Resource information
Land reform can broadly be divided into
land tenure reform-the establishment of secure and
formalized property rights in land-and land
redistribution-the transfer of land from large to small
farmers. The paper is therefore divided into two chapters.
The first chapter gives a short narrative of some of the key
land tenure and land policy issues. While these issues
remain politically sensitive, there is a solid consensus
emerging on how to deal with them, but only once the
confusion surrounding private and common property, and
formal and informal rights, is cleared. In particular,
secure property rights should not be confused with full
private "ownership." The second chapter addresses
the redistribution of property rights in land from large to
small farmers-redistributive land reform. There is a
heightened sense of urgency on the need to address land
redistribution, especially in the former settler colonies in
Southern Africa, but controversy exists on the appropriate
implementation mechanisms. The case of South Africa is
highlighted, because success there would have tremendous
regional and international implications for land
redistribution. A policy framework for redistributive land
reform is outlined, within which the competing paradigms
compete there where it actually matters: on the ground.
