Browsing by Author "Cousins, Ben"
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Item Access to land and rural poverty in South Africa(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2012-09) Cousins, BenThe big picture: some history • Large-scale land dispossession from 1652 into the late 20th century • 1913 and 1936 Land Acts: African majority confined to 13% of country • Forced removals in apartheid years: 2.5 million people (1955 to 1990) • By 1994, 82 million ha of commercial farmland owned by 60,000 white farmers • 13 million black people were crowded into former ‘homelands’ • On private farms, 3 million workers and dependents – poorly paid, lacked basic facilities, no security of tenure • Commercial farming sector heavily subsidised by the state until the mid-1980s • Vibrant AfricanItem At the crossroads: Land and agrarian reform in South Africa into the 21st century(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 1999) Cousins, Ben; Emmett, Natashiá; Campbell, Rosie; Heyns, StephenThe land sector has always been characterised by lively and public arguments over policy, and some of the central and recurring themes of the previous five years of debate were expected to surface at the conference. One of these is whether or not the ANC has the political will to seek to radically alter agrarian power relations and the distribution of resources that underlies them. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) of 1994 called for a wide-ranging and redistributive land reform2, portrayed as the central driving force behind a large scale rural development programme. Since then the effective displacement of the RDP by the Growth, Employment and Redistribution strategy (GEAR) and the derisory budget for land reform since 1994/ 95 (never more than one percent of the total budget) have called this commitment into question. Is government s oft-repeated statement that it intends to eliminate rural poverty (most recently in President Mbeki s state of the nation address of February 2000) only a rhetorical gesture?Item At the crossroads: Land and agrarian reform in South Africa into the 21st century(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), and National Land Committee (NLC), 2000) Cousins, BenThese conference proceedings are published at a time of extraordinary fluidity and uncertainty as to the future of the ambitious programmes of land and agrarian reform1 initiated by the first democratic government in 1994. A number of fundamental questions are currently being asked within the sector: What is the future of land and agrarian reform in South Africa in the 21st century? Some observers assert that the African National Congress (ANC) government has effectively jettisoned land reform, without actually announcing this decision to the world at large. If .agrarian questions., including but not limited to questions as to the nature and distribution of land rights, are seen as marginal by those holding state power, then what are the implications for rural people, for land activists, and for the politics of land and agriculture in democratic South Africa? Alternatively, will land and agrarian reform be re-oriented so that its central focus is the fostering of a class of small, medium and largescale black commercial farmers? If so, will government attempt to alleviate rural poverty primarily through welfare programmes and expanded social services rather than through the transfer of productive assets and support for wealth-creating productive activity? If at least some elements of land and agrarian reform continue to be oriented to the needs of the rural poor, what lessons from the first five years need to inform the design and implementation of more effective policies and programmes? These are challenging questions, but important ones to seek answers to. The papers in this collection may assist in such efforts, despite significant shifts in the political context between the early months of 1999, when the papers were written, and March 2000, as these proceedings go to press. The most obvious difference, of course, is the appointment of a new Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, Thoko Didiza (formerly Deputy Minister of Agriculture). However, the policy implications of this change in leadership are only just beginning to emerge, with the Minister announcing a major new policy thrust on 11 February 2000Item Capacity building for the integration of environmental planning into land reform: an assessment of a national programme(UWC, 2008) Makaluza, Nomakholwa; Cousins, BenIn 1994 the South African government embarked on a land reform programme to redistribute and return land to previously deprived and displaced communities and individuals. Concerns have, however, been raised about the impact of land reform on the environment and its natural resources. The Department of Land Affairs (DLA) has attempted to deal with this problem through the National Training Programme, which was specifically initiated to develop capacity among officials of the DLA to integrate environmental planning into the land reform programme. This study assesses the National Training Programme to determine whether the participants who attended the Nationa lTraining Programme are in fact integrating environmental planning into land reform projects. To achieve this aim a qualitative research methodology is used, which involves both the survey based method and a case study approach. From the literature review there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the enormous pressure on the land and the lack of environmental knowledge are the major contributors to environmental degradation in South Africa. The study points out that the South African experience suggests that land reform cannot be sustainable without adequate provision for environmental planning. In its assessment of the National Training Programme, the study finds that, although the participants had gained self-confidence and a positive attitude towards the environment, this has not been applied in practice. Of significance also is the fact that, given the evidence which indicates that where land reform takes place land resources might be degraded, the study clearly demonstrates how environmental planning has in practice been neglected by the DLA, due to a lack of capacity. In view of the outcomes of the assessment of the National Training Programme, the study recommends that further research be undertaken to investigate and indicate the extent and the rate of land degradation as a result of the neglect of environmental concerns in the land reform programme.Item Challenging the stereotypes: small-scale black farmers and private sector support programmes in South Africa(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), University of the Western Cape, 2016) Okunlola, Adetola; Ngubane, Mnqobi; Cousins, Ben; du Toit, AndriesThis report represents one of the outputs of a research and social dialogue project undertaken over 18 months. It explores a number of private sector partnerships and projects launched in support of black farmers – some of them highly innovative, others of dubious merit. Hardly a week passes by without news of some new initiative to ‘train’, ‘help’, ‘empower’ or otherwise assist ‘small-scale black farmers’. The findings of this research suggest that many of the current programmes of support on offer from the private sector are built on somewhat shaky foundations. These are often based on problematic assumptions and normative ideas about what constitutes desirable agricultural development, most of them deeply (if not consciously) informed by the experience of fostering a successful large farm sector in South Africa in the past. The problems that many small-scale black farmers experience in their attempts to enter the competitive world of formal value chains suggests that a fundamental re-think is now required.Item Challenging the stereotypes: Small-scale black farmers and private sector support programmes in South Africa(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2016) Okunlola, Adetola; Ngubanei, Mnqob; Cousins, Ben; du Toit, AndriesThis report represents one of the outputs of a research and social dialogue project undertaken over 18 months. It was carried out by researchers from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), based at the University of the Western Cape, in collaboration with the Southern Africa Food Lab, based at the University of Stellenbosch, between January 2013 and July 2014. The project focused on the role of the private sector in supporting small-scale black farmers to participate in agricultural value chains. This was not a purely academic research project. Although empirical research formed its backbone, it fed into a broader process of social dialogue and learning, convened by SAFL and facilitated by Reos Partners1. Research insights informed ‘learning journeys’ and ‘innovation labs’ that took place concurrently with the research. In these, field visits and workshop discussions and debates brought together a range of key role-players in the South African food system to explore the challenges and opportunities facing black farmers, and the manner in which these are being responded to by key actors from the private sector. This process is being carried forward by SAFL in a further process of structured innovation. The present report captures the most important insights and lessons from the research component of the initial phases of the project.Item Comments on the Green Paper on land reform 2011(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011) du Toit, Andries; Cousins, Ben; Hall, Ruth; Kleinbooi, Karin; Paradza, Gayno; Ukpabi, ObiozoAs we have indicated in our earlier press release, the document released as a Green Paper by the Department Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform is a great disappointment. The Green Paper is the product of a drafting process taking two and a half years. This has been a secretive process in which the South African public has been kept largely in the dark. The Ministry and its Department have shown themselves to be unwilling to learn from their mistakes, and unwilling to consult with civil society, stakeholders and expert opinion. Instead of providing a Green Paper based on an honest assessment of the past fifteen years of policy implementation, it has refused to learn from experience, both from its own mistakes and successes, and from encouraging innovations that are taking place on the ground, often despite inadequate or misguided state policy. Instead it has produced a vague document that develops general recommendations on the basis of general principles. The result is a Green Paper that fails to answer the key policy questions facing land reform in South Africa.Item Commercial farming and agribusiness in South Africa and their changing roles in Africa’s agro-food system(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2015) Hall, Ruth; Cousins, BenOur paper is on commercial farming and agribusiness in South Africa and their changing roles in Africa’s agro-food system, as a response to debates and theoretical propositions about internal agrarian change in BRICS countries and their relations with other middle-income countries and the old hubs of capital. South Africa is of course an outlier among the BRICS group of countries, given its far smaller economy, and was included only in 2010, as the only candidate that could be seen as economically and politically dominant in Africa – though by last year, Nigeria had overtaken South Africa as the largest economy in Africa.Item Contested paradigms of ‘viability’ in redistributive land reform: perspectives from southern Africa(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-06) Cousins, Ben; Scoones, Ian‘Viability’ is a key term in debates about land reform in southern African and beyond, and is used in relation to both individual projects and programmes. ‘Viability’ connotes ‘successful’ and ‘sustainable’ - but what is meant by viability in relation to land reform, and how have particular conceptions of viability informed state policies and planning approaches? More broadly, how have different notions of viability influenced the politics of land in recent years? This paper interrogates this influential but under-examined notion, reflecting on debates about the viability of land reform – and in particular about the relevance of small- scale, farming-based livelihoods – in southern Africa and more broadly. These questions are not merely of academic interest. How debates are framed and how success is judged has major implications. With arguments for and against redistributive land reform often hinging on the notion of viability, justifications for public expenditure and budget allocations can be offered if programmes and projects are deemed viable. Conversely, portraying redistributive land reform as ‘unviable’ provides a basis for arguments that this is a poor use of public funds. Yet, despite its centrality in debates about land reform, viability is rarely defined, and its precise meaning often remains obscure.Item Contested resources: Challenges to the governance of natural resources in Southern Africa(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Benjaminsen, Tor Arve; Cousins, Ben; Thompson, Lisa; Campbell, Rosie; Heyns, StephenIn this keynote address I wish to identify some important ideas and conclusions arising out of recent analyses of theory and practice on natural resource management. I use these in a preliminary attempt to argue that the centrality of power and meaning in processes of ‘governing natural resources’ is not sufficiently addressed in the currently favoured approaches of ‘common property theory’. My intention is to provide some food for thought as we consider together the specific cases presented in the symposium. I am personally committed to the intersection of scholarship or theory-building with practical action, including policy. Note that I say ‘intersection’ – I do not wish to conflate the academic work of theory-building with the practical work of applying theory to policy, but I also reject their total separation as neither possible nor desirable. It is the interface of ideas and action which interests me. I am particularly interested in the way certain ideas or approaches make their way into policy design and implementation, often with no attention being paid to their theoretical premises, and how quickly they become accepted as conventional wisdoms. Equally interesting is the question of why some ideas and approaches developed by thinkers and researchers do not make their way into policy debate. Today, I shall discuss some notions that currently dominate the realm of natural resource management so effectively that they exclude others that might be more appropriate guides.Item De-agrarianisation, livelihoods diversification and social differentiation in rural Eastern Cape, South Africa(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Mtero, Farai; Cousins, BenThis case study of three rural villages in Matatiele district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa examines the extent to which the diversification of rural livelihoods and processes of social differentiation are interconnected. The study combines intensive and extensive research methods to explore livelihoods diversification and social differentiation in the villages of Litichareng, Mutsini and Thaba Chicha. The intensive research consisted of 36 life history interviews, a wealth ranking exercise and a focus group discussion. The extensive research consisted of a survey of 124 households. The study makes use of political economy concepts of class, power and inequality and argues that these concepts enhance the heuristic value of livelihoods approaches which have often been critiqued for under-theorising power and politics. In the contemporary capitalist world, particularly in the global ‘South’, livelihoods have increasingly become diversified as rural households combine agricultural and non-agricultural sources of income for both survival and accumulation purposes, often straddling the rural-urban divide. In the ‘ de-agrarianisation’ thesis, livelihood diversification has been interpreted as entailing a shift from agrarian livelihood systems to non-agrarian modes of existence in the context of increased urbanisation and industrialisation. These kinds of large-scale processes have been unfolding in rural Matatiele, but this study argues that rural households combine both agricultural and non-agricultural sources of income and emphasises the continued importance of agricultural sources of income in rural livelihood systems. De-agrarianisation is cyclical and not unilinear, as some components of farming have remained important and resilient (homestead garden cultivation and livestock production) while other have declined (dry-land cropping in large arable fields).These shifts in agriculture occur against the background of state-sponsored, large-scale agricultural development schemes introduced to commercialise agriculture and reverse de-agrarianisation and fragmentation of rural livelihoods, but which have largely failed to do so. The challenge for scholars is how to characterise rural households, small-scale farmers, or ‘peasants’ in the light of highly diversified livelihood systems and their straddling of the rural and urban divide. This study uses a political economy approach and defines rural households that engage in small-scale agriculture as petty commodity producers in capitalism, combining class places of capital and labour and subject to social differentiation. The study argues that the highly diversified livelihood systems characteristic of rural households reflect a ‘crisis of social reproduction’ as rural households struggle to survive and accumulate. In this study it is argued that rural households are part of growing ‘classes of labour’ within contemporary capitalism.Item Directions for land reform – what might another Green Paper propose? Alternative options and their ideological underpinnings(2012) Cousins, BenInternational and SA debates: 4 broad approaches & loose coalitions • “Modernist-conservative”/modernisation: support the existing structure of agriculture (capital intensive farming in large units) but deracialise LSCF sector to ease political tensions • “Neo-liberal”/efficiency & equity: remove economic distortions, liberalise markets, redistribute to efficient small farmers, acquire land throughmarket-based land reform • “Welfarist”/poverty alleviation: land and farming as a supplement to employment and grants • “Radical populist”/structural transformation: redistribute wealth & power to rural poor, support diverse land-based livelihoods, expropriate land without compensationItem Exporting contradictions: the expansion of South African agrarian capital within Africa(Taylor & Francis, 2017) Hall, Ruth; Cousins, BenAgrarian change in South Africa over the past two decades has seen consolidation of the hegemony of large-scale commercial farming and corporate agribusiness within agro-food systems. Constrained domestic demand and growth opportunities elsewhere have driven both farming and agribusiness capitals to move into other African countries, attempting to reproduce agro-food systems similarly centred on the dominance of large capital. This is evident in five areas: first, the financialization of agriculture and ‘farmland funds’; second, multinational and South African input supply industries; third, large-scale land deals to expand industrial farming systems; fourth, the export of South African companies’ food processing, manufacture, logistics and distribution operations; and fifth, the expanding reach of South African supermarkets and fast food chains. Regional expansion involves South African agrarian capital encountering substantial obstacles to entry, and challenges mounted by competitors in destination markets. Success as a regional hegemon in Africa’s agro-food system is thus far from assured, and even where it does appear to succeed, generates contradictions, and rising social tensions of the kinds experienced in South Africa itself.Item Final Report(GTAC, 2020-03-31) Cousins, Ben; Alcock, Rauri; Aliber, Michael; Geraci, Marisia; Losch, Bruno; Mayson, David; de Satgé, RickThis 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.Item Gendered land rights in the rural areas of Namaqualand : a study of women's perceptions and understandings(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Kleinbooi, Karin; Cousins, BenThis study focuses on women's perceptions of land rights in the communal areas of Namaqualand in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Here women farm land which they can access only through their relationships with male kin. Women's use rights are dependent on their relationships with fathers, husbands and sons; and it is virtually impossible for women to obtain land in their own names. Women's own views of rights, of access, of control and authority over land display a significant gender bias in favour of men. This study explores women's understandings and perceptions of land rights and agriculture and other forms of land use. The objectives of the study are to explore the links between patriarchal social systems and women's conservative attitudes towards holding land; and to show how current policy processes and legislation – aimed at strengthening the rights of existing landholders in communal areas – allow local customs to continue to entrench gender discriminatory practices. A small study was conducted through in-depth interviews with sixty-five women and two focus group discussions with women in Namaqualand. The scope of the study was limited to exploring the nature of women's land rights in five of the communal areas of Namaqualand; formal and informal "rules" around women's land rights; women's practices of asserting or realising land rights; challenges and opportunities that women experience in claiming their land rights; the views and understandings of women in relation to land use and its contribution to livelihoods; and how women understand the impact of current land reform policies on their access to land. For the purpose of this thesis, literature on land tenure, gender and land rights as well as on the history of the former Coloured rural reserves of Namaqualand was considered. The key findings of the study indicate that women are disadvantaged by historical norms, values and attitudes, which afford them only secondary rights to land. Yet, informal land practices – however limited – show that in some cases women are creating opportunities to gain access to land independently. For this to become the norm rather than an exception, these practices need recognition and support within the on-going land reform transformation process in Namaqualand.Item Idealised land markets and real needs: the experience of landless people seeking land in the Northern and Western Cape through the market-based land reform programme(University of the Western Cape, 2009) Tilley, Susan Mary; Lahiff, Edward; Cousins, Ben; School of Government; Faculty of Economics and Management SciencesThis thesis interrogates the claim that resource-poor, rural land seekers can acquire land through the land market which constitutes the central mechanism of land redistribution in South Africa's market-based land reform programme. The study explores two key aspects in relation to this claim. Firstly, it provides a critique of the underlying assumptions prevalent in much of the current market-based land reform policy, as advocated by its national and international proponents, and the manner in which the market as a mechanism for land redistribution has been conceptualized and its outcomes envisaged. Secondly, it considers the extent to which this conceptualization - which it is argued, draws on idealized and abstracted notions of land market functioning - is realized and examines the extent to which the espoused outcomes of market-based land reform policy are aligned with or contradicted by the functioning of real markets and the experiences of resource-poor land seeking people in their attempts to engage in the land market with limited state support. The details of the market's operation are analysed, with a distinction made between the operational practice of real markets - based on direct evidence-based observation and degrees of policy abstraction and theoretical assumptions regarding how markets should or might operate. The study's methodological framework draws on an agrarian political economy perspective, as used by theorists such as Akram-Lodhi (2007) and Courville (2005), amongst others. This perspective enables a consideration of the various contexts and socially embedded processes involved in land transactions and the extent to which these are shaped and framed by the politics of policy-making. In line with this perspective, the study focuses on the social relations brought to bear on the acquisition of land and the way in which land markets operate. It is suggested that land is not solely viewed as an economic commodity by land-seekers. Furthermore, it was found that markets cannot be understood as neutral institutions in which participants are equal players.Item Imithetho yomhlaba yaseMsinga: The living law of land in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal(PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2011) Cousins, BenThis 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 Programme. 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. Meetings, interviews and focus groups convened by the project between 2007 and 2009 generated lively discussions and debates on a range of issues and problems related to land tenure in Msinga. Policy-makers need to consider how to convene conversations of this kind, on a large scale, before they launch a new round of tenure reform policy formulation and law making. Our experience suggests that well designed processes are critically important to ensure informed discussion, but also that ordinary rural people, not just their leaders, are more than ready to engage in debates about policies that could have major impacts on their lives.Item 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, CreinaThis 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.Item Institutional dynamics in a small-scale organic farming organisation : the case of the Ezemvelo Farmers' Organisation(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Msomi, Thulisile Felicity; Cousins, BenThis study explores institutional dynamics within an organic farming organisation, the Ezemvelo Farmers' Organisation (EFO), based in uMbumbulu in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The main objective of the study was to identify the institutional and governance factors that impact on the sustainability of the organic production programme of the EFO. A variety of research methods were employed, including a small sample survey of 50 households, in-depth interviews with key respondents, and a critical assessment of the existing literature on the EFO. The study established that many rural households in uMbumbulu maintain their livelihoods through a diverse array of activities that include social grants. Agriculture remains an important livelihood strategy for many households. It presents opportunities for income generation, access to food, job creation and increased asset accumulation. Communal land tenure systems do not constrain agricultural development, and kinship ties and social relations determine affordable and flexible land access for farming and residential use. The EFO initiave regenerated agricultural production in uMbumbulu. Many households have rights to cropping fields and these fields were revitalised and put under productive use as the organic farming initiative gained momentum. The EFO marketed its produce to Farmwise, a packhouse that distributes produce to various retailers. The agro-food industry is dominated by large business interests and maintained exploitative relations with the EFO. Organic production and marketing to such businesses imposed high transaction costs on members of the EFO as onerous quality standards were enforced throughout the value chain. Rural development interventions that are driven by external stakeholders such as academic institutions, government departments and other agencies tend not to provide sustainable solutions to help support the development of smallholder farmers. In the case of the EFO, such support saw abuses of power, elite capture, free-rider problems, conflict and weak management systems. The thesis argues that the agrarian transformation imperative means that policy frameworks must be re-examined, and adapted to the needs and local practices of smallholder farmers such as members of the EFO. Proper extension support that provides accurate market information, effective coordination of production and transport services, and relevant infrastructure, is also required.Item Introduction: Agrarian change, rural poverty and land reform in South Africa since 1994(Blackwell Publishing, 2013) Bernstein, Henry; Cousins, Ben; Peters, Pauline E.; O'Laughlin, BridgetThis introduction sketches the context and dynamics of agrarian change, rural poverty and land reform since the end of apartheid in 1994, drawing attention to structural continuities and new elements in the countrysides of South Africa, and of the Southern African region in which South Africa must be located. Two key historical and theoretical reference points help focus attention on some central issues: the ‘classic’ model of dispossession/accumulation in South(ern) Africa, and ‘decentralized despotism’ as the distinctive mode and legacy of colonial governance. In conclusion, we introduce the papers as contributions to answering some central questions which require further research and debate.
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