Declining land for subsistence and small-scale farming in South Africa: A case study of Thulamela local municipality

Abstract

In Thulamela Local Municipality, South Africa, competing land use activities such as urbanisation and subsistence farming have accelerated rapid, widespread changes in land use and land cover (LULC) with potential negative impacts on subsistence and small-scale farming, food security, and sustainable rural livelihoods. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the decline in land available for subsistence and small-scale farming in the Thulamela Local Municipality. A post-classification comparison approach was performed using three Landsat images from 2005, 2013 and 2020 in order to quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of LULC in the study area. The land use management system and applicable land use policies were examined to gain an understanding of the factors driving LULC. The results showed a general decline in agricultural land with a general increase in built-up areas. Land under Agricultural Fallow shrank from 26% to 8% with a 69% decline in extent while the extent of Grass reduced from 22% to 16%. The study has shown that the decline in agricultural land and its conversion to built-up areas can be attributed to ineffective land use management system, which is less protective of land for subsistence and small-scale farming in rural areas characterised customary land tenure rights. The land use scheme’s generalisation of vacant and unsurveyed land as agricultural use zone makes it difficult to oppose development on productive agricultural land currently used for subsistence and small-scale farming in rural areas. Therefore, the study recommends that suitable agricultural land or land currently used for subsistence and small-scale farming should be clearly categorised as arable use zone from municipal land use schemes in order to ensure sustainable utilisation and protection of arable land for agricultural purposes. Measures should also be taken to secure tenure rights for subsistence farmers in order to curb the widespread conversion of agricultural land into built-up areas.