A newly proposed bill, if passed could see the government releasing more land for agricultural use across the country. The department of agriculture has released its Preservation and Agricultural Land Bill for public comment from farmers and agricultural players.
The bill seeks to address the long-standing matter of access to land to farmers and availing the non-use of arable land. Interested parties such as farmers and organised agriculture are urged to attend the hearings and give their views.
Losing land at an alarming rate
South Africa is losing valuable land to other land uses such as mining at an alarming rate. Annelize Crosby, head of legal intelligence at Agbiz, says the proposed bill has the potential to address this.
“One of the major problems facing agriculture is the loss of agricultural land because as more land is lost, it will become more difficult to produce the amount of food needed to feed the growing human population.
“Much of the land that is lost coincides with the sparse, high-potential land on which our food security and the stability of the country depends,” she said.
Crosby said it is important for the bill to be passed. She called on farmers and agricultural role players to lend their support as current law relating to agricultural land is old and highly inadequate.
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Kanti, what’s the bill about?
According to parliament, the bill’s purpose is to fix problems with another law called the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act No. 70 of 1970 (SALA).
“This bill is important because it focuses on protecting and improving land used for farming. The bill wants to find a way to balance the needs of using land for farming and other important matters like building houses and developing cities,” parliament stated.
“It also wants to make sure that any land that is not being used well right now gets put to good use for farming again.”
The bill comes hot on the heels of parliament passing the Land Claims Court Appeals Court Bill which would see the country having a specific appeals court for land claims.
Some of the bill’s objectives include proposed guidelines for managing agricultural land, constructing provincial plans for agricultural development, and building information management systems.
The Bill further seeks to facilitate concurrent land uses on agricultural land without jeopardising long-term food security, provide mitigating measures to counteract the loss of agricultural land and more.
Furthermore, should it be passed, minister Thoko Didiza will essentially have more power to set standards and guidelines for the use of agricultural land.
Protecting agricultural resources
It is estimated that between 1994 and 2017, more than 3.6 million hectares (4%) of agricultural land has been lost to other uses such as mining, residential and industrial development and the numbers were increasing yearly.
According to Crosby, there might be many interests that compete with the legislation. However, it is important to balance and ensure that every sector in the country that contributes to the economy is given enough space to flourish.
“We want to state categorically that Agbiz is not advocating for agricultural interests to be placed ahead of any other economic interests.
“We merely advocate for a legal regime whereby natural, agricultural resources enjoy the same legal status and protection, in the public interest, as the extraction of precious metals or industrial development,” she said.
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