As 50.4% of women in rural areas endure the plight of unemployment, there is an urgency for more women to be custodians of land in order to be active members of the economy.
The deputy chairperson of the Rakwadu communal property association (CPA) in Limpopo, Rosinah Rasela, said gender bias in landownership and reforms was common, as most landowners were men.
CPAs are regulated landholding institutions that manage land acquired on behalf of beneficiary communities, after successful land claims processes.
The Sustainability Initiative of South Africa NPC 2019 study on women and gender in South African agriculture reported that 20% of farm owners were women. However, 66% of permanent workers were men and 52% of seasonal workers women.
Most South African households are headed by single mothers. Therefore, such insidious statistics highlight that women remained subject to landownership, which economically excluded them, resulting in their poverty and food insecurity.
Rasela explained that collaboration of stakeholders and CPAs would ensure more women occupy management positions of land assets and the agriculture value chain.
When women are landowners, it gradually eliminates unemployment and poverty.
“The land reform programme has the potential to become a catalyst, driving the empowerment of women and enhancing agricultural productivity which will, in turn, ensure food security and potentially alleviate hunger in many rural and poverty-stricken areas across South Africa,” she said.
Rasela said land disputes among owners were not uncommon but women continued to be vulnerable to land conflicts.
“Some community members requested their land back and wanted to use it for themselves to pursue their own plans. As the CPA, it was important to convince them that everyone would be better served if the land was not carved up but rather was utilised for the benefit of the entire community. We managed to persuade them that it would be beneficial for the community to use the land collectively.”
She said non-profit organisations, such as Vumelana Advisory Fund, have aided in conflict resolution regarding land disputes and land restoration to create sustainable jobs, income and skills.
“The claims process was difficult but, thankfully, we had Vumelana to assist us and they are still supporting us with various other aspects of the work that we need to do,” said Raseala.
Vumelana boasts a healthy track record of restoring 70 000 hectares of land into productive use, which has benefited more than 20 000 households in economic stability.
Vumelana chief executive Peter Setou said women deserved land justice.
“We want to enable women in CPAs to make meaningful contributions to the land reform programme. While we have seen some pockets of successes in this area, a lot of work still needs to be done in supporting women to actively participate in these structures.
“Now is not the time to loosen our grip on the progress made on land reform so far. Instead, we need to implement robust and innovative financing mechanisms to strengthen and build upon the efforts already made, to ensure that land reform contributes towards sustainable rural development and equitable access to resources for all,” said Setou.
The Star