Land reform and food security issues in Angola and South Africa

Effective and well-designed land reform policies can provide sustained contributions to economic growth, reduced social unrest and poverty. This study analyses land reform policies in Angola and South Africa with a view to assess its impact on food security. Both countries have introduced extensive land reform policies following histories of colonialism, occupation and oppression which displaced many people.The paper begins with a background of South Africa and Angola and discusses the governments’ land reform policies. In South Africa, land reform was a key promise made by the African National Congress (ANC) when it gained power in 1994. The main intention of this promise was to reimburse the victims of apartheid oppression. In the Republic of Angola the government’s land reform policies are part of its strategy to rebuild the agricultural sector following civil war. Following on from this analysis, the nature of the agricultural sector in the two countries is discussed in terms of working conditions, employment, wages etc. Finally, the author assesses the extent of progress that the countries have made in implementing their land reform policies, and discusses the implication of this on food security.Findings include:in South Africa, land reform policies are aimed at facilitating the poor and disadvantaged in gaining access to landthe South African government also introduced policies that protect the rights of farm workers and their families living on the farmsimplementation of the land reform process has been hindered in South Africa by a lack of funds available to the government to purchase landin Angola, the government provided settlement for returnees and refugees as part of an agrarian policy to contribute to food securityfarm workers and their families are not effectively protected by legislation in Angola, and high levels of illiteracy puts farmers in a disadvantaged situation as they do not understand their rightsThe author concludes that in South Africa, land reform has no focus on the enhancement of food security. As a result, agricultural production of beneficiaries is still not sufficient to raise them out of poverty. In Angola, conversely, the government’s principle objective has been to promote the agricultural sector and almost 4 million people have benefited from the provision of land to start agricultural activities.