Can land reform and food security be reconciled

Amid the celebration of World Food Day this past weekend there were claims by a non-profit charity organisation that nearly 20% of the country’s population goes hungry on a daily basis and by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) that more than 60% of households are subjected to food insecurity. Does the present state of land reform contribute to this situation?

FoodBank South Africa, responsible for large-scale coordinated efforts to establish centres providing food to impoverished communities nationwide/ said in a statement over the weekend that according to an  annual survey nearly 14.5-million South Africans are vulnerable to food insecurity.

“The reality is that South Africa has enough food to feed everybody but not everybody has access to the food. That results in 14.5 million people being vulnerable,” Chris Bruwer of FoodBank said.

According to the DBSA study some 80% of all households in  Limpopo and more than 70% in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Northwest. provinces suffer from food insecurity.

If one compares South Africa with other countries with similar socio-economic profiles, South Africans are in a worse position than people in countries such as Brazil and China, according to Professor Zerihun Alemu of the DBSA.

Land reform

In the meantime the country’s food security is further hampered by the continued uncertainty surrounding land reform, which has caused unease and slowed investment in the agricultural sector as white commercial farmers remain unsure of whether to reinvest in farms under claim by black farmers.

Government set itself a target nearly 16 years ago to transfer 30% of commercial farmland to blacks by 2014. According to Land Reform minister Gugile Nkwinti government has so far managed to redistribute only 7% of the 82 million hectares of white-owned commercial farmland and is unlikely to meet the target.

Nearly a third of the redistributed land has already leaked back to white owners, bringing the effective transfer down to only 4.5%. In addition at least nine out of 10 working farms transferred to new owners have stopped producing.

In addressing a farmers’ conference in Gauteng recently the minister admitted that “government didn't have a strategy to ensure that the land was productive,and  if there was a strategy it was not backed with proper resources".

A green paper, including ideas to tackle the logjam, was to have been published in March, then in May, then in June and then in July. It finally went into the cabinet-system in September for discussion by the economic cluster of ministers and should go to the full cabinet before the end of October. After which minister Nkwinti promised at least three months -- with extra time added to compensate for the end-of-year holiday -- would be allowed for thorough public discussion on the proposals.

In the meantime some elements of the green paper have started to leak to the media, while some comments by members of the cabinet also give an indication of what can be expected, which includes tinkering with the principle of willing-seller willing-buyer, restrictions on the total number of hectares individual farmers will be allowed to own, ownership by foreign nationals and a a multi-tier pricing regime.

The green paper reportedly offers three options to ensure that a “below-market compensation standard” is achieved.
Firstly a more forceful expropriation policy, which the paper says is being “actively discussed” in the department of rural development and land reform, is proposed.
A “land-reform discount” - an across-the-board discount of compensation for land acquired for land reform purposes – is also under consideration.
The third option would be the use of a “productive value” as opposed to “market value” to determine compensation.
“Whatever approach is taken would need to comply with the overriding “just and equitable” criteria stated up front in 25(3) of the Constitution,” the document states.

Productive use the biggest challenge

The biggest challenge however if food security is not to be  threatened by land reform would be to ensure that transferred land remains productive.

The minister said land bought by the state for redistribution would no longer be given to new farmers. Instead it would be leased with start-up funding from the government to new farmers who would have long-term security of tenure dependent mainly on keeping the land productive.

But a priority would be to keep white farmers on the land and farming. “White farmers are South Africa’s resource. We want them here farming, mentoring and teaching,” he told the conference.

Meanwhile Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries deputy minister and leader of the Freedom Front Plus Pieter Mulder warned in a statement that South Africa risks losing its status as Africa's agriculture hub as uncertainty over its land reform programme undermines its competitiveness on the continent.

"Uncertainty about land reform and the current South African debates about nationalisation do not help to make South Africa more competitive than other African states," he said