Projekt

Since 1996, South Africa has been implementing wide-ranging reforms in the land and water sectors. The reforms were intended to lead to the emergence of a cohort of 'new' commercial farmers actively engaged in smallholder irrigation. So far, evidence from various studies increasingly demonstrates that many of the reform projects are not leading to sustainable development and a substantial number of the 'new' farming schemes are either underperforming or not functioning at all. While the socio-economic and political rationale for the reforms is well-understood, there is a general lack of knowledge on how to effectively translate some of the objectives into reality and significantly transform the rural economy. This study seeks to assess and document the challenges and opportunities facing the beneficiaries of the land and water reform programs in the Limpopo Basin of South Africa. The study will be an applied qualitative research project that uses primary and secondary research methods. It will adopt an analytical approach informed by elements of the farming systems research theoretical framework and participatory agricultural value-chain analysis. Major focus will be on access to water and other support requirements for beneficiaries of land reform, farm productivity and the new farmers' contribution to the agricultural value-chains in the Limpopo Province. Knowledge and publications generated from the study will contribute directly to the quest for better agricultural productivity by articulating some of the major factors that constrain or enhance the land and water reform processes in South Africa. It will also re-open the theoretical spaces for debating the agenda for a new rural economy in South Africa and empirically explore the emerging nuances of rural development practices in the country.

• Prof. Dr. Eva Schlecht

  Universität Göttingen
  Fakultät für Agrarwissenschaften
  Department für Nutztierwissenschaften
  Abteilung Tierhaltung in den Tropen und Subtropen
  Göttingen
  

• Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Schareika

  Universität Göttingen
  Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät
  Institut für Ethnologie
  Göttingen
  

• Dr. Claudious Chikozho

  University of the Western Cape
  Institute for Water Studies
  Department of Earth Sciences
  Bellville, Cape Town
  Südafrika