Land reform, contract farming and sustainable development in South Africa.

Abstract

The aim of the article is to assess how group development and sustainable development models could be applied to land reform and contract farming in South Africa. A survey of literature was adopted to explore the feasibility of contract farming in South Africa. The findings of the literature survey indicate that contract farming is an essential component of the land reform programmes, as it empowers new farmers. The article contributes to the contemporary land reform debate by exploring the feasibility of contract farming in South Africa. The theoretical bases of the models guide land reform policymakers and implementers. The cyclic models of group development and the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) systems guidelines on sustainable development are explored in relation to land reform in South Africa. The cyclic models of group development propose that a group of people assigned to a task go through a developmental process that culminates in the group surviving through adaptation, or the group succumbs to adversity and goes into oblivion or dissolution. The article posits that groups of new farmers are more likely to face similar recurring challenges or obstacles, that befell previous beneficiaries of agricultural affirmative action programmes, unless a change in paradigm is adopted. Future studies could critically focus on laws and agricultural policies that legitimise the acquisition of land without compensation, sustainable development and security of tenure in South Africa.