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Browsing by Author "Hall, Ruth"

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45% of black South Africans want land
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2013) Hall, Ruth; Dubb, Alex
A comprehensive study of the demand for land carried out in 2005/6 reveals that one third of black South Africans want access to land for food production, and another 12% want land for a variety of other reasons (Aliber et al, 2006). Nearly half (48%) of those wanting access to land, want only 1 ha or less.
Africa's land rush: rural livelihoods and agrarian change
(James Currey, 2015) Hall, Ruth; Scoones, Ian; Tsikata, Dzodzi
This book is 'the most historically grounded, lucid and nuanced understanding to date of the complex political economy of the contemporary rush for land in Africa' according to Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, Director of of the United Nations Institute for Development. Africa's Land Rush explores the processes through which land deals are being made; the implications for agrian structure, rural livelihoods and food security; and the historical context for changing land uses. The case studies reveal that these land grabs may resonate with, even resurrect, forms of production associated with the colonial and early independence eras. Based on interviews with the investors, goverment, authorities, workers, outgrowers and smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and the Congo, the book depicts the striking diversity of such deals.
Agricultural investment, gender and land in Africa: Towards inclusive equitable and socially responsible investment
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2014) Hall, Ruth; Osorio, Martha
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations; the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa; the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC); and the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) of the African Union; the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), co-hosted a multi-stakeholder conference in Cape Town, South Africa, 5–7 March 2014. The conference was attended by representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society, producer organisations, development partners, donors and academics from the following countries: Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Italy, Uganda, Canada, United States and the United Kingdom. The conference was a forum for in-depth discussions and sharing of experiences on land-related agricultural investments. Participants deliberated on which approaches to agricultural investments can benefit African states and their citizens. Presenters shared qualitative and quantitative evidence on investments, along with country-based case studies, and the conference culminated in recommendations by sectoral and multi-sectoral working groups on actions required to promote inclusive, equitable and socially responsible investments in Africa.
Amendment submission: National policy for beneficiary selection and land allocation
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, 2020-03-02) Ramantsima, Katlego; Mtero, Farai; Gumede, Nkanyiso; Du Toit, Andries; Hall, Ruth
PLAAS has read and considered the implications of the National Policy for Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation and submits the following comments and recommendations to the Director-General: Rural Development and Land Reform.
Another countryside? Policy options for land and agrarian reform in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2009) Hall, Ruth
Land reform in South Africa is a political project that has foundered. For years, the process has been variously described as being ‘in crisis’, ‘at a crossroads’, ‘at an impasse’ or simply ’stuck’. This still seems as true as ever, as political pressure is mounting to find new solutions to old problems. In recent years, the issue of ‘delivery’, and how to speed it up, has taken centre stage and become a justificatory framework for arguments about how to reconfigure roles of the state and private sector in land reform. In the process, little attention has been given to the relationship between policy change and mobilisation from below. In the absence of sustained and organised pressure from rural people themselves, it appears that the shifts underway in land reform policy are not so much about ‘delivery’ as about reframing the entire project. Increasingly, the debates on land reform centre not so much on the mechanisms to be used, as on the vision that is to be pursued – something about which existing policy is remarkably silent. At stake is nothing less than what, and whom, land reform is for. South Africans are deeply divided on this question.
Another countryside? Policy options for land and agrarian reform in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009) Aliber, Michael; Andrews, Mercia; Baiphethi, Mompati; Cliffe, Lionel; Hall, Ruth; Jacobs, Peter; Jara, Mazibuko; Kleinbooi, Karin; Lahiff, Edward; Zamchiya, Phillan
Land reform in South Africa is a political project that has foundered. For years, the process has been variously described as being ‘in crisis’, ‘at a crossroads’, ‘at an impasse’ or simply ’stuck’. This still seems as true as ever, as political pressure is mounting to find new solutions to old problems. In recent years, the issue of ‘delivery’, and how to speed it up, has taken centre stage and become a justificatory framework for arguments about how to reconfigure roles of the state and private sector in land reform. In the process, little attention has been given to the relationship between policy change and mobilisation from below. In the absence of sustained and organised pressure from rural people themselves, it appears that the shifts underway in land reform policy are not so much about ‘delivery’ as about reframing the entire project. Increasingly, the debates on land reform centre not so much on the mechanisms to be used, as on the vision that is to be pursued – something about which existing policy is remarkably silent. At stake is nothing less than what, and whom, land reform is for. South Africans are deeply divided on this question.
Beyond the 'problem' narrative: Towards an agenda for improved policy and practice in land reform
(2013) Hall, Ruth
The ‘problem’ narrative •Land reform is too slow: it must be speeded up and better ways found of acquiring land at reasonable cost •Land reform beneficiaries are not productive enough: they must be ‘disciplined’ or land must be given over to those with skills and own means to be productive, or to commercial strategic partners to farm instead
Budgeting for land reform
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2004) Hall, Ruth; Lahiff, Edward
The primary purpose of land reform in South Africa is to redistribute agricultural and other land in order to address the racially skewed pattern of landholding and promote development. Slow progress in land reform over the past decade underscores the urgency of finding ways to accelerate the process. The state has adopted a market-assisted approach to redistribution. This means that land is usually bought at full market price. In addition, substantial funding is needed for the implementation of the programme and for post-settlement support to beneficiaries. The budget allocated to land reform is therefore of central importance to the programme. This publication surveys trends in the land reform budget over the past decade, with particular emphasis on the redistribution programme.
Building back better after Covid-19: Why South Africa needs an equitable food system for small-scale farmers and fishers, street traders and consumers – and how to build it
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2021) Hall, Ruth; Wegerif, Marc
This policy brief reports headline findings from research investigating the impacts of Covid-19 regulations and mitigation measures on actors in South Africa’s food system. The research focuses on fresh produce in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and fish in the Western Cape. The researchers conducted 211 in-depth interviews, facilitated the production of 24 food diaries and visited 16 primary field sites.
The case for re-strategising spending priorities to support small-scale farmers in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010-04) Hall, Ruth; Aliber, Michael
This paper summarises what is known about South Africa’s public expenditure trends in respect of small-scale farmers, and discusses the growing contradictions between the policy priority placed on small-scale farming and the adequacy of support provided to small-scale farmers. It then proceeds to argue that: i) dramatic increases in public expenditure support to small-scale agriculture are highly unlikely, while further incremental increases to support the sector will in themselves make little difference; ii) a lot of the money already available to support small-scale agriculture is not well spent, with a particular imbalance evident between relatively large amounts of support to badly conceptualised land reform projects at the expense of black farmers in the ex-Bantustans; iii) there is an urgent need to shift the emphasis of support from on-farm infrastructure and inputs, to community-level infrastructure, market development and institutional re-engineering.
Changing labor, land and social relations on commercial farms: a case study from Limpopo, South Africa
(2008) Zamchiya, Phillan; Hall, Ruth
Over the past fifteen years, the South African government has extended various land, labour and social rights to farm workers, ranging from provisions of basic labour rights in 1993 to the minimum wage in 2003. Literature suggests that social relations on commercial farms do not remain static in the context of policy changes. This thesis sets out to understand the ways in which social relations have or have not changed, on one commercial farm in Limpopo province, South Africa, and to establish factors that impede or promote such change as well as the consequences for farm workers’ daily lives. Drawing from the interpretive and critical social science philosophical perspectives, the thesis adopts a qualitative research methodology that takes into consideration the experiences and perceptions of farm workers, farm managers, the farm owner and key informants from government institutions and civil society. At a theoretical level the study is informed by four paradigms namely: the materialist perspective; the total institution thesis; paternalism; and structuration theory. It considers three overlapping conceptual models of understanding relations between farm owners and farm workers namely the welfarist, workerist and transformative models. The paper argues that, in the past decade, the extension of farm labour and tenure laws to the farm sector has eroded the welfarist relations between the farm owner and farm workers. There is now a rise in workerist relations in a context of unequal power relations tilted in favour of the farm employer. The thesis concludes that in order to adequately understand land, labour and social relations, one has to consider the politics of land ownership as well as the politics of agricultural capitalist employment.
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, Obiozo
As 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.
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, Ben
Our 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.
Commercialisation of land and ‘land grabbing’ in Southern Africa: Implications for land rights and rural livelihoods
(2015) Hall, Ruth
This project is conceived as a response to widespread concerns about the ‘land grab’ phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa, and the dearth of grounded studies to understand how these deals are structured, who facilitates them, how local people respond, and the degree to which protection of land rights in existing policy and legislation is adequate to safeguard the interests of poor land users in the face of pressures towards commercialisation, in which governments and domestic and foreign companies are often actively involved.
Creating learning and action space in South Africa’s post-apartheid land redistribution program
(SAGE Publications, 2017) Kepe, Thembela; Hall, Ruth
This paper uses the case of South Africa’s latest land redistribution strategy known as the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, to explore whether, and how, research can have direct and positive impacts on beneficiaries of land reform. The study is situated within the practice of action research: to explore how it can generate knowledge that can be shared back and forth between stakeholders, as well as how it may ignite changes that the participants desire. The findings are that Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy is not meeting the overall goals land reform. But action research has allowed the beneficiaries to emerge from the process with new knowledge about their rights, as well as what options they have to move forward in their fight for secure land rights and decent livelihoods. We introduce a concept of a ‘learning and action space’ to explain our practice of action research. The paper concludes that action research is a desirable approach for land reform, but while it succeeded in educating beneficiaries, it is only one ingredient in ongoing struggles to challenge power relations among citizens and between citizens and the state.
Development of evidence-based policy around small-scale farming
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2015) Aliber, Michael; Hall, Ruth
How to support small-scale and larger commercial farmers, and to make sure that they are productive and contribute effectively to the rural economy and to national food security.
Elite capture and state neglect: new evidence on South Africa’s land reform
(Taylor & Francis, 2017) Hall, Ruth; Kepe, Thembela
The most recent incarnation of South Africa’s land reform is a model of state purchase of farms to be provided on leasehold, rather than transferring title. This briefing presents headline findings from our field research in one district.
Emancipatory rural politics: confronting authoritarian populism
(Taylor & Francis, 2016) Scoones, Ian; Edelman, Marc; Borras Jr., Saturnino M.; Hall, Ruth; Wolford, Wendy; White, Ben
A new political moment is underway. Although there are significant differences in how this is constituted in different places, one manifestation of the new moment is the rise of distinct forms of authoritarian populism. In this opening paper of the JPS Forum series on ‘Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World’, we explore the relationship between these new forms of politics and rural areas around the world. We ask how rural transformations have contributed to deepening regressive national politics, and how rural areas shape and are shaped by these politics. We propose a global agenda for research, debate and action, which we call the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (ERPI, www.iss.nl/erpi). This centres on understanding the contemporary conjuncture, working to confront authoritarian populism through the analysis of and support for alternatives.
Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Farm tenure
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2003) Hall, Ruth
Farm dwellers are among the poorest South Africans. Most have access to residential land only. A minority has access to grazing land for their livestock or to arable land for cultivation, in return for which they may be required to provide their labour. Farm dwellers’ access to land is precarious – until recently farm owners had unrestricted rights to evict farm dwellers – and is often very limited in its extent. It was in response to these conditions that the Department of Land Affairs (DLA) developed, as part of the national land reform programme, policies to secure the tenure rights of farm dwellers. This report investigates to what extent these policies have succeeded in securing the existing tenure of farm dwellers or providing them with long-term secure rights to alternative land. The report describes the intentions of these policies, the mechanisms created to give effect to them, and the experience in enforcing these new rights. Also discussed are the special rights accorded to labour tenants and the application processes available to labour tenants who want to become owners of the land they use. The report assesses the extent to which the outcomes and impacts of these policies have met their objectives and have realised the rights enshrined in the Constitution. Finally, the report reflects on future challenges and extracts lessons from experience that need to inform future approaches to securing farm dwellers’ rights.
Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa : Final Report
(Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), 2003) Hall, Ruth; Jacobs, Peter; Lahiff, Edward
Land dispossession was a key feature of racism under colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa. More than 3.5 million people were forcibly removed in the period 1960 to 1983 alone, through homeland consolidation, removals from ‘black spots’ and the Group Areas Act. One result of massive dispossession is the concentration of poverty in South Africa’s rural areas, where about 70% of the population lives below the poverty line (May 1998). The prospect of democracy in the 1990s raised expectations that the dispossessed would be able to return to their land, but the terms on which political transition was negotiated constrained how this could happen. Despite calls for a radical restructuring of social relations in the countryside, the constitutional negotiations on the protection of property rights, and on the economy more broadly, ensured that land reform would be pursued within the framework of a market-led land reform model, as advocated by the World Bank and implemented in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Zimbabwe.

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