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L ivelihoods after L and R eform in S outh A frica[Note 2. The term ‘land reform beneficiaries’ is used in mainstream ...]
Author(s) -
Aliber Michael,
Cousins Ben
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of agrarian change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.63
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1471-0366
pISSN - 1471-0358
DOI - 10.1111/joac.12012
Subject(s) - livelihood , poverty , poverty reduction , political science , economics , business , economic growth , geography , agriculture , archaeology
Over the past few decades, Z imbabwe, N amibia and S outh A frica have pursued redistributive land reform as a means to address rural poverty. The L ivelihoods after L and R eform ( LaLR ) study was carried out between 2007 and 2009, to understand the livelihood and poverty reduction outcomes of land reform in each of the three countries. The S outh A frican component focused on Limpopo province, and investigated land reform processes, trajectories of change and outcomes in thirteen detailed case studies. This paper summarizes some of the main findings from the S outh A frican study, and briefly compares them with findings from N amibia and Z imbabwe. The paper argues that a fundamental problem affecting land reform in both S outh A frica and N amibia is the uncritical application of the L arge‐ S cale C ommercial F arming ( LSCF ) model, which has led to unworkable project design and/or projects that are irrelevant to the circumstances of the rural poor. Nevertheless, some ‘beneficiaries’ have experienced modest improvements in their livelihoods, often through abandoning or amending official project plans.