Abstract
This study incorporated remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and geostatistics to assess land capability in two sites acquired through land reform program. The relationships and interactions between components and parameters that are necessary for analysing the capability of agricultural land were investigated for an effective management system. The parameters taken into consideration were biophysical environment (soil texture, organic matter content, soil depth etc.), socio-economic and policy. The primary data included climatic data and soil samples obtained at 1 m depth; the secondary data included satellite imagery, topographic map, and agricultural statistics. The resulting land capability maps showed that the study areas have moderate to very high capability for summer crops. It is concluded that in order for land reform to contribute to sustainable livelihoods for land reform beneficiaries, agricultural land capability study should be integrated in land reform policy before issuing land to land reform beneficiaries.Keywords: land reform, land capability, remote sensing, GIS
Highlights
Availability of land and its productive resources is generally very important for rural poor to improve their living conditions and lessen poverty
Post 1994 South Africa, land reform has played an important part of the rebuilding and growth plan of the new African National Congress (ANC) administration
The South African land reform policy intends to mainly address the ethnically slanted land ownership, which sprang from the 1913 Land Act and consequent legislation, decreasing poverty and contributing to economic growth, in areas that were marginalised through apartheid laws, and securing land and tenure rights of the marginalised people (DLA, 1997)
Summary
Availability of land and its productive resources is generally very important for rural poor to improve their living conditions and lessen poverty. Post 1994 South Africa, land reform has played an important part of the rebuilding and growth plan of the new African National Congress (ANC) administration. The South African land reform policy intends to mainly address the ethnically slanted land ownership, which sprang from the 1913 Land Act and consequent legislation, decreasing poverty and contributing to economic growth, in areas that were marginalised through apartheid laws, and securing land and tenure rights of the marginalised people (DLA, 1997). The land reform program intends to attain goals of both equity (in terms of land access and possession) and productivity (greater land use), while contributing to the expansion of the rural economy in the country. In terms of overall achievements, land reform in South Africa consistently has fallen far behind the targets set by the state, and behind popular expectations
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