Setting them up to fail: enforcement of the agribusiness model on land reform projects in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Land reform in South Africa aims, among other things, to build ‘the economy by generating large-scale employment, increasing rural incomes and eliminating overcrowding’ (ANC 1994). While there is ‘near-consensus that land reform has been unsuccessful’ (Aliber and Cousins 2013), various factors have been raised as contributing to land reform’s failure to meet its goals. Among the factors negatively affecting livelihoods and income generation is the government’s enforcement of an agribusiness model promoting large-scale production for (export) markets. This article uses a case study to illustrate how the implementation of large-scale, and sometimes capital-intensive, production negatively affects the livelihoods of the beneficiaries. It challenges the perspectives that associate success, or even the viability, of land reform projects with the agribusiness model by demonstrating how difficult it is for the beneficiaries to sustain production autonomously.

RÉSUMÉ

La réforme agraire en Afrique du Sud vise, entre autres, à construire « l’économie en créant des emplois à grande échelle, en augmentant les revenus ruraux et en éliminant la surpopulation » (ANC 1994). Bien qu’il y ait un « quasi-consensus sur l’échec de la réforme agraire » (Aliber et Cousins 2013), divers facteurs ont été évoqués comme contribuant à l’échec de la réforme agraire à atteindre ses objectifs. Parmi les facteurs ayant un impact négatif sur les moyens de subsistance et la génération de revenus, on peut citer l’application par le gouvernement d’un modèle d’agrobusiness favorisant la production à grande échelle pour les marchés (d’exportation notamment). Cet article utilise une étude de cas pour illustrer comment la mise en œuvre d’une production à grande échelle, et parfois à forte intensité de capital, affecte négativement les moyens de subsistance des bénéficiaires. Il remet en question les perspectives qui associent le succès, voire la viabilité, des projets de réforme agraire au modèle agro-industriel en démontrant combien il est difficile pour les bénéficiaires de maintenir la production de manière autonome.

KEYWORDS:

• Agribusiness model
• land reform
• agrarian reform
• agriculture
• South Africa

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Modèle agro-industriel
• réforme foncière
• réforme agraire
• agriculture
• Afrique du Sud

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers whose input helped me to improve the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Clemence Rusenga is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, under the National Research Foundation (NRF) Chair on Land Reform and Democracy in South Africa. His research interests include land reform, agricultural models, political economy and livelihoods in Africa.

Interviews and conversations

Mr Malatjie was interviewed in Tzaneen on 2 July 2012.

Sophie M. was interviewed at Elangeni on 18 July 2012, and on 3, 5, and 12 June 2013.

Victor M. was interviewed at Polokwane on 22 May 2013.

Mr Moses was interviewed in Tzaneen on 16 August 2013.

Marius P. was interviewed in Nkowankowa on 27 August 2013.

Samuel M. was interviewed at Elangeni on 15 August 2013.

Andre B. was interviewed on 25 June 2020.

Mr Mooketsi was interviewed on 3 July 2020.

Notes

1 Mr Mooketsi is a pseudonym.

2 A full list of interviews and conversations conducted with Sophie M. and referred to in this article is given at the end, after the references.

3 Sophie M. initiated the application for the farm by the beneficiaries.

4 Victor M. was the Land Reform Officer for Mopani District.

5 Pseudonym used: an official of the Limpopo Department of Agriculture, Tzaneen.

6 Andre B. is the mango specialist at Subtrop, in Tzaneen.

7 For the beneficiaries, a permanent worker was someone who was hired without a specific date for the termination of his/her contract. The intention, when they were hired, was that their tenure would be long-term. The workers were hired mainly for vegetable production and the maintenance of the orchards.

8 Pseudonym used: Mr Moses works for the Subtropical Growers Association (Subtrop) and works with land reform beneficiaries.

9 Global GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) is a private body that sets standards for certifying agricultural products across the world: www.globalgap.org.