Land Reform Northwest Province APPRAISAL OF LAND REFORM PROJECTS IN NORTHWEST PROVINCE REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BY JOHANN KIRSTEN AND CHARLES MACHETHE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, EXTENSION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA IN COLLABORATION WITH AT FISCHER AND INFORMATION DECISION SYSTEMS CC MARCH 2005 March 2005 i Land Reform Northwest Province March 2005 1-1 Land Reform Northwest Province TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................1-1 1.1 THE LAND REFORM PROGRAMME AND ITS OBJECTIVES ...........................................................................1-1 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .....................................................................................................................1-1 1.3 METHODS AND PROCEDURES ...................................................................................................................1-2 1.4 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA..........................................................................................................1-4 1.5 DESCRIPTION OF FARM ENTERPRISES ......................................................................................................1-5 2 A COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT OF LAND REFORM PROJECTS IN THE NORTHWEST PROVINCE.........................................................................................................................................................2-6 2.1 APPROACH...............................................................................................................................................2-6 2.2 THE AUDIT FORMAT.................................................................................................................................2-6 3 STATUS AND DETAIL REVIEW OF APPRAISED LAND REFORM PROJECTS ......................3-10 3.1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................3-10 3.2 OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTATIONS...........................................................................................................3-10 3.2.1 Commercial farming and livelihood issues ................................................................................3-10 3.2.2 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................3-12 3.3 ACQUIRING A FARM ..............................................................................................................................3-13 3.3.1 The Process ................................................................................................................................3-13 3.3.2 Financing Farm Purchases ........................................................................................................3-16 3.3.3 The grant structure: movable assets and production capital. ....................................................3-18 3.4 MEMBER PARTICIPATION .............................................................................................................3-19 3.4.1 Member Profile...........................................................................................................................3-19 3.4.2 Farm Occupation........................................................................................................................3-20 3.4.3 Member Interest and Involvement ..............................................................................................3-23 3.4.4 Member Relations.......................................................................................................................3-28 3.5 SUPPORT AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK .........................................................................................3-32 3.5.1 The Planning and Implementation Phase...................................................................................3-32 3.5.2 Operational Phase......................................................................................................................3-36 3.5.3 Agribusiness and Land Reform...................................................................................................3-40 3.6 FARM MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................3-45 3.6.1 Management Structures..............................................................................................................3-45 3.6.2 Farming Capacity and Knowledge .............................................................................................3-49 3.6.3 Labour ........................................................................................................................................3-51 3.6.4 Financial Management...............................................................................................................3-53 3.7 PRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................3-54 3.7.1 Farm Enterprises........................................................................................................................3-54 3.7.2 Cattle ..........................................................................................................................................3-55 3.7.3 Small Stock .................................................................................................................................3-60 3.7.4 Poultry ........................................................................................................................................3-62 3.7.5 Crop farming ..............................................................................................................................3-64 3.8 MARKETING..........................................................................................................................................3-67 3.8.1 Marketable produce....................................................................................................................3-67 3.8.2 Markets.......................................................................................................................................3-69 3.8.3 Market Training and Skills .........................................................................................................3-71 3.9 INVESTMENT AND INCOME ....................................................................................................................3-72 3.9.1 Government investment ..............................................................................................................3-72 3.9.2 Projects’ investments..................................................................................................................3-72 3.9.3 Incomes.......................................................................................................................................3-73 3.10 REVITALISATION: THE BENEFICIARIES’ VIEW...................................................................................3-75 3.10.1 Addressing projects’ financial problems ....................................................................................3-75 3.10.2 Means to ensure sustainable production ....................................................................................3-75 3.10.3 Government assistance ...............................................................................................................3-76 March 2005 i Land Reform Northwest Province 4 RECOMMENDED ACTIONS TO REVITALISE THE LAND REFORM PROGRAMME IN THE NORTHWEST PROVINCE............................................................................................................................4-77 4.1 REASONS FOR PROJECT FAILURE: A SYNTHESIS ....................................................................................4-77 4.2 LESSONS AND PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE LAND REFORM PROJECTS .........................................................4-80 4.2.1 Proposals to address programme level issues............................................................................4-80 4.2.2 Proposals to address project level issues ...................................................................................4-83 4.3 PROPOSALS FOR THE RE-ENGINEERING OF EXISTING LAND REFORM PROJECTS IN THE NORTHWEST PROVINCE ........................................................................................................................................................4-84 5 ANNEXURES ...........................................................................................................................................5-86 5.1 ANNEXURE 1: INVENTORY OF LAND REFORM PROJECTS IN THE NORTHWEST PROVINCE 5- 86 5.2 ANNEXURE 2: LIST OF AUDITED PROJECTS..............................................................................5-90 5.3 ANNEXURE 3: LIST OF NON-OPERATIONAL LAND FORM PROJECTS IN NORTWEST PROVINCE OBTAINED FROM THE AUDIT ............................................................................................5-93 5.4 ANNEXURE 4: LIST OF 43 PROJECTS THAT WERE INTERVIEWED IN DETAIL...................5-94 5.5 ANNEXURE 5: LIST OF PROJECTS IN CATEGORIES 3 AND 4..................................................5-96 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Gender and Age distribution