Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project
| dc.contributor.advisor | Parnell, Sue | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Karaan, Mohammad | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mohamed, Najma | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-09-07T10:29:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-09-07T10:29:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1999 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2023-09-07T10:18:04Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | This thesis examines the viability of participatory monitoring in instituting a sustainable agriculture-based land reform programme in South Africa. The legacies of colonial and apartheid-era racial injustices have severely constrained access to land for agricultural production. Moreover, the impact of commercial agriculture on nature and society, warrants that alternative approaches to agriculture be investigated. Land reform provides a unique opportunity to motivate for social change, premised on both agricultural sustainability (land) and social transformation (life). Partnership-based models, such as farm worker equity share schemes, dominate land reform opportunities in the Western Cape. The Warmwater farming Trust, a land reform project in the Western Cape premised on this model, formed the case study component of my research. Political ecology was adopted as the theoretical framework for linking structural underpinnings and the locale. Participatory research methods were employed to develop the indicator-based participatory monitoring system on Warmwater. These included farming systems research, participatory rural appraisal and sustainability indicators. The research shows that a range of factors, related to the structures in society, the nature of the locale, and local-level action underscore land and agrarian reform in South Africa. Moreover, the research provides important insights into the transformative capacity of partnership-based land reform models. Participatory monitoring holds benefits for the farmers of Warmwater by providing an opportunity to monitor changes related to land and life and increasing their participation in planning and decision-making processes on the farm. Despite obstacles posed by structural constraints to land and agrarian reform, this thesis postulates three mechanisms to addressing the land-life dialectic. These include a consideration of new land reform models, a conflation of environmental and social justice considerations, and the promotion of local-level action geared towards social transformation and agricultural sustainability. The reconstruction of the South African landscape could be attained by adopting a participatory, sustainable agriculture-based land reform programme, which incorporates processes such as participatory monitoring. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Mohamed, N. (1999). <i>Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project</i>. (). ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38439 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Mohamed, Najma. <i>"Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project."</i> ., ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38439 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Mohamed, N. 1999. Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project. . ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38439 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Master Thesis AU - Mohamed, Najma AB - This thesis examines the viability of participatory monitoring in instituting a sustainable agriculture-based land reform programme in South Africa. The legacies of colonial and apartheid-era racial injustices have severely constrained access to land for agricultural production. Moreover, the impact of commercial agriculture on nature and society, warrants that alternative approaches to agriculture be investigated. Land reform provides a unique opportunity to motivate for social change, premised on both agricultural sustainability (land) and social transformation (life). Partnership-based models, such as farm worker equity share schemes, dominate land reform opportunities in the Western Cape. The Warmwater farming Trust, a land reform project in the Western Cape premised on this model, formed the case study component of my research. Political ecology was adopted as the theoretical framework for linking structural underpinnings and the locale. Participatory research methods were employed to develop the indicator-based participatory monitoring system on Warmwater. These included farming systems research, participatory rural appraisal and sustainability indicators. The research shows that a range of factors, related to the structures in society, the nature of the locale, and local-level action underscore land and agrarian reform in South Africa. Moreover, the research provides important insights into the transformative capacity of partnership-based land reform models. Participatory monitoring holds benefits for the farmers of Warmwater by providing an opportunity to monitor changes related to land and life and increasing their participation in planning and decision-making processes on the farm. Despite obstacles posed by structural constraints to land and agrarian reform, this thesis postulates three mechanisms to addressing the land-life dialectic. These include a consideration of new land reform models, a conflation of environmental and social justice considerations, and the promotion of local-level action geared towards social transformation and agricultural sustainability. The reconstruction of the South African landscape could be attained by adopting a participatory, sustainable agriculture-based land reform programme, which incorporates processes such as participatory monitoring. DA - 1999_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Agricultural laborers - South Africa - Western Cape. LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 1999 T1 - Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project TI - Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38439 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38439 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Mohamed N. Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project. []. ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 1999 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38439 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Environmental and Geographical Science | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Science | |
| dc.subject | Agricultural laborers - South Africa - Western Cape. | |
| dc.title | Healing the land : monitoring transformation and agricultural sustainability on a Western Cape land reform project | |
| dc.type | Master Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | MSc |