Census shows up faults in current land plan

Government’s approach to land reform will never work, suggests the recently released Census of Commercial Agriculture in South Africa. So said Frans Cronje deputy CEO of the South African Institute of Race Relations.
He explained government’s land reform policy hopes to use agriculture to absorb the rural poor, but seeks to do this by circumventing market forces such as the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle. Cronje says the census shows the numbers of agribusinesses and people they employ are falling rapidly.
“The number of agricultural enterprises in the country dropped 13% between 2002 and 2007, while the number of people they employed fell 16%,” explained Cronje. “However, nominal income increased by 49% and wages by 39%, and capital and current expenditure increased by 20%.”
Cronje said these trends suggest market forces in South Africa are causing farms to operate on bigger economies of scale to remain viable.
“Farms are becoming more efficient through the generation of increased income with fewer employees, but paying employees more,” he explained. “The trouble is government’s model of rural development requires the opposite.
“If government expects farms to absorb the rural poor, farms will have to become smaller with more people employed. This undermines the viability of farming as a business in South Africa. It’s simply wishful thinking to argue small-scale peasant agriculture is a sustainable farming model for South Africa.”
Cronje said pursuing a policy flowing against the natural economic tide is hugely risky. South Africa has already become a nett importer of food, partly because of a growing population
It’s also been suggested that improvements in efficient farming haven’t kept pace with demand. Statistics on failed land reform projects indicate government’s policy undoubtedly helps diminish efficiency.
Meanwhile, deputy minister of science and technology Derek Hanekom conceded land reform in South Africa has largely failed.
Previously the minister of agriculture, Hanekom told delegates of the annual Feedlot Association conference in Benoni the country can’t afford a land reform policy which leads to job losses, lower productivity and diminished food security.
“We must also look at successes to find the ingredients for success, and look at land reform models which could work,” he proposed. – Annelie Coleman