli Farm, an A1 villagised settlement, and Zvimba communal areas (Ward 6), Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe was utilised. The study's main finding is that beneficiaries of the FTLRP in the A1 model on Machiroli Farm retain linkages with communal areas of origin; beneficiaries of the FTLRP acquired new land without discarding ties and relations with places of origin. Most respondents attached clear importance to maintaining linkages with places of origin. Some respondents did not maintain ties with places of origin because of conflicts and breakdowns in family ties, highlighting that belonging is not static. Evidence from this case study shows that maintenance of linkages assists with agricultural production and enhancing social relations. Another important finding is that belonging enforced the maintenance of relations through factors, such as familial relations, burial sites, clubs, ceremonies and labour exchanges with communal areas of origin. The study argues that belonging is an aspect that ties people together despite physical translocation. Thus, this study's contribution is that, within land reform debates, physical translocation does not break the bonds with, or ties to, places of origin. Belonging enables several functions, such as access to labour, mitigation of economic challenges and enhancement of social relations, as demonstrated by this case study. For scholarship, the study contributes to land reform debates by applying the concept of belonging, which has mostly been applied to border and migration studies policy. The framework of belonging within land reform reveals the importance of social, cultural, religious and economic effects in accessing labour and enhancing agricultural production in agrarian settings. The study draws the conclusion that beneficiaries of land reform desire to remain relevant to a host of political, economic, spiritual and social aspects anchored in places of origin. Therefore, resettlement does not break ties which people have with places of origin, people embrace the new without discarding the old relations.
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    The role of social capital in the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) of Zimbabwe: a case of Rouxdale (R/E) Farm, Bubi District, Matabeleland North Province
    (2018) Ncube, Senzeni; Chitonge, Horman; Matose, Frank
    This study investigates the role of social capital towards the realisation of the positive benefits of land through the A1 crop-based villagised model of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP), which has been largely viewed as successful in academic literature. The study emerges out of a large gap in scholarly literature, which largely side-lines social outcomes of the FTLRP while focusing mostly on material outcomes. The study contributes to limited research on the non-material outcomes in the Matabeleland North Province, an under researched area in the subject of land reform in Zimbabwe. Thus, social capital was selected to investigate these non-visible outcomes of FTLRP. A qualitative research design was used, with semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, observation, archives and secondary literature being the main sources of data. The study focused on a single case study, beneficiaries of Rouxdale (R/E) farm in Bubi District. The study brings the following insights: first, social capital played a pivotal role in accessing land. Second, ordinary people acquired land. Third, women were empowered through access to land. Fourth, land is an asset whose benefits far surpass livelihood creation. Fifth, land reform models have an impact on social capital. The main contribution of the study is that social capital promotes solidarity and the tackling of collective problems in land reform models with a communal component. The study illustrates that social capital creates a conducive environment for the attainment of the benefits of land. This is facilitated by beneficiaries’ effort to maintain healthy social network relationships. The study demonstrates that various decisions of the state have a potential of hindering social capital in resettlement areas through the destruction of social network relationships, such that its positive impact becomes limited. This portrays the fragile nature of social capital, which can easily be destroyed by external negative factors, regardless of the length of time taken in establishing it. Social capital can be applied in different spheres. However, its outcomes are directly informed by different contexts, thus making it context specific in nature. The study stresses that governments that use social capital in land reform should be conscious of local contextual dynamics before developing programmes that affect beneficiaries, in order to preserve existing social network relationships. The fragility and context specific nature of social capital is missing in the conceptualisation of its main scholars, yet they emerge as important aspects in this study. The study points to the need for these to be incorporated into the core elements of the concept of social capital to create a more holistic framework of analysis. The study therefore argues that social capital is vital in land reform and the post-settlement phase.