Land Reform and Agriculture

This chapter outlines very briefly the land reform policy that was established in the period between 1994 and 1999. It considers recent assessments of this programme, in particular the redistribution component of land reform. The chapter explores how this assessment has re-shaped land reform policy in the context of a new integrated development initiative. It reviews changes in the regulatory environment and assesses their impact on agriculture in both commercial areas and former homelands. There are three key elements to South Africa&s;s land reform programme: tenure reform, restitution and land redistribution. Agricultural economists have spent considerable effort tracing the changes that have occurred, primarily in white commercial agriculture, following the implementation of the new Marketing Act. World Bank advisors to South Africa have always emphasised the productive potential of land reform.