Land-reform failure threatens food security, says study

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http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=309390&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

"Ten years ago [South Africa] exported agricultural products to the value of R2,40 for every R1 imported, compared with current levels of R1,40 of exports for every R1 imported."

The country could therefore not afford the non- or under-utilisation of arable land.

"Failed land-reform projects threaten food security ... A land-reform policy in which land is pro-actively acquired by the state and only transferred to black South Africans once potential beneficiaries have been identified could place even more arable land outside the sphere of the commercial agricultural sector."

The study says that, according to AgriSA, a total of 71 land-reform projects in Limpopo had already failed as a result of "inadequate support" for emerging farmers.

"It was also found in a survey of reform projects in the Western Cape that [they] were often unsuccessful because the skills of the beneficiaries had not been timeously upgraded."

Further, a University of Pretoria analysis of progress on farms transferred to black farmers had found, among other things, that on 44% of them production had decreased drastically, and on 24% there had been no production since transfer to the new owners.
 
What did they expect...

Blacks have not been conditioned to cater for a country, they only now how to cater for themselves.

Thus if you put an emerging farmer on a farm, doesnt matter what size, he will only manage it to produce enough for him and his family.
 
If a commercial farmer gives up his land for land reform, there are no guarantees that the farm will be used commercially in the future are there?
Was the land given up being used commercially in the first place?

I was under the impression that the people laying land claims just want what they consider 'their land' back.

It is an interesting a crucial topic, would appreciate some detailed stats from government if anyone has them or a link to them.
 
Land reform is similar to the high taxes we pay here, and the little benefits we receive for it.

Land is taken from the productive, given to the unproductive. People are not encouraged to farm, because at any time people might decide that the land belongs to them, instead of the owner, of another ethnic group. My great grandfather, owned the Klerksdorp, Stilfontein area, where gold is mined. His farm was taken away to make way for the expanding town. I say taken since he sold it cheaply, did not recover ground which were settled by people from the town, could not stop the settlement, as times were changing. I think I have a legitimate claim on the property, and the mineral rights, and the losses I suffered.

Land reform, is stealing from the current owners.
 
edc said:
I think I have a legitimate claim on the property, and the mineral rights, and the losses I suffered.

Land reform, is stealing from the current owners.
Click to expand...

Mineral rights are defaulted to the government on transfer of ownership, AFAIK.
 
edc said:
Land reform is similar to the high taxes we pay here, and the little benefits we receive for it.

Land is taken from the productive, given to the unproductive. People are not encouraged to farm, because at any time people might decide that the land belongs to them, instead of the owner, of another ethnic group. My great grandfather, owned the Klerksdorp, Stilfontein area, where gold is mined. His farm was taken away to make way for the expanding town. I say taken since he sold it cheaply, did not recover ground which were settled by people from the town, could not stop the settlement, as times were changing. I think I have a legitimate claim on the property, and the mineral rights, and the losses I suffered.

Land reform, is stealing from the current owners.
Click to expand...

Hey man I feel for you, my family lost land when the previous government decided to build the homelands ("bantu state") back then. A Couple of months back, my uncle decided to put in a land claim, guess what....it was turned down, because he is white...White people can not put in land claims
 
edc said:
Land reform is similar to the high taxes we pay here, and the little benefits we receive for it.

Land is taken from the productive, given to the unproductive. People are not encouraged to farm, because at any time people might decide that the land belongs to them, instead of the owner, of another ethnic group. My great grandfather, owned the Klerksdorp, Stilfontein area, where gold is mined. His farm was taken away to make way for the expanding town. I say taken since he sold it cheaply, did not recover ground which were settled by people from the town, could not stop the settlement, as times were changing. I think I have a legitimate claim on the property, and the mineral rights, and the losses I suffered.

Land reform, is stealing from the current owners.
Click to expand...

At least you grandfather was not forcibly removed, he 'sold it cheaply'. I bet he'd 'bought' it at a bargain in the first place
 
Bageloo said:
At least you grandfather was not forcibly removed, he 'sold it cheaply'. I bet he'd 'bought' it at a bargain in the first place
Click to expand...

Yes and the previous owners paid through the teeth for it I assume. My grandfather got no compensation for it at all, and had to go and work on the open mines in the kuruman region
 
Accrding to news reports today, this country will shortly be a net importer of food. Can ya believe it?!?
 
Bageloo said:
At least you grandfather was not forcibly removed, he 'sold it cheaply'. I bet he'd 'bought' it at a bargain in the first place
Click to expand...

Are you implying he was not? Boere were forcefully removed from their land, put in concentration camps and starved to death. You keep forgetting that crimes were committed against others also, not just victims of Apartheid. Other ethic groups managed to stand up from the ash, by themselves.

He did not buy the property as far as I know, he was there first, like many other Boere were in the Transvaal region.
 
Bageloo said:
At least you grandfather was not forcibly removed, he 'sold it cheaply'. I bet he'd 'bought' it at a bargain in the first place
Click to expand...

What makes you think anyone 'owned' the land in the first place. The blacks came from the north and the white from the south (from far north). Guess who always get the gravy in the end? The most technological advanced people of course. Tough world we live in where the smart wins, in the end. Life's unfair. Boohoo.
 
Tanarri said:
What makes you think anyone 'owned' the land in the first place. The blacks came from the north and the white from the south (from far north). Guess who always get the gravy in the end? The most technological advanced people of course. Tough world we live in where the smart wins, in the end. Life's unfair. Boohoo.
Click to expand...

Point?:confused:
 
Does anybody know what percentage of arable land has been redistributed? Excluding those farms in Limpopo which produce avos & oranges and other such luxuries. I'm talking of "essential" farmland (eg cereals etc).

I'm a little wary of all of this 'cause there's a drought and it will effect matters and the Limpopo farms ain't really gonna make much of a difference.
 
So after we get over "You took it away from me, now you're a total ****" syndrome, how about getting government to enforce management (students of agriculture and so further) upon failed, funded/"reformed", farming schemes.

Would seem like a better solution than finger pointing and crying over spilt milk.
 
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