In the not so long history of humankind, our ancestors too often fought for land and water. Those days have returned.

En la no tan larga historia de la Humanidad, nuestros antepasados han luchado con demasiada frecuencia por la tierra y el agua. Aquellos tiempos están nuevamente de actualidad.

The drylands of Africa, exclusive of hyper-arid zones, occupy about 43 per cent of the continent, and are home to a rapidly growing population that currently stands at about 325 million people. Dry zones, inclusive of hyper-arid lands, cover over 70 per cent of the continent’s terrestrial surface. Outside of the cities many dryland inhabitants are either pastoralists, sedentary or nomadic, or agro-pastoralists, combining livestock-rearing and crop production where conditions allow.

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This guidebook provides conceptual, legal and practical tools and resources to help civil society organizations guide communities through the process of documenting customary tenure at the local level. It also provides suggestions for how to build on the momentum generated by the documentation process to develop strategies and actions to defend, strengthen and promote customary rights at community, regional and national level.

Este estudio analiza la relación entre la tenencia de títulos de propiedad (registrados) y los mercados inmobiliarios en zonas de la ciudad que tuvieron un origen informal y/o ilegal. Al hacerlo plantea cuestionamientos a los presupuestos internacionales y encuentra paradojas en el funcionamiento del mercado de suelo popular. La metodología es cuantitativa y cualitativa. Las conclusiones muestran que en asentamientos no consolidados la tenencia de un título de propiedad contribuye a un mayor valor de los predios con relación a aquellos no titulados.

Sub-Saharan Africa has always been perceived as a land-abundant continent. Deininger & Byerlee (2011) estimate that the continent has the largest area of potentially available uncultivated land. Despite these abundant resources, the agricultural sector continues to be dominated by smallholder production that is characterized by high labor and low capital intensities – but still produces the majority of food in Africa (IFAD & UNEP, 2013).

Agri SA supported orderly land reform – equitable land distribution is a prerequisite for rural stability and inclusive rural development. Agri-SA believed that expropriation should only be used as a last resort where negotiations fail. There needed to be a clear purpose for expropriation. Compensation should never be dependent on the state’s ability to pay. The land owner should always be afforded recourse to the courts to contest both the merits of the expropriation and the compensation amount.

The Commission for Gender Equality presented on its proposed campaign called One Woman, One Hectare of Land’. The campaign aims to mainstream gender equality, for it was proposed that the State should allocate one hectare of land, for the growing of food, to the poorest rural female-run households. It was believed that this would help alleviate poverty and empower rural women. It was pointed out that where women had land, their families generally were better nourished, better educated and able to move on.

The Committee was briefed by the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) on the expenditure trends and performance of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and its entities for 2014/15 and the first quarter of the 2015/16 financial year.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DLDLR) provided a progress report on its interventions to address the challenges arising from the actions of the Rama Communal Property Association (CPA). The CPA had initiated some income generating activities on its land, which included a quarry business, and had started a museum and an entertainment centre that featured a cinema. In partnership with the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and private investors the CPA was in the process of developing houses on its land.

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries is currently developing a project in conjunction with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) to create Agri-parks in locations throughout South Africa. These Agri-parks aim to involve smallholders and local producers in the entire process of agriculture to address both food security and poverty. The Department hopes to fight issues such as the 14 million hungry South Africans, unused potential farmland, and the inequality between private agricultural business and the people.

The preservation, development and sustainable use of agricultural land are of vital importance to ensure longterm food security in South Africa. These principles of food security as well as an integrated, inclusive rural economy underpin the core focus areas of the National Development Plan, Vision 2030 (NDP).