Establishing farm-based equity-share schemes in KwaZulu-Natal: lessons from USAID's BASIS research programme

This proceedings issue from a mini conference held in November 2004 presents six papers summarising attempts to establish best practice equity-share schemes on two commercial farms in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The main object of this participatory research was to test and refine land reform policy influencing the role of equity-share schemes as instruments of land and agrarian reform in South Africa.The papers presented were as follows:Land redistribution in Kwazulu-Natal: an analysis of Farmland transactions from 1997 until 2002 by Stuart Ferrer and Allan Semalulu. Presents detailed estimates of the rate of land redistribution in KwaZulu-Natal over the period 1997-2002, and compares the performance of private and government-assisted land transactions with respect to the quantity and quality of land redistributed and the gender sensitivity of these transfers. Best institutional arrangements for farmworker equity-share schemes in South Africa by Sharon Knight, Michael Lyne and Michael Roth. Identifies best institutional practices for equity-share schemes using cluster analysis to group indicators of good project performance, sound institutional arrangements, effective worker empowerment and competent management observed in case studies conducted in the Western Cape during 2001 (KwaZulu-Natal had no equity-share schemes at that time).Design and implementation of an equity-share scheme on Sherwood farm in the midlands of Kwazulu-Natal by Peter Greene. Explains the innovative organisational and financing arrangements developed for Sherwood farm and outlines policy and other problems that continue to hold up their implementation.Proposed establishment of Clavelshay equity-share scheme: securing residential rights for farmworkers by Kathy Pitout. Here, the equity-sharing scheme required relocation of farmworker homes. The farmer was willing to donate land to his workers but legislation governing the establishment of townships (and hence the award of housing grants) created prohibitively high costs when applied to a small rural development. Many opportunities for equity-sharing on commercial farms will be lost if the policy divide between land reform and housing is not bridged.Facilitating a farm based equity-share scheme: the case of Sherwood and the clipstone community by Nokulunga Ngobese. Here the author drew on her personal experience to describe the facilitation process at Sherwood. Her paper considers the equity-sharing proposal from the perspective of a beneficiary household and shows how misconceptions can be corrected using appropriate methods to communicate difficult concepts.Measuring the performance of equity-share schemes as an instrument of agrarian reform in South Africa by Bernadine Gray. Looks to the future and considers the problem of measuring and monitoring the performance of equity-share schemes and discusses performance indicators ranging from financial ratios to measures of poverty alleviation, empowerment and good governance.