Institute puts finger on reform risks

LAND reform should address one of the country’s most bitter legacies of apartheid rule, but the Institute of Race Relations warns if the focus does not shift from the land to the man, it could end in more poverty and unemployment.
Key findings from the latest paper released by the IRR on Tuesday indicate government’s determination to push ahead with land reform spells failure of yet more transferred farms.
This could result in further impoverishment and undermine food production.
‘Individual entrepreneurship is the key to success,’ said IRR CEO John Kane-Berman.
‘Neither land nor farming should be romanticised.
‘Entrepreneurs are critical in turning an inert and often barren, dry and rocky piece of land into a productive farm.
‘But land itself is only the starting point. Without all the other inputs such as finance for seeds, fertiliser, implements to water rights, access to markets and know-how, no farmer will produce very much.
‘In essence, the policy should focus not on land, but on farming. Instead of redistributing more land, land under utilised should be brought into full production.
‘Instead of seeking to create many more small farmers, those already in existence should be helped to succeed.’

Loads of land
Miraculously, despite the Land Acts, South Africa is in the fortunate position that demand for farm land can probably be met without the disruptions, risks, and costs of radical redistribution.
In the paper, IRR argues there is almost certainly enough land already in state ownership to meet demand for land for farming purposes.
‘Demand for farming land is far outweighed by demand for land for housing in the cities and small towns, to which people are moving as part of an urbanisation process that no amount of land reform can halt,’ said Kane-Berman.
‘This means that demand for farm land can probably be satisfied without radical redistribution or jeopardising the country’s agricultural output.
‘But it also means that South Africa needs to speed up its rate of economic growth in order to absorb more people into employment in the manufacturing, mining, and services sectors of the economy.’

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