Land reform and changing gender patterns in rural farmland ownership

abstract

The implementation of land reform in South Africa intends to bring about equity and equality but has encountered unanticipated or unplanned outcomes that have unforeseen effects for the various actors involved, particularly women. In this paper, we focus on the emerging patterns in gender ownership of farmland made available through the farmland redistribution programme. Analysing data from a mixed methods approach that used a household survey instrument and was followed up with individual and group interviews, we examine the outcomes and consequences of land redistribution with respect to the gender ownership of redistributed land. The findings provisionally indicate that the farmland redistribution programme has influenced ownership patterns that tend to include women into joint land ownership agreements alongside men in far greater numbers than women-only headed households. A review of policy interventions indicates that this joint-ownership outcome was never proposed. It has its own consequences with regard to de jure and de facto ownership of and access to farmland. Furthermore, it is in stark contrast to the policy idea of increasing redistributed land ownership exclusively for women in order to address gender imbalances within land ownership by black farmers. Despite differences across provinces, men as individual owners are the main beneficiaries of land redistribution. Women tend to enter into arrangements with men to acquire land so that they can meet the own-contribution requirements of the redistribution applications. In doing so they now have legal rights, as opposed to customary and common law rights, to this land. The effect of these changing land ownership relationships and patterns requires deeper research across these and other areas of South Africa especially with regard to gender ownership and gender livelihoods at household level.

keywords:

• land redistribution
• gender of landowners
• unplanned outcomes
• household gender relationships
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) who funded the Agrarian Reform project and the ensuing electronic database used. We acknowledge the contributions of former and current colleagues in the Economic Performance Development unit (HSRC) and fieldworkers who worked on the project or helped our thinking about the article, in particular Shirin Motala, Charles Nhemechena, and Mompati Baiphethi. We also acknowledge the valuable insights of Jeanne Prinsloo, Rushiella Songca, Maureen Tong and two anonymous peer reviewers. This is our own original work and the views expressed do not reflect those of any other party.

ORCID

Tim GB Hart http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0463-9947

Margaret Chandia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9149-977X

Peter T Jacobs http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5142-9059

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tim GB Hart

TIM HART is a Senior Research Project Manager at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Pretoria and a Doctoral candidate at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His areas of interest and research include social and cultural dynamics of rural development, food security, agriculture along with gender dynamics, identity and culture in the conceptualisation, design and implementation of development policy. Email: [email protected].

Margaret Chandia

MARGARET CHANDIA is a Master’s candidate in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and a social entrepreneur. Her research interests are in gender, urban agriculture, local food systems and agri-processing. Email: [email protected].

Peter T Jacobs

PETER JACOBS is a Research Director in the Economic Performance and Development research Programme (EPD) at the Human Sciences Research Council. With more than 15 years of research experience, his areas of research interest include the economics of agrarian change and rural socio-economic transitions. His publications include co-editing special issues of AGREKON (on Household Food Security status) and Development Southern Africa (on Sustainable Rural Development in South Africa. Email: [email protected].