Aspects Of Land Reform Research Articles

Запровадження ринку земель сільськогосподарського призначення: потрібні відповідальні та зважені рішення

Aspects of land reform in sphere of regulation of order of purchase and alienation of rights to lands of agricultural purpose are considered. It is offered to adhere to priorities of state policy which consist in protection of economic sovereignty of Ukraine and interests of non-protected layers of agricultural population. In particular, it concerns non-admission of foreign capital to participation in purchase of lands of agricultural purpose. It is necessary to prevent destruction of existing agricultural and farmer enterprises, and exclude monopoly in that market. It is necessary to support small farms and youth, to cover publicly market prices for land and order of carrying out electronic land auctions.

Aspects of Land Administration in the Context of Good Governance

This paper explores aspects of land administration where public funding and interests necessitate the application of good governance practices. The South African land reform programme is divided in three sub-programmes, namely land restitution, land redistribution and tenure reform. Land reform is a vast subject, based on policy, legislation and case law. Therefore it is impossible to deal with good governance principles over the wide spectrum of land reform. Special attention is however given to the land restitution programme in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994 and tenure reform in the rural areas by means of the Communal Land Rights Act 11 of 2004. The purpose is not to formulate a blueprint for good governance or to indicate which good governance principles will solve all or most of the land tenure problems. It is rather an effort to indicate that policies and procedures to improve good governance in some aspects of land reform are urgently needed and should be explored further.Restitution of Land Rights Act and the Communal Land Rights Act, is extensive and far-reaching. However, many legislative measures are either impractical due to financial constraints and lack of capacity of the Department of Land Affairs, or are not based on sufficient participation by local communities. Land administration should furthermore be planned and executed in the context of global good governance practices. This includes equal protection; clear land policy principles; land tenure principles according to the needs of individuals and population groups; flexible land registration principles to accommodate both individual and communal land tenure; and appropriate institutional arrangements. It is clear that established good governance principles may solve many of the problems encountered in land administration in South Africa. It is a topic that needs to be explored further.

Editorial

On Friday 27th July 2012 the conference on the "Green Paper on Land Reform: Challenges and Opportunities" was held at the Hakunamatata Estate in Muldersdrift. The conference was a joint project by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Faculty of Law, North-West University. While the main focus of the conference was on the specific issues raised by the Green Paper on Land Reform of 2011, it also addressed current and contemporary issues relating to the Land Reform issue as experienced in South Africa.
 Papers were delivered on various aspects of land reform relating to or arising from the Green Paper on Land Reform, 2011. The programme included a large number of excellent and thought provoking papers as well as a number of panel discussions that resulted in enthusiastic audience participation. Of these, the following papers and presentations were collected, evaluated and published in this special edition of PER. The first contribution by Wian Erlank (North-West University) gives an overview and discusses the challenges the Green Paper on Land Reform bring to the fore. It sets the stage for the publication at large. This is followed by Juanita Pienaar (University of Stellenbosch) who deliberates on what she calles the “mechanics of intervention” and the Green Paper on Land Reform. Henk Kloppers and Gerrit Pienaar (North West University) gives a historical context of land reform in South Africa and early policies; and Henk Kloppers then considers Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the context of land reform. He is followed by Hanri Mostert's (University of Cape Town) contribution on land as a 'National Asset' under the Constitution and what this system change envisaged by the 2011 Green Paper on Land Policy means for property under the Constitution. Elmien du Plessis (University of Johannesburg) article on the lack of direction on compensation for expropriation in the 2011 Green Paper on Land Reform. This special edition ends with Motsepe Matlala, the President of the National African Farmers Union gave an illuminating oratio on the opportunities and challenges of the 2011 Green Paper on Land Reform for the National African Farmers Union (NAFU SA).
 The timing of this edition is fortuitous, since a follow-up to this conference was held at Hakunamatata, Muldersdrift on 19 and 20 June 2014 with the specific focus on Land Reform and Food Security.
 More on the theme.
 The contributions contained in this special edition provide an extensive overview of land reform, especially in their introductory sections - before delving into the more technical aspects. However, a very brief note on the issue of Land Reform in South Africa might be beneficial for foreign readers. As in most other areas of the world, ownership of and access to land is an important issue in South Africa. This is especially topical in South Africa due to the fact that the racial segregation policies and laws of the past had the effect of removing people from their land, of restricting their access to land, and also in most instances of prohibiting their ownership of land. Ever since the abolition of "apartheid" and the introduction of the new, democratic dispensation, the initiative of "land reform" has been identified as requiring actively promotion in order to address these injustices of the past. Mandated by the Constitution and implemented through legislation, the South African Land Reform Programme has seen many developments over the past few years. While it is clear that much has been done to address these issues, it is also clear that current land reform strategies have not have the intended effect and would need to be adapted before this important programme is resumed. The Green Paper on Land Reform of 2011 is one of the instruments that has been used to create new interest and public engagement both in Land Reform, the development of better public policy and - eventually – of legislation. In the context of this brief description of the existing situation, this issue focusses on the most pressing aspects of land reform at the moment.
 

Land Reform in the Eastern Cape: The Ongoing Struggle for Resources and Secure Rights

Land reform policy in South Africa is intended to redress the grave racial imbalance in land holding and secure the land rights of historically disadvantaged people. In the Eastern Cape, all aspects of land reform have experienced severe difficulties in implementation but important innovations have taken place in areas such as developmental restitution. Given the continuing importance of land-based livelihoods to a high proportion of households in the Eastern Cape, land reform has the potential to make a significant contribution to socio-economic development and the alleviation of poverty. To do this, however, it needs to evolve in ways that both deliver land on an enhanced scale and improve the chances of people making productive use of the land. The current market-based approach to land transfer has proven to be extremely slow, and a strong case exists for a more proactive approach by the state to the acquisition and redistribution of land.

Some aspects of land reform and implementation policy in Nigeria

Nigeria is a member of the United Nations Organization. This world body has, since 1950, been actively interested in agrarian and land reform matters in her member states, especially in the developing member countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is in the light of Nigeria's membership of the UN that the author has reveiwed and related her attempts at land and agrarian reform. The author points out some land and agrarian reform measures undertaken by Nigeria and regards them as laudable but still half-measures. He finally recommends a total takeover of land by the Government in order to be able to effect a mechanised and productive agriculture.