A Pamphlet based on Signals Edition #4 a UWC Research Magazine
The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) undertakes research that addresses how land is accessed and how food is produced, distributed and sold.
More than 50% of Africa’s workforce is employed in the agricultural sector.
70% of the food eaten on the continent is produced by small-scale farmers and fishers, most of whom are women.
Most of the continent’s population depend on family farming, seasonal labour, herding, fishing, and informal food processing, and trading.
PLAAS will continue to explore the perpetuation of poverty and inequality on the continent.
Market control factors enable large firms to wield control over a range of natural resources other than land.
Africans have little control over access to land, natural resources and assets which underpin their food security
This allows them to exert considerable influence in shaping food production, distribution, retail, as well as international trade – the entire food system, undermining the role of the small scale farmers.
The question of land in South Africa once again become the political agenda in 2018 when President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a special panel to provide advice on the issue.
Professor Ruth Hall, the South African Research Chair in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies formed part of the panel.
A key question raised during the public debate at this time was: What may be considered to comprise “successful” land reform?
PLAAS researchers launched a research project to address this key question.
The main notion of what constituted “success” in land reform was limited.
The dominant conceptualisation of land reform emphasised a commercial agricultural perspective at the expense of other legitimate and vital land uses, Meanwhile, notions of societal justice, genuine equity of access and the centrality of land to systems of social production and informal welfare were largely being ignored in the policy debate.
The aims of land redistribution had drifted away from what was really needed – land for poor people for livelihoods and tenure security
It favoured “elite capture” by a small group of medium-size farmers and their corporate partners.
They identified policymaking biases which marginalised the interests of the poor and the landless.
The team identified this renewed national focus on land reform as an opportune moment produce alternative proposals that will shape policy and its implementation in support of a progressive and pro-poor approach to the issue of land reform, giving effect to the Constitution’s pledge to broaden access to land, as expressed in Section 25.
African women comprise most of the agricultural workforce on the continent. Many of them do not hold independent land rights and often struggle to access land.
Many face the risk of dispossession.
International resolutions aiming to secure equitable land rights for women have been adopted by m ensure a fairer deal for women.
But, research shows that the implementation of these land rights has received little political support on the ground.
For example, under Covid-19, women have remained vulnerable to losing their land to male relatives, companies and governments.
In 2017, PLAAS launched a three-year research, training and advocacy initiative on Women’s Land Rights for Inclusive Development and Growth in Africa with Oxfam’s Pan Africa Programme and the Plateforme Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d'Afrique Centrale (PROPAC), a regional platform of farmers’ organisations in Central Africa which operates in part nership with the International Land Coalition (ILC).
In general, the research concluded, it is important to consider which forms of tenure can actually secure women’s land rights most effectively and alternative people-driven approaches should be established.
For more information: uwc.ac.za
Signals Edition 4, November 2021
Moeniba Isaacs, PLAAS 2019: Blue Justice has at its core a social justice principle that recognizes the need for small-scale fisheries to have equity, access, participation, and rights within the blue economy.
The South African roots of blue justice South Africa has been a key site in the evolution of the concept of blue justice on a continent where 90% of fish harvesting is conducted by small-scale or artisanal fishers.
A raft of “blue economy” and “blue growth” initiatives have been promoted and undertaken by national governments and international institutions in the past few years, all producing key policy documents on the topic.
The main idea promoted is that the oceans need to be opened to new opportunities for mining, shipping, large-scale aquaculture, industrial fishing, etc.
initiatives can promote human rights.
PLAAS – an alternative blue justice However, the above approach to the blue economy is skewed to favour elite and corporate interests at the expense of local communities which depend on small-scale fishing.
PLAAS has led the development of an alternative idea of “blue justice” for small-scale fisheries (SSF).
The aim of the new approach is to “critically examine the political, economic and ecological processes of blue economy development initia tives”.
The international bodies advocating the “blue economy” agenda argue that it is aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – in particular SDG 14, which aims to foster benevolent exploitation of the oceans, seas and marine resources.
They argue that adoption of blue economy
It acknowledges the historical rights of small-scale fishing communities to marine and inland resources, and coastal spaces, as traditional users; and recognises theneed for small-scale fisheries to have equity, access, participation and rights within the blue economy.
PLAAS’s work in this area of blue justice continues on the international front.