A review of the literature on farmworker housing, access to services and tenure security on and off farms in the Cape Winelands District Municipality

This literature review aims to situate farm labour within the particular history of the development of agriculture in the Cape while providing a critical assessment of the changing approaches to thinking about farm workers and their socio-economic needs by employers and the state. The review aims to provide a knowledge baseline from which to distil key questions to guide an applied process of research and social dialogue in the Cape Winelands District and beyond
This research process seeks to contribute to the formulation of on and off farm farmworker housing options that are cognisant of the current opportunities and constraints in the agricultural sector and local municipal settings. Research and submissions by farm worker organisations prioritise improved tenure security on farms, decent living and working conditions, improved wages, and access to land for their own use  However, these needs have to be situated within economic realities within the agricultural sector and its competition within global value chains.