Agrarian reform and the right to adequate food in South Africa

Between 16th and 23rd August 2002, a team composed of representatives of Foodfirst Information & Action Network (FIAN International), La Vía Campesina, União Nacional de Camponeses de Moçambique (UNAC), the South African land reform support organisation NKUZI and the South African Plantation and Allied Workers Union (SAPAWU) carried out a fact-finding mission on violations of the right to food in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The objective of the mission was to investigate and document cases of violations resulting from problems associated with the design and/or implementation of South Africa's land reform programme, and to support communities, whose right to food was being violated. The three cases documented by the fact-finding mission exemplify the problematic aspects of the three pillars of land reform in South Africa. It transpires that the land reform programme is not performing well and that the lack of a proper agrarian reform programme amounts to a violation of the obligation of the South African State to fulfil the right to food. It is recommended that the South African Government completely overhaul its land reform programme in consultation with civil society in order to address the pressing needs of the urban and rural poor and work towards the realisation of the right to food.