Land Reform

Defining land reform Def: Societal arrangments whereby Governments administers possession and the use of land. Land reform consist of government initiated or government based real estate property redistribution, generally, agricultural land. Most often refer to transfer of land from a small number of wealthy( historically nobel) owners to indivduals who directly work the land.

Challenges to land reform

Political and ethnic challenges Land use problems Institutional tensions Agreement on land policy Role of stakeholders Whom land rights and decision-

making is vested in

The case for land redistribution

Small farmers are usually: • More efficient; • Better for poverty reduction; and • Better for equity

“Small farmer” = Family farmer, owner-operator, using mostly family labor And equity is good for growth

• While unresolved equity issues can plunge a country into long periods of civil unrest and economic crisis

Markets will not redistribute land

The price of land in the market reflects: • Income stream from agriculture • Plus value as asset, hedge against inflation

Small farmers can only afford to pay the agricultural value

So will be outbid in the land market by the rich

Need to remove all distortions favoring large farmers

Need subsidies for the poor Need a progressive land tax

Goals of land reform

Reducing poverty Expanding the rural areas Returning land to its previous owners

Land ownership and Tenure

Right of disposition over land. The right to use the land

Types of land ownership

State ownership of land Collective and communal ownership Private ownership of land Farm tenancy

• Occupational tenancy • Cash tenancy • Rent in kind • Share tenancy

The Agricultural Commercial Land Reform Act of 1995

The 1995 Act describes Namibia’s agricultural land for reform to include: • Land situated in local authority areas • Land situated n settlement areas • Land of which the state is the

owner.

Land Reform Commission

Section 2 of the Act established a commission and this commission's functions are to: • Advise Minister on land acquisition

and redistribution. • Investigate matters relating to the

exercise of powers by the minster on land acquisition and redistribution.

Land Acquisition: the menu

“Willing buyer, willing seller” • Government buys farms at market prices

from willing sellers Compulsory acquisition

• Government expropriates farms “Market-assisted”

• Beneficiaries purchase land themselves with subsidies

Negotiated transfers • Government and land owners strike a deal

Willing buyer, willing seller

Pro’s: • Government has “right of first refusal” for

every farm that comes on the market • No loss of investor confidence

Con’s: • Some sales will be masked (shareholders

of closed corporation change, but not title deed)

• Government ends up with title deed

Compulsory acquisition

Pro’s: • Planning advantage (e.g. Kenya 1960s)

Con’s: • Costly, slow • Coordination problems:

- Farm assets need immediate protection - Need to select beneficiaries in advance or

very quickly

“Market-assisted” “community-driven”, grants to

beneficiaries for purchase Pro’s:

• Flexible, can be fast • Beneficiaries: self-selected • Title deed goes directly to beneficiaries • Less uncertainty

Con’s • Need restructured land market • Can drive up land prices, so need a land tax

Negotiated land transfers Negotiation/arbitration between

Government and farmers • National • Local

Pro’s: • stakeholders’ partnership • not confrontational • “settle out of court”

Con’s: • Special projects, difficult to scale-up

Improvement of legal

framework conditions for secure land use in

communal areas and equitable access to land in

commercial areas

Support to Land Reform in Namibia (SLR)

Project title: Support to Land Reform

Project partner: Ministry of Lands and Resettlement

(MLR) Timeframe: Planned Duration: 01/03 – 09/13 Duration Phase III: 02/10 – 09/13

Contribution to Phase III: € 5,5 Mio.

Contact: Team Leader: Christian Graefen Christian.Graefen@giz.de, Martina.Roemer@giz.de

Capacity development for key stakeholders

of land reform

Development of strategies and policy

recommendations for land reform

Conceptualization and coordination of a constitutionally

implemented land reform

Project Objectives Project in Brief Overall Objective

Support to Land Reform in Namibia (SLR)

A Land Reform Action Plan provides a coherent national strategy for land reform that ensures full transparency of land reform targets and process as well as buy-in from all relevant political stakeholders, the Namibian public and the donor community.

Implementation of land reform is “on target” with a total of 6,7 Mio ha of land redistributed which equals 45% of the 2020 target.

Under the policy leadership of the MLR, Communal Land Boards have been capacitated to competently implement land registration (22,000 titles issued; 10,000 or 45% women as beneficiaries) and resolve land disputes and conflicts (185 out of 188 claims resolved).

Namibian University of Science and Technology (Polytechnic) enabled to build national training capacities through a MSc Program on Land Management (with presently 22 students).

Innovative approaches (as concerted effort of GIZ, KfW, EC) allow for efficient land verification and registration; a mentorship program for post-settlement support (with 37 mentors and 1700 mentees).

Revised national land tax system based on legally confirmed land valuation criteria provides N$ 33 Mio taxes p.a. that are dedicated to land reform / acquisition.

Results: What has been achieved so far

Component 1 Component 2 Component 3 Development of strategies

and policy recommendations for land reform

Capacity development for key stakeholders of land reform

Conceptualization & coordination of a constitutionally

implemented land reform

Conclusions Strong case for land redistribution: equity,

efficiency, peace • But land and other markets are often

biased against small farmers • Menu of options (compulsory acquisition,

negotiation, market-assisted) Sense of urgency: beware of forces stalling

reforms until it is too late…

Self improvement exercise.

READ unit 10 in your study guide as well including all the activities. READ on page 177 of study guide -

Agricultural Land reform Act Familiarise yourself with debates for

and against land reform Do you agree with the Namibian land

reform challenges? Suggest others?