Unfinished business: the politics of land reform in southern Africa

Will the current round of land reform in southern Africa mark a decisive break with the colonial past or will it entrench new forms of inequality? Do the land invasions in Zimbabwe herald a new phase of land struggle throughout the region? These are some of the questions raised in a new Sustainable Livelihoods in Southern Africa report that examines the policies and discources underlying the struggle for land in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A range of factors – from the global to the local – have combined to put land firmly on the political agenda in southern Africa. The transition to peace and democracy in Mozambique and South Africa has unleashed pressure for the restoration of land seized by white colonists and for the development of land still in the hands of indigenous communities. Despite considerable progress in land reform in Zimbabwe since independence, the continued domination of the agricultural sector by a tiny white minority has created fertile ground for an increasingly embattled government to stir up populist sentiment.

Cutting across the national specifics are a set of factors putting severe pressure on the livelihoods of the rural poor. Notable among these are a fall in formal sector employment, privatisation of key resources, reduced levels of state support to agriculture, and the continuing marginalisation of the non-commercial sectors.

Against this background, the strategies for land reform and rural development promoted by governments in southern Africa have shown themselves to be less than adequate. The weaknesses of a market-based approach to land reform were amply demonstrated in Zimbabwe during the 1990s and continue to hamper reform in South Africa. All three components of the South African programme – restitution, redistribution and tenure reform – have been beset by severe delays and look unlikely to lead to a fundamental change in the racially-skewed pattern of land holding. In Mozambique, the granting of vast concessions to local and foreign investors poses a serious threat to the rights of indigenous communities despite the recognition of informal rights in the Land Law of 1997.

The forms of agricultural production being promoted in the region are invariably based on high-input, market oriented models of full-time farming, with little appreciation of more diversified forms of livelihoods that combine agriculture for domestic consumption with other activities. With a few notable exceptions, reform policy in the region has been characterised by a lack of meaningful consultation with, or participation by, the most critically affected groups, namely rural women, the unemployed and the very poor. Excluded from mainstream political debate, the voices of the rural poor are heard only through the work of a few NGOs, trade unions and church groups.

This research has identified a number of key issues in the field of land and rural development that will be explored at both national and regional levels in further phases of the study. These include:

• the impact of neo-liberal macro economic policies on land-holding and on land reform
• the current and future status of communal land, with particular emphasis on tenure arrangements
• the impact of land reform policies on landholding patterns, rural livelihoods and poverty
• inclusion of women, youth, the unemployed and the very poor in policy process
• the evolving roles of institutions of local governance, including elected local government, tribal authorities and popular structures
• the impact of formal sector retrenchments on rural livelihoods and the demand for land
• processes of privatisation of land and commodification of common property resources
• bottom-up or unofficial initiatives to defend land rights, access land or improve rural livelihoods.

Source(s):
'Sustainable Livelihoods in Southern Africa: Institutions, Governance and Policy Process', SLSA Working Paper 2, Land Theme Paper, Institute of Development Studies by Edward Lahiff and Ian Scoones, December 2000

Funded by: Department For International Development (DFID), UK

id21 Research Highlight: 4 September 2001

Further Information:
Edward Lahiff
Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies
University of the Western Cape
Private Bag X17
Bellville 7535
South Africa

Tel: +27 (0)21 9593733
Fax: +27 (0)21 9593732
Contact the contributor: elahiff@uwc.ac.za

University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Ian Scoones
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 606261
Fax: +44 (0)01273 621202/691647
Contact the contributor: ians@ids.ac.uk

Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK

Other related links:
'Modern land rights for South Africa? The case for land reform'

'Catalyst for local democracy? Land reform in Eastern and Southern Africa'

'Listening to local perceptions: land resettlement in Zimbabwe'

SDDimensions focuses on Land Reform

View the report from the DFID workshop on land tenure policy in African nations

Visit the Land Tenure Centre for relevant research

See also the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre