Occasional Paper

Evaluating Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa: Support for Agricultural Development

“In South Africa, land reform has to be more than securing land rights and transferring a
certain number of hectares to black people. Broadly speaking, it has to take into account the uneven spatial development patterns created under colonial and apartheid rule. People who have secured land rights and access to land must be enabled to improve their livelihoods and deal with other challenges afflicting rural areas: high unemployment, poverty, HIV/Aids and
dilapidated infrastructure.This report deals mainly with support to rural people who acquired farm land through government’s land reform programme. It addresses the following major questions: What kinds of agricultural development support for land reform participants are stipulated in legislation or policy? What has been the impact of post-transfer support on livelihoods and development?”