‘Commercialise communal farms’

LAND LAWS: UNDULY BENEFIT TRADITIONAL LEADERS

Securing tenure rights for small-scale farmers crucial, says professor.

Almost a third of South Africa’s population lives in remote rural areas on communal, subsistence agricultural land.

Communal land areas largely constitute what was the former homelands prior to 1994.

According to Prof Philippe Burger, vice-chancellor and professor of economics at the University of the Free State, it was vital that measures be put in place to commercialise communal farming in the quest to alleviate poverty and create economic opportunities. That was why securing tenure rights for these farmers were so important.

In an interview with Farmer’s Weekly, Burger said SA’s urban population was expected to increase to between 50 million and 52 million by 2035, while the rural population was expected to decline somewhat.

“The new urban migrants will need houses, shops and jobs, among other [needs],” he said.

“They will also need food, [which creates] enormous opportunities to expand the agriculture sector. In this way, urbanisation can serve as a foundation for thriving rural economies.”

However, this depended on securing tenure rights for smallscale farmers on communal land in order to facilitate commercialisation of their operations. Burger said one of the major challenges for any commercialisation initiative was that tenure was not necessarily the same as securing property.

The problem was further exacerbated by overlapping tenure. For instance, that once a farmer’s harvest had been completed, another person’s cattle could graze the stover, while a third person had the right to collect wood and water from the same piece of land.

“The [inequitable] application of current legislation pertaining to tenure and tenure rights is one of the most serious challenges subsistence farmers face. The fact that the existing legislation unduly benefit traditional leadership adds insult to injury. This is underpinned by the endless legal battles between traditional leaders and members of communal communities,” he said.