As the month of honouring and appreciating women draws to an end, the role of women in land reform has once again come under the spotlight as more focus on resources, capacity and development comes under scrutiny.
The land reform programme has the potential to become a catalyst, driving the empowerment of women and enhancing agricultural productivity. This will, in turn, ensure food security and potentially alleviate hunger in many rural and poverty-stricken areas across South Africa.
Rosinah Raseala, the deputy chairperson of the Rakwadu Communal Property Association (CPA) in Limpopo, said the empowerment of women in agriculture and land reform is critical to alleviating poverty and unemployment.
The Rakwadu CPA manages two farms in Limpopo that were reinstated to the community after a successful land process in 1999. The farms, Goedgelegen and Deelkraal, measure 1041.34 and 1123.90 hectares respectively and are jointly managed by the Rakwadu CPA in a 51-49% partnership with Westfalia Fruits, a leading global avocado and fresh fruits supplier.
Raseala says CPAs need adequate support to enable them to get more women involved in the management of land assets and also throughout the agriculture value chain.
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Need for skills training, funding
“For the CPAs to operate effectively, there is a need for resources and capacity building. Empowering women through skills training programmes can entice more women to participate and be involved,” she said.
In their exploratory study called Women and Gender in South African Agriculture in 2019, the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa found that an average of 20% of farmers who owned farms were women, and that the majority of full-time employees were men (66%) while 52% part-time or seasonal employees were women.
Despite being the youngest member of the CPA at 39, as deputy chairperson of the Rakwadu CPA Raseala is responsible for supporting the chairperson, acting as the spokesperson in the absence of the chairperson, and being the intermediary between the CPAs and the communities.
“Some community members requested their land back and wanted to use it for themselves and to pursue their own plans. As the CPA, it was important to convince them that everyone would be better served if the land was not carved up but rather was utilised for the benefit of the entire community. We managed to persuade them that it would be beneficial for the community to use the land collectively,” Raseala explained.
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She acknowledged the contributions made by Vumelana Advisory Fund, a non-profit organisation that helps beneficiaries of the land reform programme to use restored land productively to create much-needed jobs, income and skills; noting the crucial role that the organisation played in their land claim applications and providing post-settlement support.
“The claims process was difficult but, thankfully, we had Vumelana to assist us and they are still supporting us with various other aspects of the work that we need to do.
“Though our ancestral land has been restored back to its rightful owners, we still face several challenges such as access to funding and the unavailability of a site office in which to conduct our official business.
“We plan to use some of the funds generated through our investments to fund the operations of the CPA,” Raseala said.
‘We need to empower women more’
Peter Setou, the chief executive officer of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, said they want to enable women in CPAs to make meaningful contributions to the land reform programme.
“While we have seen some pockets of successes in this area, a lot of work still needs to be done in supporting women to actively participate in these structures,” he said.
He noted that while CPAs continue to struggle with post-settlement support, non-profit organisations assisting these communities are also experiencing financial strain due to the limited resources available in both the private and public sectors to fund land reform projects.
“Now is not the time to loosen our grip on the progress made on land reform so far. Instead, we need to implement robust and innovative financing mechanisms to strengthen and build upon the efforts already made, to ensure that land reform contributes towards sustainable rural development and equitable access to resources for all,” he said.
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