Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa

The authors use evidence from a survey of about 1200 beneficiaries of South African land reform to assess the performance of the initial phase of the land reform program. They find that the program has not lived up to the quantitative goals set, but did successfully target the poor. It has led to a...

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Main Authors:	Deininger, Klaus, May, Julian
Format:	Publications & Research
Language:	en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	accountability accounting agricultural land agricultural production agriculture assets climatic conditions common property comparative advantage crops economic growth economics employment evictions exchange rate expenditures farmers farms gender households houses housing housing units income income distribution income inequality incomes land prices land reform land sales land tenure laws legislation livelihoods local government local government structure market entry marketing monopolies natural resources NGOs nutrition pensions points policy environment population growth poverty line present value private sector productivity profitability property rights public goods roads Rural Development savings secure property rights tenants wages Land reform Nongovernmental organizations Productivity Empowerment Redistribution Rural population Beneficiary participation Decentralization Property rights Land tenure Private sector participation
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21329

id	okr-10986-21329
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-213292021-04-23T14:04:01Z Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa Deininger, Klaus May, Julian accountability accounting agricultural land agricultural production agriculture assets climatic conditions common property comparative advantage crops economic growth economics employment evictions exchange rate expenditures farmers farms gender households houses housing housing units income income distribution income inequality incomes land prices land reform land sales land tenure laws legislation livelihoods local government local government structure market entry marketing monopolies natural resources NGOs nutrition pensions points policy environment population growth poverty line present value private sector productivity profitability property rights public goods roads Rural Development savings secure property rights tenants wages Land reform Nongovernmental organizations Productivity Empowerment Redistribution Rural population Beneficiary participation Decentralization Property rights Land tenure Private sector participation The authors use evidence from a survey of about 1200 beneficiaries of South African land reform to assess the performance of the initial phase of the land reform program. They find that the program has not lived up to the quantitative goals set, but did successfully target the poor. It has led to a significant number of economically successful projects that already generate sustainable revenues. These projects have involved significantly larger shares of poor people than less viable projects, suggesting that increased access to productive assets could be an important path to poverty reduction. Given the need to develop a diverse and less subsidy-dependent strategy for poverty reduction, suitably adapted land reform could play an important part in restructuring South Africa's rural sector. Much of this potential has yet to be realized. The author's analysis points toward clear lessons about program design: 1) Increase beneficiary awareness and participation. Shift from a centralized, bureaucratic structure designed for land distribution toward seeing program components as part of an integrated vision of rural development. This would strengthen links to other parts of land reform (including tenure reform), make better use of local synergies (including infrastructure such as housing), and encourage rather than stifle local initiative decentralized implementation mechanisms. 2) Integrate land redistribution into a land policy framework that strengthens existing property rights, especially tenure security for residents of communal areas. 3) Ensure transparency, accountability, and the participation of the private sector. These are essential for dispelling fears that land reform is just another means of political favoritism rather than an instrument to transform the rural sector, as is indeed supported by international evidence. 2015-01-21T22:43:27Z 2015-01-21T22:43:27Z 2000-09 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21329 en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2451 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Africa South Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	accountability accounting agricultural land agricultural production agriculture assets climatic conditions common property comparative advantage crops economic growth economics employment evictions exchange rate expenditures farmers farms gender households houses housing housing units income income distribution income inequality incomes land prices land reform land sales land tenure laws legislation livelihoods local government local government structure market entry marketing monopolies natural resources NGOs nutrition pensions points policy environment population growth poverty line present value private sector productivity profitability property rights public goods roads Rural Development savings secure property rights tenants wages Land reform Nongovernmental organizations Productivity Empowerment Redistribution Rural population Beneficiary participation Decentralization Property rights Land tenure Private sector participation
spellingShingle	accountability accounting agricultural land agricultural production agriculture assets climatic conditions common property comparative advantage crops economic growth economics employment evictions exchange rate expenditures farmers farms gender households houses housing housing units income income distribution income inequality incomes land prices land reform land sales land tenure laws legislation livelihoods local government local government structure market entry marketing monopolies natural resources NGOs nutrition pensions points policy environment population growth poverty line present value private sector productivity profitability property rights public goods roads Rural Development savings secure property rights tenants wages Land reform Nongovernmental organizations Productivity Empowerment Redistribution Rural population Beneficiary participation Decentralization Property rights Land tenure Private sector participation Deininger, Klaus May, Julian Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa
geographic_facet	Africa Africa South Africa
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2451
description	The authors use evidence from a survey of about 1200 beneficiaries of South African land reform to assess the performance of the initial phase of the land reform program. They find that the program has not lived up to the quantitative goals set, but did successfully target the poor. It has led to a significant number of economically successful projects that already generate sustainable revenues. These projects have involved significantly larger shares of poor people than less viable projects, suggesting that increased access to productive assets could be an important path to poverty reduction. Given the need to develop a diverse and less subsidy-dependent strategy for poverty reduction, suitably adapted land reform could play an important part in restructuring South Africa's rural sector. Much of this potential has yet to be realized. The author's analysis points toward clear lessons about program design: 1) Increase beneficiary awareness and participation. Shift from a centralized, bureaucratic structure designed for land distribution toward seeing program components as part of an integrated vision of rural development. This would strengthen links to other parts of land reform (including tenure reform), make better use of local synergies (including infrastructure such as housing), and encourage rather than stifle local initiative decentralized implementation mechanisms. 2) Integrate land redistribution into a land policy framework that strengthens existing property rights, especially tenure security for residents of communal areas. 3) Ensure transparency, accountability, and the participation of the private sector. These are essential for dispelling fears that land reform is just another means of political favoritism rather than an instrument to transform the rural sector, as is indeed supported by international evidence.
format	Publications & Research
author	Deininger, Klaus May, Julian
author_facet	Deininger, Klaus May, Julian
author_sort	Deininger, Klaus
title	Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa
title_short	Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa
title_full	Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa
title_fullStr	Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa
title_sort	can there be growth with equity? an initial assessment of land reform in south africa
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2015
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21329
_version_	1764447951948611584

Can There Be Growth with Equity? An Initial Assessment of Land Reform in South Africa

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