Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)

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The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) engages in research, training, policy development and advocacy in relation to land and agrarian reform, rural governance and natural resource management. It is committed to social change that empowers the poor, builds democracy and enhances sustainable livelihoods.

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Browsing by Author "Alcock, Rauri"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Final Report
    (GTAC, 2020-03-31) Cousins, Ben; Alcock, Rauri; Aliber, Michael; Geraci, Marisia; Losch, Bruno; Mayson, David; de Satgé, Rick
    This study focuses on the potential contribution of redistributive land reform to employment creation. Can land redistribution be undertaken in a manner that also creates jobs, and if so, through which types of land use and farming systems, operating at what scales? What is the potential of small-scale farming, in particular? Despite its many limitations, the study breaks new ground by investigating the potential of small-scale farming for employment generation in specific locations. It highlights the potential for job creation in many commodities produced by small-scale farmers, and recommends a particular focus on extensive livestock and vegetable production.
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    Imithetho yomhlaba yaseMsinga: The living law of land in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal
    (Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011) Cousins, Ben; Alcock, Rauri; Dladla, Ngididi; Hornby, Donna; Masondo, Mphethethi; Mbatha, Gugu; Mweli, Makhosi; Alcock, Creina
    This report describes the ‘living law’ of land in one part of Msinga, a deep rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. It presents research findings from the Mchunu and Mthembu tribal areas, where a three-year action-research project was carried out by staff of the Mdukutshani Rural Development Programme1. Launched in 2007, at a time when implementation of the Communal Land Rights Act of 2004 (CLRA) appeared imminent, the project aimed to gain a detailed understanding of land tenure in Msinga, facilitate local-level discussion of potential solutions to emerging problems around land rights, provide information on the CLRA to residents and authority structures and help generate ideas on how local people could engage with the new law.
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    Livestock production
    (GTAC, 2020-03-31) Alcock, Rauri; Geraci, Marisia
    This paper is a thematic study for livestock production by smallholders and small-scale black commercial farmers in South Africa. Its aim is to identify the potential for successful expansion of the number of such farmers producing livestock through redistributive land reform, and to examine the possible outcomes of such expansion, with a particular focus on aggregate levels of production, famer income and employment. It forms part of a larger series of thematic studies carried out for the CBPEP/GTAC Project on Employment intensive land reform in South Africa.
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    Municipal Case Study: Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality KwaZulu – Natal
    (2020-03-31) Alcock, Rauri; Geraci, Marisia; Cousins, Ben
    This report presents a case study of Inkosi Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. The goal of the report is to examine the employment creation potential of land redistribution in Inkosi Langalibalele, and its cost. The Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality is located within the Uthukela District Municipality, in a broader region known as the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Agriculture is the predominant form of land use in the local municipality, but it does not generate a large number of jobs. Large-scale commercial farming remains important but is shrinking due to land reform, which affects around 38 percent of the land in the municipality. Another 36 percent of the local municipality is designated as ‘communal areas’, with traditional authority structures playing a key role in their governance. Only 27 percent of the municipality, or around 100 000 hectares, is available for further land reform. The local municipality had a total population of 215 183 persons in 46 952 households in 2016 and comprises 3 403 square kilometres, with a population density of 63.2 people per square kilometre. Only around one fifth of the adult population aged 15 or more are employed, compared to 23 percent in Uthukela district municipality, and 31.5 percent in KZN. Of those employed, 74 percent work in the formal sector. Over half of the population (52 percent) is ‘not economically active’, but many of these are engaged in subsistence-oriented agriculture, mainly in order to produce some additional food for home consumption. The great majority of the population in Inkosi Langalibalele is poor and highly dependent on social grants, and services have improved greatly since the advent of democracy in 1994. Despite the rural nature of the municipality, settlement patterns are increasingly dense and ‘urban’ in character, even some distance away from established towns. Large areas comprise densely settled communal areas under traditional councils.
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    Strategies to support South African smallholders as a contribution to government’s second economy strategy: Volume 1: Situation analysis, fieldwork findings and main conclusions
    (Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010) Aliber, Michael; Baiphethi, Mompati; de Satge, Rick; Denison, Jonathan; Hart, Tim; Jacobs, Peter; van Averbeke, Wim; Alcock, Rauri; Antwi, Mike; Belete, Abenet; Cousins, Ben; Field, Larry; Mariga, Irvine; Masika, Patrick; Materechera, Simeon; Mayson, David; Monde, Nomakhaya; Tapela, Barbara
    Within the ambit of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, government is leading a process to define a Second Economy Strategy. One of the opportunities that has been identified is the agricultural sector, in particular fostering a larger number of smallholder agriculturalists. The study seeks to identify the key elements of an implementable programme to support the smallholder sector. The core of the exercise entailed identifying successful South African smallholders active in different settings, and examining the factors that contribute to their success, whether these are personal, contextual, institutional, etc. Although the study was not designed as an evaluation of interventions as such, in the process of conducting the smallholder case studies (and in combination with an extensive literature review), the efficacy and relevance of different intervention and support strategies also came into focus.