South African land policy: The legacy of history and current options

Abstract

The highly dualistic farm structure of South Africa and the low productivity of native African farmers have been the result of systematic distortions in land allocation, output markets, the provision of infrastructure, agricultural credit, and services. The dualistic structure did not emerge because of genuine economies of scale in the large commercial sector. Other countries in Latin America and Africa that once supported a dualistic farm size structure through similar distortions have either implemented large-scale land reforms or have experienced decades of peasant revolts and civil war. The paper compares these international experiences to South Africa, and outlines judicial and market-assisted approaches to South African land reform.