Land and agrarian reform in the 21st century: changing realities, changing arguments?

Land and agrarian reform in the 21st century: changing realities, changing arguments? Ben Cousins Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) University of the Western Cape

Key issues • What is the rationale for land reform in the 21st century, and in particular, for policies and programmes that have poverty reduction as a key objective? • The ‘socio-political imperatives’ for land reform are important but insufficient without addressing the economic arguments • Assumptions that secure rights to land, together with access to credit, inputs and markets and policies that favour small-scale producers, will in themselves reduce poverty, are questionable

Changing realities • A rapidly urbanizing global society • An informal economy, now estimated to comprise around 1 billion people • Vast urban slums and growing urban poverty • Integrated global agro-food commodity chains controlled by agri-business • De-agrarianisation of rural livelihoods • New forms of social differentiation in the countryside

Questioning land and farming as the pathway out of poverty (Rigg 2006)

Economic rationales for pro-poor land reform (1)

Land and agrarian reform in the 21st century: changing realities, changing arguments?