| Overview : The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) has introduced the Regulations of Agricultural Landholdings Policy and accompanying Bill (RALHB) with the aim of reversing the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and to ensure a “just and equitable” distribution of agricultural land among those who live in, and work, it. The proposed reforms seek to ensure progressive realisation of the objectives and principles enshrined in the Constitution, particularly section 25(5), (7) and (8) as well as Section 27, on equitable access to land by citizens and redress for those who lost tenure and land as well as local and household food security. The RLHB/RLHP stem from the 2011 Green Paper on Land Reform’s unitary and integrated 4-tier tenure system, particularly the tiers on Privately-owned land (freehold with limited extent) and Foreign-owned land (combination of freehold with limited extent). The Regulations of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill (RALHB) was published for public comments on 17th of March, 2017 and closed on 17 May 2017. The DRDLR has been collecting and analysing submissions/public comments as they come in. The objective of the assignment is to undertake a detailed research on history and political economy of the sector, assess the changing discourse pertaining to smallholder farmers and their contribution to economic development and integrate report into an existing Socio-economic Impact Assessment on RALHB. Also, to collate this research with other inputs from other experts in the team. |
