A critical appraisal of South Africa's market-based land reform policy

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Chapter 5: The LRAD programme The officials interviewed largely felt that it was too early to say whether the projects are sustainable or not, although they believe they could be, as long as the beneficiaries are dedicated. Some difficulties that they identify as negatively affecting sustainability are: conflicts within group projects; an over-dependency on DLA; some beneficiaries knowing nothing about farming; and others not being committed to farming. DLA had no information on the productivity on the farms or of the improvement in the lives of the beneficiaries. The officials interviewed seemed to believe that the LRAD projects had improved people’s lives, but did not have a sense of the extent of this improvement or any data to support their view. The main reason cited for a lack of information was the newness of the projects. The officials interviewed identified a number of key challenges for LRAD implementation, ranging from the size of the grant and attitudes of beneficiaries to natural disasters such as droughts (see Box 1). They are responding to these challenges through providing training and technical assistance, encouraging beneficiaries to move from subsistence to commercial farming, and trying to access support from municipalities when there are natural disasters. According to a respondent, the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs is speaking to farmers’ unions in order to encourage them to release land for the LRAD programme (interview 3). Officials would also like to see more subdivision of land, but say there are policies blocking this. Government officials also had a number of recommendations for policy changes that they believe would improve the programme. They would like to see LRAD used in communal areas where people already have access to land, but do not have the resources to fully utilise the land. This is possible, according to the LRAD policy document (DLA 2001:10), but has not happened yet in Limpopo. Another suggestion made was to ensure that more of the beneficiaries are people with agricultural and management skills, including civil servants, so that they can share their skills. It was also suggested that the grant should be increased to keep pace with increasing land prices and to allow people to purchase larger farms in order to have a better chance of making a reasonable income. In particular the minimum grant of Box 1: Challenges for LRAD Officials interviewed identified the following challenges for LRAD: 1. The grant is not enough, given the price of land and the plans of the beneficiaries. 2. Land owners are not willing to sell, or are demanding exorbitant prices. 3. Most white farmers do not respect the government and do not support LRAD. 4. Municipalities are not involved in assisting with projects. 5. People do not know which department does what. Despite close relations between DLA and DoA, there is sometimes confusion, mostly arising from the high staff turnover. 6. Beneficiaries lack skills. 7. Natural disasters such as the drought are affecting the projects. 8. People are not willing to move to where the commercial farms are. 9. People who are involved in subsistence agriculture are not ready to be involved in commercial ventures and are not willing to take advice. 27
A critical appraisal of South Africa’s market-based land reform policy R20 000 was felt to be too small, but it was not clear if officials felt the maximum grant size should also be increased. Targeting the poor was identified as important as they are struggling to access the programme and have no other access to capital (interview 4). More training and practical experience is required for the beneficiaries and DLA should employ more agricultural specialists as much of the work is agriculture-related. Endnotes 1. The composition of the PGC is: DLA – Director and two Deputy Directors; Department of Public Works – Director; Department of Agriculture – Director, Deputy Director and a Secretary; Department of Local Government – Director. 28
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A critical appraisal of South Africa's market-based land reform policy

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