Poll
Does land redistribution in southern Africa achieve poverty reduction and livelihood improvement objectives?


Votes : 266
 
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Objectives

In southern Africa many agree that land reform is an essential component of efforts to reduce poverty and inequality, but despite important empirical studies there has to date been no systematic assessment of the poverty reduction and livelihood impacts of land reform in the region.

 

This proposal aims to fill this important data gap, developing appropriate and replicable methodologies for such an assessment.

Through case studies in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, this project will explore to what extent land redistribution in southern Africa is achieving poverty reduction and livelihood improvement objectives. Specific research objectives are to:
  1. Provide empirical data, in a systematic and comparable form, on livelihoods impacts and agrarian structure in post-land reform settings.
  2. Understand what conditions – including appropriate land transfer mechanisms, resettlement models, tenure arrangements and post-settlement support – are likely to result in poverty reduction following redistribution of land.
  3. Advance conceptual thinking about post-transfer livelihood options, interrogating what is meant by ‘viable’ land reform in the southern African context
  4. Develop replicable methodological approaches for assessing impacts at different scales – e.g. household, scheme/project, regional economy – for use as assessment and monitoring and evaluation tools.

In addition, the project aims to engage a range of end-users in government and other implementing agencies (NGOs, service providers, donors), as well as beneficiaries, in exploring the policy implications of research findings. Specific engagement objectives are to:
  1. Develop a replicable methodology for livelihood impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation.
  2. Provide inputs into the design of specific support programmes in post-land reform settings.
  3. Facilitate exchanges between researchers, government officials, NGO personnel and service providers engaged in land reform, to share their experiences and to engage with research findings, including exchanges between these stakeholders and land reform beneficiaries.
  4. Feed research findings into high-level discussions on land reform policies and programmes in southern Africa.
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