Land use and rural livelihoods: Have they been enhanced through land reform?
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Date
2003
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape
Abstract
It is often assumed that transferring land to rural households will provide people with valuable assets that can be productively used
to enhance their livelihoods. Unfortunately, few rural people or land reform beneficiaries are perceived to be using land produc-
tively because they do not engage in significant commercial production for the market. Transferring land to subsistence users is
therefore seen as a waste of resources. However, an examination of land use in communal areas and amongst land reform
beneficiaries indicates that resource-poor rural people do use land productively and resourcefully, but the constraints to production
and participation in agricultural markets they encounter limit their livelihoods to survivalist mode. Land reform can enhance rural
livelihoods beyond this survivalist mode if it is integrated into a broader rural development programme aimed at providing
subsistence land users with the support they need to overcome the constraints to production, and to connect them to the markets.
Description
Keywords
South Africa, African households, Crop production, Land reform, Rural livelihoods
Citation
Andrew, M. et al. (2003). Land use and rural livelihoods: Have they been enhanced through land reform? Policy Brief 5, Bellville: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape