Employment-intensive land reform in South Africa
A recent study commissioned by the government and funded by the European Union, and conducted by experts from different institutions, with me as the leader, focused on the potential contribution of redistributive land reform to employment creation. The study revealed a considerable, unmet demand for land by both smallholders and small-scale commercial farmers. The study found that land reform can assist in creating more employment-intensive farming systems by: reducing the size of farming units, while increasing their total numbers; changing the mix and scale of farm commodities produced; and changing farming systems so that they become more employment-intensive. In estimating net job gains, the study assumes that 50% of the land under large-scale farming at present will be redistributed to small-scale black farmers.
