What’s
Cooking AIDS Review 2005 Jimmy Pieterse and Barry van Wyk Series Editor: Mary Crewe
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Authors: Barry van Wyk and Jimmy Pieterse are researchers at the Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria.
What’s
Cooking AIDS Review 2005
Barry van Wyk holds an MSc in economic history from the London School of Economics and an MHCS from the University of Pretoria. His professional interests include the South African political economy and the field of HIV/AIDS and development. He is shortly to undertake studies in modern Chinese at Tianjin Normal University in China. Jimmy Pieterse holds a BHCS (Honours) from the University of Pretoria and a PCE from the University of South Africa. He is currently reading towards an MHCS at the University of Pretoria. His professional interests include the history of HIV/AIDS, South African agrarian history, rural development and HIV/AIDS and education. Series editor: Mary Crewe Publisher: Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria Language editing: Robin Hamilton Design and production: Jacques Lange, Bluprint Design Copyright © 2006, University of Pretoria and author. All rights reserved.
© Henner Frankenfeld/PictureNET Africa
ISBN 0-620-37024-6
© Paul Weinberg/South Photographs
Contents 4
Foreword
7
Introduction
23 Who gets to eat? 33 Cooking up a storm: Agriculture in South Africa 34 Resource endowment 35 Measuring growth 37 Repressed labour 40 Farming and politics 43 Dualism and regulation 48 Looking for a way out 53 Three-course meal: HIV/AIDS, agriculture and food insecurity 53 Global hunger 54 Rough neighbourhood 57 Synergy: HIV/AIDS, food security and rural African agriculture 59 Food security and South Africa 67 Adding HIV/AIDS 70 The more things change... 77 Food for thought 81 Endnotes 88 Bibliography 92 Acknowledgements 92 Centre for the Study of AIDS
Foreword Over the past five years the AIDS Reviews published by the
has determined the ways in which people living with HIV
Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria
or AIDS have been treated and the rights of populations
have become central to writings about HIV and AIDS in
affected. In 2003 we sought to understand the impact of
South Africa and Southern Africa. They have an extensive
the epidemic on families and interpersonal relationships.
distribution nationally, regionally and internationally. They
We asked whether the existing family structures are re-
are prescribed texts in many of the courses on HIV and
silient enough to cope with the additional demands of the
AIDS, and in development studies, and are widely consulted
epidemic in terms of care and orphan support and how
by donors, embassies and governments. All of the Reviews
community and social-political structures might have to
have had more than one print run and they offer a chal-
find creative new ways to cope with the many demands
lenge to the conventional wisdom about HIV and AIDS and
of the epidemic. In 2004 we looked at the ways in which
call for a vigorous and critical debate on crucial issues.
this epidemic has positioned men and the crucial role that men can play in the social and political responses to HIV
Each Review seeks to address a particular question and in
and AIDS. We addressed the construction of male identities
discussing and answering it, broadens our knowledge and
and ‘maleness’ and the ways in which masculinities and
understanding of HIV and AIDS as the epidemic matures
male sexuality has been understood.
in South and Southern Africa. In 2000 we traced the response to HIV and AIDS in South Africa, starting from the
AIDS Review 2005 focuses on the impact of HIV and AIDS
National AIDS Plan of 1994. In 2001 we addressed the issues
on agriculture and the politics of food access and pro-
of international, regional and local care and commitment
duction. The review employs an historical perspective in
to the epidemic and discussed the ways in which the
grappling with these issues, and argues that the effects
‘African epidemic’ have been constructed and the central
of HIV/AIDS and those of food insecurity are best under-
role of racism in the various responses to the epidemic. In
stood when one takes into account the specifics of the his-
2002 we looked at the relationship between AIDS and
torical development of South Africa’s political economy
human rights in eight of the SADC countries and how the
and especially the development of the agricultural sector.
ways in which rights-based or a policy-based approach
Food insecurity is as much a product of historical injustices
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AIDS Review 2005
as it is of current policy decisions and to an extent the
with UN agencies, and is working with regional and
impact and effect of HIV/AIDS. What’s Cooking seeks to
national tertiary institutions to increase our knowledge
put these issues into context and to provide some possible
and develop effective responses.
explanations as to why South Africa faces problems of such magnitude in terms of food provision and the HIV and
This Review was made possible through the sustained sup-
AIDS epidemics.
port and commitment of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.
Many studies have emphasised personal risk factors and psychological determinants of HIV infection. However,
The views expressed in this Review are solely those of the
since the link between HIV/AIDS and malnutrition has been
authors and the Centre for the Study of AIDS.
firmly established, What’s Cooking emphasises macroeconomic policies and how they give rise to socio-economic
Mary Crewe
conditions that exacerbate peoples’ vulnerability to food
Director, Centre for the Study of AIDS
insecurity and HIV infection and hasten the development of AIDS and affect the success of treatment. What’s Cooking critically examines the socio-economic conditions that underpin food insecurity on the one hand and perpetuate the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other.
The University of Pretoria is committed to a comprehensive HIV and AIDS programme and institutional response that includes all aspects of the University – the Rector, the Vice Rectors, Deans, staff, students, community and government. The Centre for the Study of AIDS has international collaboration with key HIV and AIDS research units, and
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© Gesele Wulfsohn/South Photographs
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Introduction It must be remembered that privation of food is
posed, when it is poverty enough to imply scanti-
very reluctantly borne, and that as a rule great poor-
ness of food. And while the sum of them is of
ness will only come when other privations have
terrible magnitude against life, the mere scantiness
preceded it. Long before insufficiency of diet is a
of food is in itself of very serious moment ... – Karl
matter of hygienic concern, long before the physi-
Marx, Kapital.1
ologist would think of counting the grains of nitrogen and carbon which intervene between life and
Written in 1867, this passage from Marx’s famous text neatly
starvation, the household will have been utterly
describes the state of multiple deprivations, poverty and
destitute of material comfort; clothing and fuel will
food insecurity that was so pervasive among the English
have been even scantier than food – against inclem-
working classes during the latter part of the 19th century.
encies of weather there will have been no adequate
A hundred and forty years later, although now largely
protection – dwelling space will have been stinted
confined to the developing world, these issues remain of
to the degree in which overcrowding produces or
key concern to scholars and policymakers, and indeed to
increases disease; of household utensils and furni-
those who struggle to eke out a daily existence.
ture there will have been scarcely any – even cleanliness will have been found costly or difficult, and if
Globally, food consumption fell short of minimum nutri-
there still be self-respectful endeavours to maintain
tional requirements for an estimated 1,1 billion people in
it, every such endeavour will represent additional
2004. Of those 1,1 billion people, almost a third – 333 million
pangs of hunger. The home, too, will be where shel-
– were estimated to be living in sub-Saharan Africa, and as
ter can be cheapest bought; in quarters where com-
many as one out of every three people in the region were
monly there is least fruit of sanitary supervision,
reportedly going hungry. To compound matters, sub-Saharan
least drainage, least scavenging, least suppression
Africa is considered to be the region in the developing
of public nuisances, least or worst water supply, and,
world where the number of food-insecure people is most
if in town, least light and air. Such are the sanitary
likely to show the greatest increase (in absolute terms) in
dangers to which poverty is almost certainly ex-
the next decade.2 This is despite the fact that the world
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is currently seeing – and is expected to see for some time
a social and international order in which these rights can
to come – steady increases in volumes of food production.
be fully realised.’ In the following decades, however, pov-
Furthermore, 32 of the 47 countries in the sub-Saharan re-
erty reduction would be measured solely in terms of eco-
gion currently rank among the 48 poorest nations in the
nomic growth – a very one-dimensional indicator. Food
world, and with the exception of South Africa, Botswana
security was seen as being purely a concept of food produc-
and Namibia, all southern African countries are listed by
tion; food insecurity and accompanying impoverishment
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
of communities were reduced to a supply-demand imbal-
(FAO) as food-deficit areas. The recent increased inter-
ance – a view that was to be held until the 1980s.5
3
national focus on poverty and hunger in Africa is therefore no real surprise.
Influenced by the work of Nobel economics laureate Amartya Sen, a paradigm shift occurred in the 1980s. Ac-
But it is not completely novel. In December of 1948 the international community adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the fundamental value basis of which is set out in Article 1 of the Declaration, which proclaims that ‘...all human beings are born free
Human dignity is identified as the bedrock of freedom, and is of prime importance to the study of food insecurity.
cording to Sen, famine does not only mean a lack of food, but also the lack of access to food by significant numbers of people in a given situation. Many famines, such as the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 to 1847, the Bengali Famine of 1942 and the famine in
and equal in dignity and rights.’ Human dignity is identi-
Ethiopia in the early 1980s, occurred at the same time that
fied as the bedrock of freedom, and is of prime importance
food was being exported en masse from the very same
to the study of food insecurity, because people who live in
areas affected by hunger. Access is thus just as important
chronic poverty and hunger are deprived of the enjoyment
as supply. The law – according to Sen and Jean Drèze – has
of many basic rights and can therefore not be considered
a key role to play in protecting people from hunger:
‘free and equal in dignity’. Importantly, the Declaration also proclaims the right of everyone to ‘a standard of living
When millions of people die in a famine, it is hard
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and
to avoid the thought that something terribly criminal
his family, including food ...’4 Article 28 of the Declaration
is going on. The law, which defines and protects our
sets out the basis for the implementation of measures to
rights as citizens, must somehow be compromised
abolish poverty by stating that everyone ‘...is entitled to
by these dreadful events. Unfortunately, the gap
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between law and ethics can be a big one. The eco-
cultural acceptability and human dignity. People’s ability
nomic system that yields a famine may be foul and
to feed themselves consequently came to be seen as crucial
the political system that tolerates it perfectly revolt-
in sustaining their dignity. However, the sufficiency and
ing, but nevertheless there may be no violation of
adequacy of food is not solely determined by cultural or
our lawfully recognised rights in the failure of large
use preference, it is also influenced by a variety of other
sections of the population to acquire enough food
local factors that determine what kind, quality and quantity
to survive.
of food is required to meet nutritional needs. These factors include environmental and climatic conditions and prevalent diseases.
The point is not so much that there is no law against dying of hunger. That is, of course, true and obvious.
Change, of course, does not occur overnight, and it was
It is more that the legally guaranteed rights of own-
only in the 1990s that significant shifts in the
ership, exchange and transaction delineate economic systems that can go hand in
Rights of social security
reframing of poverty in the global develop-
hand with some people failing to acquire
can be made to stand as
ment agenda took place.7 In 1990, the United
enough food for survival.
guarantees of minimal
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
...
protection and survival.
began publishing an annual Human Development Report series that elaborated on the
In seeking a remedy to this problem of terrible vulnerability, it is natural to turn towards a
notion of human development as an alternative to relying
reform of the legal system, so that rights of social
on economic growth as the sole signifier of poverty. The
security can be made to stand as guarantees of
2000 UNDP report emphasised investment in basic capa-
minimal protection and survival.6
bilities and securing rights in law as necessary to empower people to escape poverty. The Convention of the Rights of
Sen’s analysis also emphasised that availability of food had
the Child (1990), Action 21 of the UN Conference on Environ-
to be combined with improving vulnerable people’s access
ment and Development (1992), the Vienna Declaration on
to sufficient resources, including, but not limited to finan-
Human Rights (1992), the Cairo Conference on Population
cial, intellectual, physical and cultural resources. In addition,
and Development (1994) and the Fourth World Conference
food security is not only based on quantity, but also on
on Women (1995) subsequently contributed indirectly to
the quality of food, as determined by local food habits,
the inalienable and universal nature of the right to food.
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Other measures have contributed more directly towards
countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number
securing the right to food as universal and inalienable. The
of undernourished people to half their present level no
World Summit for Social Development (1995) recognised
later than 2015.’8
the multi-dimensional nature of poverty and emphasised the need to address and redress factors such as lack of in-
Accordingly, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and
come, malnutrition, ill health, lack of access to education,
Cultural Rights drafted a General Comment on the right
homelessness, social exclusion and discrimination. At the
to food in 1999. A coalition of non-governmental organi-
Summit, governments were called upon to give greater
sations also started developing voluntary guidelines on
attention to factors and risks defined to be outside the
the right to food – culminating in the Food and Agriculture
control of the individual. A commitment to reduce world-
Organisation producing draft Voluntary Guidelines on the
wide poverty – that was to be reiterated in the Millennium
Progressive Realisation of the Right to Food.9
Declaration – was made at the summit.
In 1996, world leaders congregated in Rome for the World Food Summit and through the resultant Rome Declaration on World Food Security they pledged to ‘...eradicate poverty
Many of the Millennium Development Goals that stemmed from the Declaration are relevant to the reduction of hunger.
In 2000, world leaders committed themselves to the Millennium Declaration, which states that ‘[w]e will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions
and inequality and to improve the physical and economic
of extreme poverty...’ Logically, many of the Millennium
access by all, at all times, to sufficient nutritionally adequate
Development Goals that stemmed from the Declaration
and safe food...’ The summit also underscored the right to
are relevant to the reduction of hunger. These include:
food by calling for the clarification of the content of the right to food and the fundamental right for everyone to
• the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (by halv-
be free from hunger, and emphasised the need for particu-
ing the proportion of people who live on an income of less
lar attention to the implementation and full, as well as
than US$1 a day, and halving the proportion of people
progressive realisation, of these rights. The Rome Declaration
who suffer from hunger between 1990 and 2015);
stated that ‘[w]e pledge our political will and our common
• achieving universal primary education (by ensuring that
and national commitment to achieving food security for
children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to
all and to an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all
complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015);
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• the promotion of gender equality and the empowering
• improving maternal health (by reducing by three quarters
of women (by eliminating gender disparity in primary
the maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2015);
and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all
• combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (by
levels of education no later than 2015);
halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
• reducing child mortality (by reducing by two thirds the under-five mortality rate between 1990 and 2015);
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by 2015);
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• ensuring environmental sustainability (by halving the
no. 7), which entrenches the right of everyone to adequate
proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
food and a right to be free from hunger. This can be taken
drinking water and basic sanitation, and integrating
to mean that governments have a duty to respect, protect
principles of sustainable development into country poli-
and fulfil the right to food.11
cies and programmes); and • developing a global partnership for development (by
From this cross-section of international instruments meant
addressing the special needs of the least developed
to contribute directly and indirectly to poverty eradication
countries, by dealing comprehensively with the debt
it is clear that the right to food is a fundamental human
problems of developing countries, and by developing
right. Accordingly, it is consistently enshrined in interna-
further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discrimi-
tional human rights laws.
natory trading and financial system).
10
The right to food is not explicitly protected in the African In July of 2001 the UN Committee on Eco-
Governments have a duty
nomic, Social and Cultural Rights requested
to respect, protect and
that the Office of the High Commissioner for
fulfil the right to food.
Human Rights develop guidelines for the
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, but has been read into the Charter – the ‘African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights interpreted the rights to life, health and
integration of human rights into poverty reduction strat-
development in the Charter to require governments not
egies. These were published in September of 2002 and
to interfere with, and to protect, access to food from
argue that the human rights framework is compelling
interference by powerful third parties.’12 In South African
in the fight against poverty because of its potential to
law, the right to food is protected in the country’s Con-
empower the poor through public participation, infor-
stitution, in section 27(1)(b), with respect to children in
mation and the right to make legal claims.
section 28(1)(c) and with respect to detained persons in section 35(2)(e).13
The most comprehensive description of the right to food in international law is to be found in the UN Committee on
Our modern sensibilities regarding food security have
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ General Comment
developed over the decades, and have reflected the zeit-
No. 12, interpreting article 11 of the International Covenant
geist – shaped by the dominant philosophies of the time.
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see endnote
Definitions are informed by these, and currently reflect
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interlinkages between household, community, national
There also seems to be high levels of commitment among
and international levels. They also encompass concepts
influential members of international agencies and the
of availability, access and affordability, and recognise that
international community – ‘[c]ommenting on recent initia-
broader development strategies are needed to reduce
tives for debt relief for African countries, [the] World Bank’s
poverty and ensure sustainable livelihoods.
James Wolfensohn said he hopes that ‘there is a recognition now on behalf of the rich world that they cannot
The 1996 Rome Declaration on World Food Security thus
continue to be rich if the world is destabilised by poverty’,
defined food security as ‘[f]ood that is available all the time,
and ‘[s]peaking at the launch of the ‘Make poverty history’
to which people have means to access, that is nutritionally
campaign in London’s Trafalgar Square, Nelson Mandela
adequate in terms of quantity, quality and variety and is
commented that ‘like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not
acceptable, within given cultures’, while the International
natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradi-
Fund for Agricultural Development similarly described it
cated by the actions of human beings ... While poverty
as ‘...the capacity of households to produce
persists there is no true freedom.’’15
a stable and sustainable basket of adequate
While poverty persists
food’. IFPRI’s 2005 assessment concurs in stat-
there is no true freedom.
ing that food security can be achieved when
Despite a concise and clear definition of the concept, a well-defined international legal
households can ‘...reliably obtain food of adequate quality
framework, international attention and strategies to ad-
and quantity to support a healthy and active life for all
dress hunger and poverty, almost a third of sub-Saharan
members’. Incorporated in these definitions are measures
Africans go hungry on a regular basis – a situation that
necessary to enhance and stabilise household access to
doesn’t seem likely to improve in the foreseeable future
food across seasons and transitory changes; activities that
(see p. 7). The lofty Millennium Development Goals are also
would sustain food supply in the long term; and provide
not – in sub-Saharan Africa at least – on track. In South
adequate nutritious food with the necessary safety require-
Africa, where an adequate food supply exists, it has re-
ments as well as cultural preferences. Further, these defini-
cently been estimated that an average of 43% of house-
tions acknowledge that access to food is governed by food
holds earn too little to afford their members a nutritionally
production, which, in turn, depends on land, labour and
adequate diet, and that over 14 million people are food-
other agricultural inputs; and food purchase that, in turn,
insecure.16 So, it seems safe to assume then that very many
depends on household income, social safety nets and
people’s fundamental human rights are frequently vio-
traditional support networks.
lated. Why is this the case?
14
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One explanation lays the attribution of blame. The AIDS
than fingering and tackling the other, more prickly
epidemic has been accorded a disproportionate share
factors – many of them tied to formidable interests
of the culpability in what is in reality a veritable melting
and forces – that are (also) at play. It can also be mis-
pot of causes.
leading, tempting short-sighted and inappropriate policy responses. When it comes to the epidemic’s
Because sub-Saharan Africa is the region in the world
mangling policy consequences, policy responses are
with the highest rate of HIV infection (with an estimated
more likely to make a genuine difference if AIDS is
25,8 million people living with the disease in 2005 and
made to take its place in the dock alongside the
an estimated 3,2 million new infections occurring in the
other culprits, which often include agricultural,
same year17) many writers have inferred that food inse-
trade and macroeconomic policies, land tenure and
curity and HIV/AIDS are inextricably linked, and that the
inheritance systems, marking and pricing systems,
epidemic’s effect on household labour supply, diversion of resources from agriculture, and loss of farm and non-farm income, coupled with other forms of psychosocial impacts that aversely affect productivity, would be such that a ‘new variant famine’18
The AIDS epidemic has been accorded a disproportionate share of the culpability in what is in reality a veritable melting pot of causes.
would invariably result. Some international agencies also
and the capacities of states to provide and maintain vital support services in rural areas. The over-privileging of AIDS lets decision-makers off the hook by endorsing fashionable courses of action that can fail to go to the heart
of the matter.19
found it expedient to blame HIV/AIDS for the food crises that ravaged most of southern Africa in 2002/3. Hein
These ‘fashionable courses of action’ frequently tend to be
Marais succinctly summarised the effects:
one-size-fits-all solutions and to generalise to the point of reductio ad absurdum. They consequently tend to be
...attention was deflected away from the main
insensitive to local nuances and often do more harm than
causes of food insecurity (which range from doltish
good.
policy decisions to the restructuring of the agricultural sector as an element of international loan
Factors that influence food security are in fact multiple
conditionalities, and more). Singling AIDS out as
and include marketing systems; food reserve stores; rain
a main or even salient culprit factor is a lot easier
patterns; soil quality; the affordability of seeds, fertilisers
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and pesticides; security of tenure; the nature of inherit-
The link between poor nutrition and HIV/AIDS has been
ance systems; food prices; income levels; and access to
firmly established: ‘Food insecurity increases vulnerabil-
financing. To this list can be added HIV rates, economic
ity to HIV infection – poor nutrition contributes to poor
growth, levels of trade openness and political stability,
health, low labour productivity, low income, and liveli-
levels of infrastructure development, government invest-
hood insecurity.’22 According to Tony Barnett and Alan
ment in agriculture and agricultural research, provision for
Whiteside:
20
disaster prevention and mitigation strategies in national development strategies, control of corruption, literacy rates,
Poor nutrition leads to a compromised immune
degrees of inequality in access to food, rule of law and many
system, making individuals more susceptible to [HIV]
other factors that are often grouped together under the
infection in general.
rubric of ‘good governance’.
...
21
To start to understand how and
HIV-infected individuals have higher
To start to understand how and to what
to what extent HIV/AIDS
nutritional requirements than normal,
extent HIV/AIDS shapes food insecurity
shapes food insecurity in South
particularly with regard to protein
in South Africa it thus seems necessary
Africa it thus seems necessary
(up to 50% increase), and energy
to isolate the factors that contribute to
to isolate the factors that
(up to 15%). Illness may precipitate
food (in)security in the country and to
contribute to food (in)security.
appetite loss, even anorexia, thus re-
examine what effect(s) they have on dif-
ducing dietary intake at a time when
ferent groups of people, how they impact on household
requirements are higher. Such interactions are
economies (and how individual power differentials in-
thrown into stark contrast for the poor ... who are
fluence households, and how they, in turn, link to the na-
more likely to be malnourished prior to becoming
tional and global levels) and structures of social support.
infected. Onset of disease and death might be
Then, the impact of AIDS on all of the afore-mentioned
delayed in well-nourished HIV-positive individuals.
factors needs to be assessed. But the question is not sim-
Diets rich in protein, energy and micronutrients
ply one of determining how AIDS affects food security.
help in resisting opportunistic infections.23
One also has to analyse the ways in which food insecurity both directly and indirectly impacts on the epidemic.
The unavailability of food not only negatively impacts on people’s physiological susceptibility to HIV infection;
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© Jodi Bieber/South Photographs
it is also a socio-economic determinant thereof.24 AIDS
many women, although educated, ‘say that they would
and food security very definitely have a gender dimension.
rather die of AIDS than hunger.’ But women do not always
‘Power relations between men and women are skewed,
engage in transactional sex purely out of necessity – some
and where sex is a currency ... women are frequently
women attest to trading sex in order to satisfy more eso-
expected to pay for life’s opportunities ... The trading
teric wants that they perceive as needs. Economic factors
of sexual favours has been dubbed survival ‘sex’’ and
can thus be seen as reinforcing unsafe sexual practices.25
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Considering that ‘[t]he poorest households, especially
Initially, the ARV lobby groups’ opposition to pro-
those headed by women, find themselves pushed back
moting nutritional measures was to ensure that
in the queue of entitlement’ when it comes to accessing
ARV access was placed at the forefront of govern-
kin and community support systems to overcome hard-
ment responsibilities to those infected. This was
ship and adversity, it seems reasonable to assume that, as
understandable and laudable. Indeed, their efforts
a group, they may well be some of the people that suffer
were essential in making ARV more widely available
most from the effects of food insecurity on households
to those infected, and yes, more work is required
burdened by AIDS. Good nutrition not only delays the on-
to make drugs more widely available.
26
set of AIDS, but antiretroviral treatment is also only effective when it is taken by people who regularly eat the right
In response, some of the “nutrition only” protago-
foods. Malnourished people are more
nists escalated their efforts and claims,
likely to be unable to adhere to medica-
Good nutrition not only
telling people that ARVs are deadly
tion due to the side-effects, which include
delays the onset of AIDS, but
and that AIDS can be cured with plants,
nausea and lack of appetite. In a recent
antiretroviral treatment is also
letter to the Mail & Guardian newspaper,
only effective when it is taken
David Patient and Neil Orr linked food
by people who regularly eat
Why, in a civilised country, are people
security to the debate around AIDS treat-
the right foods.
[living with HIV and AIDS] being asked
ment. They wrote:
vitamins and minerals.
to choose between appropriate medication and food to keep their body healthy? [em-
South Africa’s anti-retroviral (ARV) medication
phasis added]27
versus nutrition debate is not unique in the world. But what is unique to this country is its scale and
Commenting on the recent Declaration of Commitment
that the government is placed within the “alter-
on HIV/AIDS made public by the UN in New York, the South
native” camp, with civil society ... the protagonist
African Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang,
of mainstream science and medicine. This has led
stated that:
to a highly polarised situation, with common sense nowhere in sight and those infected being the
The Comprehensive Review and High-level Meeting
victims.
reflected how far the world has come to accept
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© George Osidi/AP Photo
what President Thabo Mbeki sought to highlight as early as 2000.
He said that we could not blame the challenge of HIV/AIDS only on the virus, and should have a collection of interventions that addresses the correlation between the agent, the host and the environment.
The report of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to the meeting recognised that poverty, underdevelopment and gender inequality are among the principal contributing factors to the spread of HIV and AIDS. The success of a global response, therefore, requires the doubling of efforts in meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
Annan went on to emphasise the role of prevention as the mainstay of the global response to HIV/AIDS – the basis of the South African government’s response all along. ... The South African delegation’s presentation tried
and malnutrition [emphasis added] and focus our
to highlight the areas that we believe can assist in
energies on the emancipation of women and the
improving the global response. We emphasised the
protection of the rights of children.
importance of promoting a healthy lifestyle to maintain optimal health, and delay as much as possible
We also called for continuation of endeavours to
the progression from HIV infection to AIDS-defining
reduce the prices of medicines and other essential
conditions. We need to also address food insecurity
commodities.
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© Lori Waselchuk/South Photographs
Shall I repeat garlic, shall I talk about beetroot, shall I talk about lemon ... these delay the development of HIV to AIDS-defining conditions, and that’s the truth.29 In response, Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said that: By the time the Soccer World Cup comes to South Africa, it will be too late for five million of us who will have to watch the games from a garlic- and beetroot-induced afterlife.30 Poverty contributes to the spread of AIDS, and seeing that AIDS treatment and prevention programmes are more effective when people are well nourished, it can be assumed that poverty alleviation is a precondition for combating AIDS. But since AIDS undermines productivity and economic growth and seeing that economic growth is necessary for sustainable poverty alleviation, it can be assumed that addressing AIDS is a precondition for addressing poverty.31 A sustained increase in resource allocation, and
Chapter 1 of this review, entitled ‘Who gets to eat?,’
implementation of programmes that make a differ-
focuses on the dynamics between income and employ-
ence to the lives of the people on the ground, is
ment, on the one hand, and food security, on the other.
what matters most to the government.
Chapter 2 provides a discussion of the political economy of
28
agriculture and its specific development in South Africa. Reiterating her views on nutrition and AIDS, Minister
Chapter 3 gives a more detailed discussion of the inter-
Tshabalala-Msimang said:
play between food security, agriculture and HIV/AIDS.
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© Shaun Harris/PictureNET Africa
© Per-Anders Pettersson/AfriLife
© Per-Anders Pettersson/AfriLife
© Ken Oosterbroek/PictureNET Africa
© Rob Brown/PictureNET Africa
© Suzy Bernstein/PictureNET Africa
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© Paul Weinberg/South Photographs
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Who gets to eat? Among the poor, food is the main household ex-
the vague outlines of food (in)security. It is crucial that total
pense. The food [poor] people consume is often
household income is analysed along with decision-making,
not enough and of poor quality. It is also monoto-
resource management and other socio-demographic indi-
nous, lacking variety and range. There is evidence
cators. Intra-household resource allocation is also critical,
that poor families in South Africa are unable to
and here gender-differentials play a very important part,
make the diet of infants, children or adults more
and so does the ‘general social principle of money’ or the
palatable and appetising in times of illness. Food is
way in which money flows down the social hierarchy.36
also a ‘flexible’ item in individual and family expenditure: it can be cut back or out altogether
Many changes with regards to employment have taken
when necessary.32
place in South Africa post-1994. On the positive side, numerous black South Africans have experienced upward
Most estimates hold that between 40% and 50% of the
mobility into the upper classes and upper income brackets;
South African population live in poverty. Of these, more
urban workers have generally been receiving higher wages;
than 14 million people, or about 35% of the entire popula-
and income inequality between racial groups has declined.
tion, are estimated to be vulnerable to food insecurity.34
But growing unemployment and the stagnation of both
Levels of unemployment are central markers of food in-
the informal sector and smallholder agriculture has meant
security in South Africa; in a country where most people
that the poor have increased considerably in numerical
purchase the food they consume, the ability to earn an
terms; income inequality has remained high (interracial
income is a major determinant of food security. This ability
inequality has risen); and a deepening divide has developed
is very much influenced by race, sex, geographic location,
in the labour market between workers in formal, regular
and skill levels.
employment and those in casual or contract employment.37
Income is definitely one of the most important determinants
In September 2005 Stats SA estimated that the labour
of food security. It has to be kept in mind, however, that
market (consisting of all South Africans between the ages
quantitative data on per capita income can only sketch
of 15 and 65 years) amounted to 29,7 million people. Of
33
35
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this number only 12,3 million were employed.38 The pro-
of the education that is provided to the vast majority of
portion of South Africans who regularly go without a cash
South African children. According to the South African
income has risen in recent years: from 16% in 2000 and
Human Rights Commission:
2002 to 27% in 2004.
39
...the lived daily reality at school for many children in Proportionally, black South Africans still constitute the
South Africa, particularly those children in rural and
population group that is most likely to be vulnerable to
township schools, is incongruous with the legislation
food insecurity as a result of unemployment. According
and the policies of the Department of Education.
to Stats SA’s September 2005 labour force survey, only 8,5
Those children who are most disadvantaged in enjoy-
million of the 23,0 million black South Africans of working
ing the right to basic education lack the means and
age were considered to be employed. Of
the social power to speak out and claim
these workers, 4,9 million were thought
Proportionally, black South
their rights. And, whilst much has been
to be male and 3,6 million female. This
Africans still constitute the
done to improve the enjoyment of the
stands in stark contrast to the fact that
population group that is
right to a basic education, not all of
2,0 million of the 3,1 million white South
most likely to be vulnerable
these interventions have resulted in
Africans of working age were consid-
to food insecurity as a
the outputs that were anticipated.43
ered to be employed (approximately 1,1
result of unemployment.
million men and 867 000 women).
Low standards of basic education are likely
40
to impact negatively on the acquired skill levels of people Education is normally associated with higher earnings
who are subject to it. Considering the trend towards capital
and lower unemployment. However, a recent study by
intensification in the economy and the consequent bias
Leibbrandt et al has found that employment rates between
toward skilled labour, poor education may indeed con-
1995 and 2005 did not statistically increase in a manner
tribute to lower wages for the unskilled when they can find
that was directly proportional to the number of years spent
employment. Leibbrandt et al also found that overall wages
in education.41 This gives credence to Budlender’s state-
declined significantly between 1995 and 2005. The lowest
ment that education is often perceived to have a larger
earning workers suffered the most significant decline in
potential to ‘solve’ poverty than it actually has.
This
wages (their real income halved during the period). Black
might be at least partly attributable to the inadequacy
workers and women felt these sharp declines most
42
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acutely.44 More than half of all South African workers
This burden of care for family members living with HIV/
(when the formal and informal sectors of the economy
AIDS might contribute towards explaining the growing
were combined) earned between R1 and R2 500 per month
numbers of ‘discouraged’ work seekers in the South African
in 2005.
economy. Stats SA defines ‘discouraged’ work seekers as
45
“... [people between the ages of 15 and 65, who] have [not] The increased casualisation of the labour force has had the
taken active steps to look for work or to start some form
result that “vulnerable, unorganised and unprotected in-
of self-employment in the [previous] four weeks...”48
formal workers run the risk of increasingly paying the price for increased profitability... in addition to offering more
Inequality of income coupled with poverty and food in-
security, permanent jobs also in general provide access to
security contribute towards phenomena called ‘survival
benefits and social security, both private such as pensions
sex’, where sex is exchanged for food (or other items that
and medical aid, and to state social security, such as contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Fund.”
46
Inequality of income coupled with poverty and food insecurity contribute towards phenomena called ‘survival sex’.
Black South Africans – and especially black
may help meet a woman’s most immediate needs); and ‘transactional sex’, where sex is used as barter for consumer items or services that may fulfil more esoteric perceived ‘needs’.49 The women who engage in these transactions often find it very hard to nego-
women – are also hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
tiate prophylaxis use and are therefore very vulnerable
According to the Human Sciences Research Council’s 2005
to HIV infection. The literature is littered with examples
household survey, 19,9% of all black South Africans
of women who report that they would rather die of HIV
between the ages of 15 and 49 years are HIV positive
than of hunger.50 As women perform most of the social
(with higher overall rates among women than among
reproduction work in households, the death (due to AIDS)
men). This is likely to impact negatively on household
of an adult woman tends to be very disruptive to the
income, because “[income] may have to be diverted to-
functioning of the said household.51
wards buying medication for a member living with AIDS, the household may be deprived of a breadwinner, and
Poku describes the effects of HIV/AIDS on poor house-
other household members may have to sacrifice school
holds thus:
or work to take care of [a] person with AIDS.”
47
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Poor families have less capacity to deal with the
of the family members to poverty which then in-
effects of morbidity and mortality than richer ones,
creases their chances of contracting the virus.52
for very obvious reasons. These include the absence of savings and other assets that can cushion the
Antiretroviral treatment is, at least in theory, now available
impact of illness and death. The poor are already on
to all South Africans with CD4 counts lower than 200. If
the margins of survival and thus are also unable to
everyone in need of drugs is reached, the effects listed
deal with the consequent health and other costs.
will most likely be mitigated. But if people on treatment
These include the costs of drugs – when available
suffer from hunger, they are likely to suffer from the side-
– to treat opportunistic infections, transport costs
effects of the medication. The Mail and Guardian Online
to health centres, reduced household productivity
reported the experience of one such person:
through illness and the diversion of labour to caring roles, losses of employment through illness and job discrimination, funeral and related costs, and so on. In the longer term such poor households never recover even their initial level of living as their capacity is reduced through the losses
The poor are already on the margins of survival and thus are also unable to deal with the consequent health and other costs.
I remember ... I would take the medicine without any food – just porridge alone. I nearly died. I got so weak, I developed ulcers which have not healed well until now.53
of productive family members through death and
Large numbers of black South African households already
through migration, and through the sales of any
live very precariously. Of an estimated 9,8 million of these
productive assets they once possessed. As a result,
households, less than 2 million live on more than R1 799
a true process of immiseration is now observable in
per month. The total expenditure of 2,4 million of these
many parts of ... Africa. There is ... enormous strain
households ranged between nothing and R399 per month;
on the capacities of families to cope with the ...
3,3 million live on R400 to R799 per month; and 1,7 million
consequences of illness, such that many families
households on R800 to R1 199 per month. Female-headed
experience great distress and often disintegrate
black households seem to be worse off than those headed
as social and economic units ... Even where they
by their male counterparts: out of an estimated total of
do not, by eliminating the breadwinners – often
4,0 million, 1,0 million households were living on between
the parents – the process further exposes the rest
nothing and R400 per month; 1,6 million were spending
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between R400 and R799 per month; and 647 000 between
But South Africa’s urban centres also brim with great con-
R800 and R1 198 per month.54
centrations of poverty, partly because
Many black South African households also exist on limited
...urban geographies in South Africa have become
or very unpredictable incomes or mainly or even solely on
even more polarised and polarising, with the jobless
remittances of family members; disability, maintenance
and the poorly skilled corralled in the under-serviced
or child support grants of a household member; or the
and grossly underdeveloped perimeters of cities...
pension of an elderly person living in the same house.
55
Rising numbers of urban residents now live seques-
Out of a total of an estimated 9,8 million black South
tered in informal settlements on the outer perimeters
African households, salaries and wages accounted for the
of South Africa’s cities, which function as veritable
main sources of income for 5,2 million black households
holding tanks for the jobless and the under-skilled.
(of which 3,7 million were male headed and 1,5 million female headed); remittances for 1,4 million black South African households (636 000 of which were male headed and 801 000 female headed); and pensions and grants for 2,5 million
Rising numbers of urban residents now live sequestered in informal settlements on the outer perimeters of South Africa’s cities.
black South African households (975 000 of which were
Local work opportunities are scarce, and transport costs are high, infrastructure is poor, access to basic services is uneven and services are generally unaffordable. It’s also here, on the margins of urban South Africa, that
HIV infection levels are highest.58
male headed and 801 000 female headed).56 Furthermore, Debbie Budlender estimated that 89% of all households
Urban and rural poverty are also very much linked – when
that received old age pensions were black South African
unemployment rises in cities, remittances to rural families
households, and that two thirds of all pensions went to
are likely to decline, thereby exacerbating rural poverty. Social
rural areas.
welfare programmes are generally accepted as being key
57
components in poverty reduction or prevention.59 The South Rural areas are especially hard hit by poverty and un-
African government makes universal provision for pensions,
employment. It has been estimated that around 70% of all
provides disability grants for those too ill or incapacitated
poor South African households are located in rural areas,
to work, and provides child support grants for the care-givers
and that half of those can be considered chronically poor.
of children. This is unusual for a developing, middle-income,
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country. In 1994, the new government raised the pen-
thus takes a twist: “When you ask them why they don’t
sions of black South Africans to the same level as those
want to take the medicine, they say they’re hungry and
provided for other race groups. Almost 10 million social
need food.” The article argues for a basic income grant to
grants are paid out every month.
be given to unemployed people so that they wouldn’t be
60
forced to put economics before individuals’ health.64 In South Africa three main types of grants exist in addition to pensions. The first of these is the maintenance grant,
The third category of grants is the child support grant. This
which was designed to assist single parents and children
grant is aimed at children of up to 7 years of age who have
where the other parent is not available to help provide
not benefited from maintenance grants in the past.65
for his/her children.61 Nattrass also notes that ‘perverse incentives’ to become and/ The second is the disability grant, which supports people with physical and mental conditions that render them unable to work. According to Nattrass, disability 62
grants rose from 600 000 in 2000 to around 1,3 million in 2004.63 People who
Rotating credit associations, or stokvels, serve as an adaptive mechanism that provides an alternative to the mainstream that mainly excludes the poor.
have progressed from being HIV positive to having AIDS,
or remain ill – which are generated by the current welfare system – put people in a position where they have to choose between income and health. She suggests that the root of the problem can be addressed by introducing a grant for
the unemployed (a ‘dole’) or a basic income grant.66
and who have registered CD4 counts of less than 200 are eligible for disability grants. Although the underlying
In the absence of reliable incomes and/or networks that
principle is sound, this can cause problems for people on
could help overcome hardships, credits and loans may be
antiretroviral treatment. The Mail & Guardian Online re-
significant in attaining food security. But due to inability
cently reported that some people in Lusikisiki in the Transkei
to repay loans, many people have no access to credit.
have stopped taking ARVs because of the fact that they
Rotating credit associations, or stokvels, serve as an adap-
would stop receiving the disability grant if their CD4 counts
tive mechanism that provides an alternative to the main-
rise above 200. In some cases entire households are depend-
stream that mainly excludes the poor. The members of
ant on the R820 per month that they receive from this
stokvels are usually acquainted and belong to the same
grant. The link between AIDS, poverty and food security
social group, which may be the neighbourhood, the church
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© Cedric Nunn/PictureNET Africa
or the workplace. These groups are seen to operate within
Many South Africans already struggle to find gainful em-
the female domain – men are usually excluded.
ployment, and are consequently vulnerable to food insecu-
67
rity. HIV/AIDS already compounds this quandary, and is Housing can also affect income – it can be an important
likely to do so for some time to come.
source of credit or a base for small business. It can also be rented or, as a last resort, sold.68
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© Paul Grendon/South Photographs
© Nadine Hutton/PictureNET Africa
© Gisele Wulfsohn/South Photographs
© Henner Frankenfeld/PictureNET Africa
© Per-Anders Pettersson/AfriLife
© Henner Frankenfeld/PictureNET Africa
© Paul Weinberg/South Photographs
© John Robinson/South Photographs
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Cooking up a storm: Agriculture in South Africa A strategy of conquest and dispossession was pur-
and black farmers, followed by a period of considerable
sued energetically by both Dutch and British settlers,
government support to agriculture up to the early 1980s.
and was generally supported by the VOC, and later
This prolonged period of state patronage contributed to
by Britain ... All farmers shared broadly the same
the commercialisation of white farming via the adoption
aims and methods ... For all of them, acquisition and
of modern mechanical and biological technologies, resulting
control of land, and thus of labour, was imperative
in growth in agricultural output within a policy environ-
if they were to attain a decent standard of living.
ment favouring large-scale owner-operated farms utilising
The territory in which they sought to do this grad-
wage labour.70 The sectoral development of the agricultural
ually expanded away from their entry point at Cape
sector in South Africa has also occurred in conjunction with
Town until they claimed possession of almost the
the gradual yet sustained disempowerment of African
entire country south of the Limpopo ... The assertion
farmers, and the resulting dualism was a sustained theme
of British power ultimately required that all inde-
of the structure of land and food production and utilisa-
pendent black states should be destroyed, and the
tion.71 This dual structure of agriculture in South Africa was
imperial government’s implementation of this policy
not the result of genuine economies of scale but rather of
thus reinforced the settlers’ own programme of
decades of government policies inspired by the general
conquest and dispossession.69
political and economic philosophy of white domination. The consequences of these policies included distortions in
The evolution of the South African agricultural sector in the
land and labour markets, input and output markets, infra-
twentieth century has been marked by structural change,
structure, agricultural credit and services, and the creation
characterised initially by macro-economic and sectoral
of large-scale white farms.72
strategies aimed at the territorial segregation of white
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© John Robinson/South Photographs
500 mm of rain per year and about one fifth receives less than 200 mm. Only 3% of South Africa receives rain throughout the year, while 86% only gets summer rain. Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water, using as much as 50% of total demand. The total area under irrigation in South Africa in 2001 was 1,2 million hectares, although only 1,1% of the country’s total surface area can be irrigated. Apart from small high-lying areas and the eastern escarpment, most of South Africa has hot summers and a long growing season. The surface area of South Africa falls naturally into two major physiographic regions: the interior
© Henner Frankenfeld/PictureNET Africa
plateau, comprising level surfaces with a mean altitude of 1 200 m; and the marginal lands which lie between the plateau and the coast. A third element is the great escarpment, which forms the boundary between the plateau and the marginal lands. The total land area of South Africa is 122,3 million hectares, of which farmland occupies roughly 82%. Commercial and developing agriculture occupy surface areas of 86,2 million hectares and 14,5 million hectares respectively. Total potential arable land comprises 14,2 million hectares compared to grazing land, which comprises 72 million hectares. South Africa’s top
Resources endowment
field crops by gross value in 2000 were maize, sugar cane, wheat, hay, sunflower seed, tobacco and groundnuts.
With a mean annual rainfall of 497 mm, South Africa can
The top animal products by gross value in 2000 were
be described as mainly a semi-arid region with acute water
fowls slaughtered, cattle and calves slaughtered, fresh
shortages. Over 65% of the country receives less than
milk, eggs, and sheep and goats slaughtered.74
73
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Measuring growth
investments,76 and the resultant capital-intensity of production was accompanied by widespread black unemploy-
According to the World Bank’s assessment of South Africa’s
ment, while white farmers, who were supposed to own
macro-economic performance in the twentieth century,
and utilise more than 87% of agricultural land, were
between 1946 and 1991 GDP growth at factor cost averaged
afforded substantial financial resource transfers in order
3,9% per year. Within this period there occurred cycles of
to maintain their viability.77
accelerated growth rates between 1946 and 1971 and increasing volatility between 1971 and 1991, with GDP
The contribution of South Africa’s agricultural sector to
growth rates declining from 3,49% during 1971-1975 to
GDP at current prices declined from 10,3% in 1967 to 3,5%
1,03% in the period 1986-1992. The single most important
in 2001,78 indicating the lower growth rate of the agricul-
explanation for South Africa’s decline in macro-economic
tural sector relative to the overall economy. This tendency
growth is the lack of significant productivity growth, emanating from the designated capital-intensive, inward-looking growth strategy which was a consequence of manipulating economic policy to conform to segregationist and exploitative social policy.
The contribution of South Africa’s agricultural sector to GDP at current prices declined from 10,3% in 1967 to 3,5% in 2001.
reflected a broader transition in the South African economy from a dependence on the primary sector (mining and agriculture) to a more diversified manufacturing and services economy. Hence in the period following World War II, the manufacturing, construc-
tion and electricity sectors registered the most prodiAt the end of World War II, South Africa’s exploitable
gious growth rates.79 Moreover, in contrast to conven-
reserves regarding human and physical resources, infra-
tional patterns of industrialisation in which proceeds
structure, technology, administrative capacity, financial and
are extracted from an agricultural surplus, South African
monetary services and supplies of low-wage labour com-
agriculture became a net recipient of surpluses generated
pared favourably to that of other developing countries. Yet
by the mining sector.80 Extensive subsidisation was extend-
South Africa embarked on a costly, capital-intensive import-
ed to white farmers, including disaster relief, research,
substituting path of industrialisation and hence failed to
interest rate subsidies and price supports via an agricul-
exploit its comparative advantage of developing labour-
tural marketing system.81
intensive manufactured exports.75 South Africa’s growth path thus relied heavily on investments, especially public
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Repressed labour
pared with rates of 23% on gold mines in Rhodesia, 18% in Australia, and 14% in the USA.84
The comprehensive state support provided for white farmers formed part of a broader policy framework of labour
South Africa’s white power bloc after 1910 was characterised
repression implemented in South Africa for most of the
by the co-existence of so-called imperial or foreign capital
twentieth century.
and indigenous or national capital. Foreign capital came to be largely concentrated in the mining sector, while agri-
By 1898 the Transvaal Republic had emerged as the world’s
culture and manufacturing came to be dominated by
single largest gold producer, accounting for 27,5% of global
national capital. Reflecting their bases in different sectors
output. The unique features of the South African gold-
of production, this bifurcation also mirrored the conflict-
mining industry from 1897 were that it was capital inten-
ing interests of English (mining and financial) and Afrikaner
sive, labour intensive, and export intensive.
82
The accepted way of restricting mining costs came to be the imposition of a low-wage repressive labour regime to effect a calculated distribution of non-white labour in all sectors of the economy. Reduced to menials
The comprehensive state support provided for white farmers formed part of a broader policy framework of labour repression.
(rural farming and urban worker) traditions. At the time of the unification of South Africa in 1910, the political landscape was made up of these conflicting interests, and came to be constituted collectively in the political form of the South African Party (SAP).85
in a white-dominated economy, blacks were denied political organisation or any serious measure of social mobility.83
In 1914 the National Party (NP) was formed as a collective
Like the Transvaal government before unification, the
exclusively disposed towards national capital and
South African state after 1910 likewise took to exploiting
Afrikaner nationalism. National capital’s interests lay in
the mines for profits in order to finance its political agenda
restricting foreign competition and maintaining an in-
of providing assistance to white agriculture and manufac-
ternal market for their products based on higher than
turing. Not only the exploitation of South Africa’s mineral
average world prices. Industrial protection was thus a
wealth but also the secondary industrial capitalisation of
favoured policy for national capital, especially when faced
South Africa was thus to a large extent facilitated by
with increasing international competition due to fluc-
profits derived from the mining sector. Indeed, the level of
tuating world prices. Mining capital’s interests, on the
mining taxes was high: 42% in 1920, for instance, com-
other hand, lay in minimising the prices of commodities
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The increasing use of cheaper non-white labour on the mines gave rise to a mining strike by white workers in 1922, which was suppressed with force by the SAP government. Such heavy-handed actions drove white workers and farmers further into the arms of the NP, partly explaining why the NP emerged victorious in the 1924 general election. The NP state proceeded to intervene directly in the economy to the benefit of national capital, and this meant in practice the appropriation of more mining surpluses to subsidise the development of national capital. One of the most important of the state’s interventions was the establishment of a comprehensive system of tariff protection with the passing of the Tariff Act in 1925, and this effectively raised the cost of wage goods and stores for the mining sector. Other state interventions included the restructuring of the railway tariff, and the establishment of the state-run Electrical Supply Commission (ESCOM) and the Iron and Steel Corporation (ISCOR).87
The NP also introduced statutory protection for white workers in the division of labour, as well as an unprecedented number of measures regulating non-white labour. The internally (as the commodities produced by national capital
ruling apparatus of national capital after 1924 considered
were cost items for foreign capital), and hence with a need
itself unable to serve the interests of white farmers and
to minimise costs amid a fluctuating gold price, foreign
workers via the free market, and hence took recourse in
capital favoured a policy of free trade. Both factions,
extra-economic coercion and institutionalised racism that
however, were united in their interests to exploit non-
were the distinctive features of a labour-repressive regime.
white labour in the pursuit of industrialisation.
As the NP relied on the mining sector for most of its revenues,
86
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© Graeme Williams/South Photographs
and as the state’s repressive labour regime and industrial protection policies directly impinged on the profits of the mines, one can conclude that the state’s politically-motivated restrictions directly inhibited its initiatives to spur industrialisation. In fact, had it not been for the advent of the Great Depression and South Africa’s subsequent departure from the gold standard, the NP’s political preponderances might have led to substantial economic decay.
When the NP came to power in 1924, the total dividends declared on the mines stood at £12,8 million; by 1929 the declared dividends on the mines had declined to £11,5 million, and with the added effects of the world depression the dividend had declined further to £9,6 million by 1932. After 1932, however, when the state reluctantly departed from the gold standard the dividends declared on the mines increased rapidly, eventually reaching £22,6 million in 1939. Accordingly, the state was able to appropriate vastly increased revenues from the mines after 1932 to provide subsidies to agriculture and to support expansion in the manufacturing sector.88 dominance of the ruling national capital class dictated the The entire white ruling bloc thus favoured some form of
structuring of a racist and exploitative society. This labour-
unchallenged white hegemony, and this militated against an
repressive regime became an integral part of the South
extension of political rights to non-whites that was likely
African economy, and adapted forms of labour repression
to threaten the existing hierarchy. The decisive electoral
remained in force during the first three quarters of the
groups, white agriculture and white workers, sought com-
twentieth century and formed the basis on which racial
plete control of unskilled non-white labour, and their
capitalism was founded in South Africa.89
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Farming and politics
arrangements to private and state ownership, and African farming was widespread in the interior.90
Yet before such cumbersome exploitative instruments had been refined in South Africa, during the latter half of the
The discovery of diamonds and gold drastically altered South
nineteenth century and in some areas well into the twen-
Africa’s farming systems, as it did the entire economy. A
tieth century African family farming was viable and success-
substantial market for agricultural products was created
ful in responding to the increased demand for agricultural
in the interior, and African farmers were able to compete
products from the mines. In fact, African owner-operated
successfully to supply these expanding urban markets. With
tenant farming proved to be as efficient as the large-scale
simple technology and abundant arable land available,
settler farming of the period, and African farmers adopted
labour was the critical factor of production, and large settler
new technologies, entered new industries and competed
estate farmers found it difficult to offer substantial wages
successfully with large-scale settler farmers in some of the emerging agricultural markets.
By the time of the discovery of diamonds in the 1860s and gold in the 1880s, farming areas occupied by settler farmers (in the Cape
The discovery of diamonds and gold drastically altered South Africa’s farming systems, as it did the entire economy.
to attract African labour. Due to the resulting labour shortages on settler farms, many settler farmers were unable to compete with African farmers as the latter were able to cultivate more land and produce higher grain yields per hectare. Thus the settler
Colony and to a lesser extent in Natal and the Orange Free
farmers persuaded the colonial authorities to intervene on
State (OFS)) were geared to producing for the market, while
their behalf by artificially restricting African competition
farming in the Transvaal and the northern OFS were mostly
and establishing native reserves on minimal land to create
subsistence orientated. The farming structure at this time
a land shortage, thereby forcing Africans to seek work on
consisted of large white settler farms with hired labour,
manorial farms. Various measures ensued such as hut and
settler estates with African tenant farmers, free African
poll taxes, road rents, and pass laws. The Glen Grey Act of
farming on African-owned land, and subsistence farming
1894 was one the earliest measures designed to serve the
in both white and African areas. Commercial farmers pro-
needs of commercial farmers in the Cape Colony by levying
duced horticulture, livestock and crops for the domestic
a tax on all men living in the reserves. In the period of British
market and exported wool, wine and fruit to Europe.
rule following the Anglo-Boer War up to 1910, Africans
The land tenure of these farms varied from communal
in the OFS and the Transvaal bought land as individuals
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or as syndicates, and Africans were also allowed to convert
of the new state was committing itself to racial segre-
their labour tenancies to share-cropping or fixed-rent ten-
gation on an enormous scale.’94 Colin Bundy likened the
ancies or to purchase land outright.91 Yet while African
Act to the proverbial swish of the curtain on black peasant
farmers were forced to pay higher income taxes than whites,
agriculture in South Africa.95 White farmers, however,
white farmers were afforded government subsidies and
were afforded a plethora of supportive mechanisms, such
grants as well as other supportive measures.92
as financial assistance from the Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa (established in 1912), research, extension
After unification in 1910, one of the foremost goals of the
services and infrastructure.96 In fact, between 1910 and 1935
new South African government was to ensure adequate
the Union Parliament passed 87 acts rendering support
labour supplies for the mines, and hence the infamous
to farmers, and while raising £148 million in taxes from the
Land Act was promulgated in 1913. This act attempted to
mining industry between 1911 and 1936, £112 million of
severely restrict Africans’ access to land outside the allotted reserves (7.8% of the country’s farm land),93 thus outlawing labour tenancy and sharecropping and transforming tenants into wage workers for the mines. In the long term the Land Act ended African farming
The political leadership of the new state was committing itself to racial segregation on an enormous scale.
these funds were invested in agriculture.97
The Great Depression contributed to much reduced domestic agricultural prices, increased unemployment and a general contraction in the economy, yet economic recovery began
above the subsistence level outside the reserves, thereby
soon after South Africa left the gold standard in December
eradicating the capital, wealth, farming skills and informa-
1932. Nevertheless, the agricultural lobby maintained pres-
tion base African farmers had accumulated over genera-
sure on the state to increase agricultural prices, paving the
tions. In conjunction with various other measures such as
way for the 1937 Marketing Act. This Act, repromulgated
labour bureaux regulating the supply of labour between
but not fundamentally altered in 1968, provided the legal
mines and farms and exclusion from marketing coop-
framework for statutory interventions in agricultural
eratives or farmer unions, the Land Act effectively reduced
marketing in South Africa until 1996. By means of the
the African (in the words of Sol Plaatjie) to a ‘pariah in
Marketing Act, a system of farmer-dominated control
the land of his birth’. Although the Act turned out to be
boards was established which had all the necessary legal
difficult to implement, its symbolic value, according to
powers to determine not only agricultural prices but also
Johnny Hyslop, was appalling: ‘the political leadership
which persons could produce, handle, process and trade
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© Graeme Williams/South Photographs
agricultural commodities. Between 1948 and the 1980s the
the co-operatives handled the vast majority of South Africa’s
NP constantly utilised the control board system to support
most important crops, i.e. 98% of the wheat crop, 93%
agricultural prices, and similar legislation modelled on
of the maize crop and all exports of deciduous and citrus
South Africa’s 1968 Marketing Act was promulgated in the
fruit. In addition, the co-operatives also financed 90% of
homelands. The 1937 Marketing Act also significantly
the fertilisers, 85% of the fuels, and 65% of the chemicals
strengthened the co-operative movement in South African
used by white farmers.99
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Dualism and regulation
The Tomlinson Commission104 of 1954 stipulated that the ultimate size of the homelands would be about 17 million
The NP victory over Jan Smuts’ United Party (UP) in the 1948
hectares, yet the commission was concerned that the
election was unexpected, as the UP had maintained strong
quality of the land in the homelands could not adequately
support in rural constituencies in the Transvaal and OFS
support the 500 000 African families residing there and
during the 1938 and 1943 elections. During World War II,
hence proposed a cut in the number of farming families
however, the UP neglected the interests of farmers in
and ‘betterment’ schemes aimed at stopping soil degrada-
favour of the new generation of urban industrialists, espe-
tion, stock-culling, water conservation and erosion control.
cially in light of Smuts’ wartime cheap food policy which
The commission saw the fostering of small-scale commercial
kept maize prices relatively low.100 Increased black urbanisa-
farming as integral to the development of the homelands,
tion during wartime was also a significant issue in the elec-
yet when the government dismissed the proposal that £30
tion,101 and in contrast to the UP’s apparent conciliatory approach amid the exigencies of the war, the NP favoured a more rigid separation between white and black and among blacks on ethnic lines. Thus the Native Authorities Act of 1951 and the Bantu Self
The homelands remained overcrowded, povertystricken labour reservoirs and dumping grounds for surplus labour.
million be spent for secondary and tertiary industrial development in the homelands and cut the projected £12 million for urban development to £3 million, the prospects for viable commercial agriculture in the homelands were effectively doomed. The
Government Act of 1959 artificially created eight black
land use system implemented with ‘betterment’ was more
ethnic communities whose boundaries coincided with
inflexible, and people found themselves with smaller fields
those allocated by the Land Acts.102 The Transkei became
and gardens, and having to walk greater distances to fetch
the first self-governing homeland in 1963, and the Bantu
fuel and water.105 Thus the homelands remained over-
Homelands Citizenship Act made every African resident
crowded,106 poverty-stricken labour reservoirs and dump-
in South Africa a citizen of a particular homeland, while
ing grounds for surplus labour. It was estimated in 1989
the Bantu Laws (Amendment) Act of 1972 justified forced
that agricultural production met only 16% of the popu-
resettlements of African people and removed their right
lation’s food requirements, while in 1985 8,4 million blacks
to object to such forced removals.103
(or around 60% of the homeland population) lived below the poverty line.107 Due to South Africa’s experience of
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‘de-agrarianisation and the destruction of peasant agri-
into planned settlements that separated access to
culture under apartheid’, ‘most food is produced by large,
residential land from access to land for productive
capital intensive commercial farms’. The effect is that ‘[g]iven
use. Gradually the reserves came to be used as dump-
that only a small proportion of household income is gener-
ing grounds for the population not needed by the
ated by subsistence agriculture, the bulk of this ‘employ-
formal economy, and landlessness became wide-
ment’ is in fact large-scale underemployment. The impact
spread, particularly among women.
of AIDS on the economic security of poor households in South Africa is thus felt primarily through declining income
In white-owned areas that became commercial farms,
rather than food production.’108 The fact that only 6% of an
labour tenants and farm workers were at the mercy
estimated 1,7 million households in the former bantustans
of landowners, and had continually to renegotiate
with access to farming land actually sell
the terms of increasingly limited access The impact of AIDS on the
to the land. For labour tenants, the basis
economic security of poor
of the contract with the landowner was
households in South Africa is
the exchange of work for access to land...
thus felt primarily through
labour tenants came under pressure to
In the reserves ... the population had
declining income rather than
release their hold on the land and adopt
tenuous and insecure access to land,
food production.
a straightforward wage relationship
any part of their produce attests to this.
109
According to Stephen Greenberg:
with few legal rights, as the land was
with landowners. Despite the eventual
administered and owned by the state, ostensibly
outlawing of labour tenancy, however, tenants have
on behalf of the population living there. This meant
held tenaciously to their meagre access to land in
that the bureaucracy of the state at national and
some parts of the country...
local level could determine rights to land at any time. As the state manipulated access to land for its
In contrast, farm workers did not have any historical
own purposes, landlessness became increasingly
claim on access to land in the commercial areas. While
common. In particular the ‘betterment’ planning
some farm workers had access to a small plot for
from the 1940s and 1950s rearranged traditional
cropping, or the right to run a small amount of live-
settlement patterns. This forced the population, un-
stock on the farm, this was entirely based on the
fortunate enough to be residing in the reserves,
charity of the landowner. A change in ownership
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© Lori Waselchuk/South Photographs
often meant the summary loss of access to the land,
As the agrarian economy came to be structured between
with no legal basis for challenge. Millions of families
1960 and 1983 (in the midst of forced removals), the major-
lived in these conditions, with employment – under
ity of the black population came to be unable to produce
harsh conditions bordering on coercion – the only
food and also (due to artificially low wages) unable to
link between them and their hold on the land.110
buy adequate supplies of food.111
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Thus while African family farming had been all but elimi-
farmers defected to the Conservative Party, contributing
nated in South Africa by the end of the 1980s and African
to the CP’s brief flowering of support in the mid-1980s.112
peasants transformed into wage workers on large farms, mines or secondary industries, white and especially Afrikaner
The government’s increased implementation of statutory
farming was actively supported by the government after
interventions in the agricultural sector since the 1920s
1948. After the election the NP proceeded to reorganise
eventually raised concerns on whether to remove or
the labour bureaux in an attempt to prevent Africans from
strengthen these controls. To the extent that these controls
migrating from farms to cities, and the price of maize rose
negatively impacted on a section of the agricultural market-
by almost 50% between 1950 and 1954. In addition, it has
ing chain, it was often difficult to reduce the level of controls
been estimated that more than 50% of all the funds spent
once problems arose. Hence for the period 1920-1987
by the government on research in the 1950s and 1960s was
there was a tendency for controls to beget more controls.
related to agriculture.
The majority of large-scale white commercial farmers remained vulnerable economically, however, due to their over-reliance on debt, government sub-
In spite of or perhaps due to the substantial state support the agricultural sector did not succeed in attaining independence and self-sustainability.
Thus control boards became reluctant to accept limits on their scope of activity, and efforts to raise domestic producer prices frequently encountered complications because of the resultant surpluses produced and cost inflation accrued.
sidies and cheap African labour. In spite of or perhaps due
Statutory control of the agricultural marketing system was,
to the substantial state support the agricultural sector did
however, no guarantee of an advantage to a particular set
not succeed in attaining independence and self-sustain-
of producers, and there was a tendency for developments
ability. In fact, the almost total dependence of Afrikaner
in the agricultural sector to result in the concentration of
farmers on a plethora of state interventions rendered them
influence and power in the hands of an agrarian-industrial
possibly ten times less efficient than their European and
upper-class increasingly removed from the farming public.
United States counterparts. The state’s patronage of agri-
In the long-run South Africa’s agricultural marketing sys-
culture was thus an economic failure, and when the NP was
tem proved to be financially, economically and politically
unable to maintain the inflated level of subsidies from
unsustainable.113
the late 1970s onwards, a significant number of white
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Looking for a way out
Reforms in the agricultural sector began slowly in the 1980s, and gathered momentum in the 1990s. The Marketing
During the late 1970s and early 1980s South Africa’s macro-
of Agricultural Products Act of 1996 repealed the 1968
economic policy was altered to allow greater market-
Marketing Act and the various pieces of homeland market-
oriented control. Fiscal policy in this period had become
ing legislation, and stipulated that all agricultural control
severely affected by the rising costs of financing the
boards should close by the end of 1997. Thus agricultural
apartheid system, and increasing deregulation and market
price determination in South Africa has been transformed
liberalisation were implemented in the agricultural sector
to be controlled by net domestic supply and regional supply
from the mid-1980s, following on the extensive liberali-
and demand conditions, import and export parity process
sation of the financial sector in the late 1970s. Changes
and tariffs. A significant number of South Africa’s large
to the reserve requirements of the banking sector made it virtually impossible for the Land Bank to continue subsidising farmers’ interest rates, and the use of an interest rate policy by the Reserve Bank led to interest becoming the single largest cost of production in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, the decline in the value of the rand resulted
The new government created a legal framework for victims of forced removals to benefit from restitution, and statutory grants were made available for the purchase of land.
co-operatives have also converted themselves into companies.
The interim Constitution of 1996 stipulated a division of competencies between government at the national and provincial levels, and in the years after 1994 a process of decentralisation of responsibilities from
114
in farm input prices rising faster than farm output prices.
the National Department of Agriculture to provincial depart-
Budgetary allocations in favour of white farmers were
ments has occurred. The fiscal stringency implied by South
cut by about 50% between 1987 and 1993, while real pro-
Africa’s Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR)
ducer prices of commodities marketed through fixed price
macroeconomic policy, implemented since 1999, contributed
schemes such as maize and wheat had declined by 25% in
to the budget of the National Department of Agriculture
real terms since 1984. Following the momentous political
falling in real terms,116 while South Africa’s agricultural
transition that was set in motion in 1990, the Land Act
import restrictions were tarifficated, in line with World
and related legislation that underpinned the racial seg-
Trade Organisation commitments. Conforming to its land
regation of access to land were also repealed.
reform objectives, the new government also created a legal
115
framework for victims of forced removals to benefit from
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AIDS Review 2005
restitution, and statutory grants were made available
(1998) and the Employment Equity Act (1998) now also
for the purchase of land.117
apply to farm workers. In addition, a minimum wage for farm workers was implemented in 2003.118
Agricultural policy in South Africa since the 1990s has seen significant institutional restructuring, with such insti-
The implementation of the new government’s land reform
tutions as the Land Bank, the Agricultural Research Council,
programme commenced in 1994, and was to consist of
the Department of Regional and Land Affairs and the
land restitution and redistribution, and tenure reform pro-
Development Corporations in the former homelands being
grammes. The Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP)
subjected to restructuring programmes with the aim of
committed the newly elected ANC government to the
realigning them with the development priorities of the
transferring of 30% of land in farming areas previously
new government. The former ‘own’ and ‘general affairs’
deemed ‘white areas’ in terms of the provisions of the
departments were consolidated into the new National Department of Agriculture. The new government also embarked on a process of trade policy reform intended to reverse decades of ‘inward’ industrialisation strategies. In agriculture, quantitative
Government embarked on a process of trade policy reform intended to reverse decades of ‘inward’ industrialisation strategies.
Native Land Act (1913) to black smallholders within five years (by 1999). The RDP was based on the World Bank’s ‘Options for land reform and rural restructuring in South Africa (1993)’ that had as its guiding principle ‘political and economic liberalisation’, and
restrictions, specific duties, price controls, import and export
it has been argued that the World Bank’s assumptions
permits and other regulations were replaced by tariffs
rested on ‘misleading intellectual foundations’.119 The RDP
after South Africa became a signatory to the Marrakesh
was supplanted by the neo-liberal GEAR in 1999. The proc-
Agreement in 1994. South Africa also participated in the
ess of land policy reform was altered in 1997 with the
renegotiation of the Southern African Customs Union
publication of the White Paper on Land Reform, yet dis-
treaty, agreed to the new Southern African Development
satisfaction with aspects of the redistribution programme
Community Protocol, and concluded a free trade agree-
resulted in a redesign of the programme in 2000.
ment with the European Union. After 1994 labour legislation was also progressively made applicable to farm workers,
The Department of Land Affairs invested considerable
and the Labour Relations Act (1995), the Basic Conditions
time and effort in mobilising communities and assisting
of Employment Act (1997), the Skills Development Act
them in accessing government grants to acquire land.
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In most cases, however, farms financed with these grants
and labour saving. Moreover, between 1985 and 1996 the
and settled by groups of households were too small to
sector has also shed about 200 000 regular employees and
support all the beneficiaries as full-time farmers, resulting
an additional 200 000 casual and seasonal workers. Even
120
in concerns about the apparent slow pace of land reform.
so, agriculture creates one in seven job opportunities in
A new approach to land reform was thus formulated which
South Africa and involves 10% of the population. The agri-
envisages an extended scale of grants, dependent on an
cultural sector has become more efficient and more flexible
increasing own contribution from emerging black commer-
due to the processes of deregulation that have been imple-
cial farmers. Nonetheless, concerns have again been raised
mented, and the sector’s productivity has increased, as well
on the viability of this reform programme, especially in
as farmers’ abilities to adjust production processes to chang-
regard to incentives for agents to broker land transactions
ing relative prices. Agriculture has also made a significant
and to providing support services for agriculture, i.e. re-
contribution to foreign exchange earnings, and the value
search, extension, finance, information and infrastructure to ensure an environment conducive to a vibrant and successful agricultural sector.
121
The government has re-
cently again set itself the target of transferring 30% of South Africa’s arable land to black owners by 2014.
122
While reforms in the agricultural sector from the 1980s have led to a vastly altered political environment, certain inefficiencies have lingered unerringly in the sector.
of agricultural exports has shown the biggest increase in comparison with other sectors in the economy since 1993. But small farmers as a group have not substantially benefited from the reform process. Land reform has been slow and has affected only a few, while little has been achieved in addressing the needs of poor farmers in the
While reforms in the agricultural sector from the 1980s
former homeland areas. So, while the sector as a whole
have led to a vastly altered political environment, certain
may have become more efficient, it still displays a bias to-
inefficiencies have lingered unerringly in the sector. Data
ward capital intensity, which is not justified by the relative
provided by Van Zyl et al (2001) indicate that the bias in
factor endowments of South Africa.123
South African agriculture since the 1970s has remained capital using and labour, land and intermediate goods
Stephen Greenberg has argued that ‘the post-apartheid
saving. The bias toward capital using has declined at times,
government has merely continued with an agricultural
but never on a sustained basis. Indeed, the advent of nega-
restructuring programme started by the apartheid govern-
tive real interest rates in the larger economy in 1987-1989
ment, which has led to further concentration of resources
resulted in an increase in the bias toward capital intensity
in the agricultural and agri-processing industries ... [and
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© Jodi Bieber/South Photographs
© Lourens Uitenweerde/Eyescape
that] the positive aspects of restructuring have been skewed
• that the underlying principle of private property rights
towards that segment of the population with relatively
with respect to tenure law for communal areas ‘has
greater wealth and resources at their disposal. The poorest
meant that African tenure systems are misunderstood
segments, and in particular women, are increasingly margin-
or ignored’;
alised, their foothold in the formal economy less secure.
• that there have been limits to changes in patterns of
Restructuring has also resulted in unstable and rising food
women’s ownership and control over land;
prices’.
• that land reform benefiting farm workers has generally
124
failed; This might be due to the overt class character of the govern-
• that farm workers have been put in an even more pre-
ment’s economic policy post 1996, and that it ‘was unabash-
carious position due to a massive reduction in employ-
edly geared to service the respective prerogatives of na-
ment and the casualisation of the agricultural labour
tional and international capital and the aspirations of the
force; and
emerging black bourgeoisie’.
In the resultant capitalist
• that neo-liberal macro-economic policies have tended
market economy there is thus a flow of food away from areas
to work against small-scale, resource-poor, and remote
of food insecurity towards areas of effective demand.
farmers (i.e. new farmers and farmers in the former
125
126
bantustans) because of a tendency to concentrate proOther criticisms levied against recent agricultural reforms
duction and land in the hands of large-scale producers
include:
and agribusiness.127
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© Cedric Nunn/PictureNET Africa
© John Robinson/South Photographs
© Henner Frankenfeld/PictureNET Africa
© Joao Silva/PictureNET Africa
© Sydney Seshibedi/AfriLife
© Sipho Futshane/PictureNET Africa
© Junko
© Rob Brown/PictureNET Africa
© Joao Silva/PictureNET Africa
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Three-course meal: HIV/AIDS, agriculture and food insecurity Global hunger
Africa has increased by 20% since 1990, while the number of underweight children has similarly increased in most
According to the January 2006 edition of the Food Security
parts of Africa between 2000 and 2005.129 The Food and
Early Warning System Monthly Update of the Southern
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations
African Development Community (SADC), by the end of
estimates the number of undernourished people in sub-
January 2006, commercial farmers in South Africa had
Saharan Africa to have increased from 170,4 million in
planted only 1,5 million hectares of maize crop, which
1990-92 to 203,5 million in 2000-02;130 35,7 million of
constitutes a mere 44,9% of the previous season’s planted
these people resided in southern Africa during 2000-2002,
area. The sharp drop in production, the Update conjectures,
constituting 40% of the total population of the southern
may be ascribed to South African farmers’ expectations of
African region.131
lower prices during the 2006/2007 marketing year. Given that South Africa normally produces roughly half of the
In conjunction with hunger and malnutrition, two thirds
SADC region’s maize output, in a frank assessment of the
of all people globally living with HIV reside in sub-Saharan
situation the Update proclaimed, ‘The current food security
Africa. It is clear that HIV/AIDS operates in a close nexus
situation remains poor in most Member States, with the
with poverty and food insecurity. Officially, HIV/AIDS in
number of households running out of food continuing to
this region has resulted in two million deaths in 2005,
increase as the region enters its lean period before the next
while 24,5 million people were still living with the disease.
main harvest.’
Almost 90% of the total number of children living with
128
HIV resides in sub-Saharan Africa and fewer than one in ten Current indications of food insecurity in Africa are nothing
of these children have access to basic support services. A
new. According to the International Food Policy Research
third of global AIDS deaths in 2005 occurred in southern
Institute (IFPRI), the number of hungry people in sub-Saharan
Africa; almost one third of people living with HIV globally
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© Per-Anders Pettersson/AfriLife
Rough neighbourhood In most of the developing world HIV infections are primarily transmitted via heterosexual contact. Yet the rate of transmission is not exclusively a consequence of sexual behaviour. An established public health literature has demonstrated that people with nutritional deficiencies, with poor general health, with little or no access to health services, or who are economically disadvantaged have an increased susceptibility to infectious diseases. To put the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa into context, it is important to note that calorie intake per capita in the region has not increased since 1970, and remains only 70% of the consumption level of industrialised countries. Clearly host factors go a long way toward explaining the very high rates of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and the most profound of these is malnutrition, due to its detrimental effect on the immune system. When HIV/AIDS appeared in sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s, the region was experiencing worsening poverty, drought, and malnutrition. Average daily calorie and protein intake declined between 1980 and 1989, and roughly 30% of the population remained vulnerable live in this region, as do about 43% of all infected children
to malnutrition. Of 19 famines worldwide between 1975
under 15 years and 52% of all infected women. In South
and 1998, 18 occurred in Africa.133 In terms of economic
Africa alone, 5,5 million people were living with HIV in
development, sub-Saharan Africa registered a rate of -0,7
2005.132
for the period 1975-2003, while life expectancy at birth in 2003 was only 46.1 years. GDP at purchasing power parity estimations in the same year amounted to US$1 856, compared to US$25 915 for the OECD group of countries.134
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In light of the above, and considering moreover that more
of Eileen Stillwaggon, and in partial answer to the question
than 90% of the world’s malaria cases and more than
posed above:
80% of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) cases occur in Africa, it is apt for us to consider the question posed by Eileen
What needs to be reiterated is that STDs (including
Stillwaggon:
HIV) are not a special case; they are infectious bacterial and viral diseases that can most easily be
Was it too much sex (as some have suggested), or
transmitted to a host whose immune system is weak-
too little food, too little medicine, and too many
ened by malnutrition and by the synergistic effects
parasites that triggered the wave of susceptibility
of other infectious and parasitic diseases. STDs find
to HIV engulfing sub-Saharan Africa?
their most fertile ground in the most nutritionally immuno-suppressed population, such as we find
Increased susceptibility to HIV infection occurs as a result of both protein-energy malnutrition (macro-nutrition) and deficiencies of micronutrients such as iron, zinc and vitamins. Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiency severely impair
The prevalence of HIV in these countries is strongly linked with income inequality, falling protein and calorie consumption, and to a lesser extent, urbanisation.
in Africa.135
Thus in countries of medium and low human development strong correlations have been identified between HIV prevalence on the one hand and changes in
the immune system. The effects of even moderate protein-
calorie consumption and Gini coefficients on the other.
energy deficiency include atrophy of the lymph system,
The prevalence of HIV in these countries is strongly linked
as well as reductions in the size and weight of the thymus,
with income inequality, falling protein and calorie consump-
affecting T-cell production. In fact, protein is integral to
tion, and to a lesser extent, urbanisation. The conclusion that
resistance to infection as the immune system’s cell replica-
can be drawn from this analysis is that HIV prevention
tion cannot occur without it. Vitamin A is also essential to
policies for poorer countries relying only on behaviour
the immune response. Vitamin-A deficiency reduces the
modification are misguided. While such policies may have
number of natural killer cells, inhibiting natural defence
been more successful in the developed world, for much of
mechanisms against antigens. Vitamin-A deficiency is wide-
Africa HIV prevention strategies need to have a much
spread in sub-Saharan Africa, and is especially responsible
broader health-promotion and poverty-reduction pro-
for producing a greater susceptibility to STDs. In the words
gramme that includes nutritional treatment for infectious
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© Per-Anders Pettersson/AfriLife
diseases and health education.136 The excessive state of
ment encompasses everything from the microbiological
the HIV pandemic in Africa has much to do with the fact
environment of a person’s nutritional and health status
that the continent comprises the easiest target populations
to the macro-environmental level of policy, culture and
for the epidemic to thrive in, and recurring malnutrition
economy.137
and chronic poverty are central to this state of affairs. HIV epidemics are environmentally driven, and this environ-
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Synergy: HIV/AIDS, food security and rural African agriculture
capital usually bear the brunt of the impact of HIV/AIDS. AIDS-affected households also tend to incur significantly higher medical costs, while consuming less food and having
Agriculture is a significant source of livelihood for people
less monthly income at their disposal. Households expe-
affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Yet the presence of an HIV
riencing adult deaths also are not likely to recover to pre-
epidemic in a rural African setting introduces insidious
shock levels of consumption, increasing their vulnerability
synergies on all levels from the individual to the macro-
to food and nutrition insecurity.139
economic and societal. After an individual becomes infected with HIV, the progression of the disease and the person’s
Yet the significance of HIV/AIDS in undermining household
worsening nutritional status reinforce each other in a down-
food security is often underplayed by members of house-
ward spiral. An HIV-affected household’s risk of food insecu-
holds, governments and external actors. According to Carolyn
rity and malnutrition increases because infected family members eventually have to stop working, family members must spend time extending care; income declines, health-care expenses increase, and less time is available for adults to care
The significance of HIV/AIDS in undermining household food security is often underplayed by members of households, governments and external actors.
Bailies, the unevenness of the impact of AIDS within communities often contributes to it being seen as an affliction affecting individual households rather than the general population. There are numerous factors contributing to food
for young children. Food insecurity, in turn, may lead to the
insecurity, but households whose members are routinely
adoption of livelihood strategies that increase the risk of
on the move via migrant labour or where poverty leads to
contracting HIV and could render the household more
unsafe liaisons are more likely to be directly affected by HIV/
vulnerable as the disease progresses.138
AIDS. When the epidemic enters a household, it tends to be initially dealt with through coping strategies utilised in
In farming systems with small windows of opportunity to
previous experiences of illness. Care is generally perceived
undertake labour-intensive tasks such as planting or harvest-
to be predominantly the responsibility of women, and the
ing, farming households are particularly vulnerable to HIV/
prevalence of stigma further encourages households to
AIDS. Such households with a highly seasonal demand for
turn in on themselves, intensifying the relegation of primary
labour, specialisation of tasks by sex, interdependence of
responsibility and absorption of the costs of HIV/AIDS to
labour inputs, and limited ability to exchange labour for
the household. With minimal state welfare provision and
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with few realistic alternatives, thus, the ability of the house-
by selling off lesser assets, yet to the extent that households
hold in coping with illness and death becomes critical. Yet
jettison assets and reduce cash inputs in agriculture, the
AIDS renders some households unable to sustain themselves
number of farmers able to produce a marketable surplus
as not only an economic unity but also the entire social
is reduced. In short, AIDS-affected households face a multi-
fabric of the family is potentially disrupted. Of particular
faceted loss of labour, capital and knowledge, and in the
importance to rural households is the way AIDS removes
process the HIV epidemic contributes to a progressive
labour resources of young adults in the prime of their
decapitalisation of affected rural communities.143
productive years. At the same time, the impact of AIDS is profoundly gendered: because women are the primary
Yet while HIV/AIDS may have serious and lasting effects
care-givers in most rural African households, AIDS places
on rural African agriculture, it appears the pandemic has
huge burdens on them, and the loss or displacement of
not in its own right led to famine for sizeable populations,
their labour can have additional severe implications.140
Most African households also derive some form of income from non-agricultural activities; in fact, a study of the house-
Of particular importance to rural households is the way AIDS removes labour resources of young adults in the prime of their productive years.
even in the most AIDS-effected regions of southern Africa. Rather, by itself HIV/ AIDS is more likely to exacerbate chronic food insecurity, although the epidemic is clearly one of a host of factors contributing to malnutrition. The food crisis that
holds of seven African countries141 conducted by the Uni-
occurred in southern Africa during 2002-2003 was initially
versity of Leiden during 1995-97 found that 50-80% of
attributed to a combination of bad weather, bad govern-
income was derived from non-agricultural sources.
In
ance and underlying poverty. The potential role of HIV/AIDS
an effort to capitalise farm production, households tend
in the crisis was the subject of much contention, and al-
to utilise off-farm income primarily to afford expensive
though evidence derived from vulnerability assessments
assets such as oxen, ploughs and fertiliser. Such sources of
carried out in 2002-03 suggested that HIV/AIDS did impact
income, however, are often jeopardised in AIDS-affected
negatively on some households, the scale of these impacts
households. Financial constraints on farm intensification
remain unclear. Indeed, in the words of Paul Harvey,
142
are exacerbated during illness and death, when medical and funeral expenses rise and labour hours are devoted
...empirical evidence about the scale and severity
to care-giving. Cash-strapped households often respond
of HIV/AIDS’ impact on food security in southern
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Food security and South Africa
Africa remains weak. The pool of surveys is small and the geographical areas they cover are scattered, case studies are small-scale and the analysis of the
South Africa does not appear to be in the high-risk catego-
data is problematic in large-scale assessments...
ries of any international rating on food insecurity, and
Disentangling the relative importance of HIV/AIDS
despite its comparatively unfavourable natural resource
compared to bad governance or bad weather is and
base, in most years South Africa is a net exporter of agri-
will remain difficult. The state of the current data
cultural commodities. Furthermore, South Africa does not
means that the scale and severity of HIV/AIDS’ con-
have foreign exchange constraints, is not landlocked, and
tribution to both acute and chronic food insecurity
its constitution entrenches the right to adequate nutrition
are simply unknown.144
for all its citizens. The same set of favourable circumstances, however, does not apply beyond South Africa’s borders.
Nevertheless, the fact that there is some degree of linkage between HIV/AIDS on the one hand and food security and malnutrition on the other, cannot be in doubt. Indeed, it seems a vicious cycle exists between
All of South Africa’s southern African neighbours have vast proportions of their populations who are undernourished.
HIV/AIDS and malnutrition: malnutrition
All of South Africa’s southern African neighbours have vast proportions of their populations who are undernourished: estimates range from 12% of the population in Lesotho and 19% in Swaziland to as high as 47% in Mozambique and 49% in Zambia.
increases the susceptibility to HIV infection, while HIV exac-
In Zimbabwe alone, 7 million people were estimated to
erbates the cycle of inadequate dietary intake and disease
have been in danger of starvation during 2003.146 Indeed,
that causes malnutrition. The scale of the pandemic and its
according to the All Cereals Balance Sheet for the 2005/
unique characteristics in Africa also mean that it is having
2006 season issued by the SADC Food Security Early Warning
a profound impact on people’s livelihoods and on the
System, Zimbabwe has a cereal deficit of 1,62 million tonnes.
policies, institutions and processes that influence livelihoods.
In fact, all southern African countries except South Africa
Again, there is an element of synergy at work: increased
currently have a domestic shortfall in cereals, with Angola,
food insecurity may lead to increased HIV transmission,
Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe all having
while HIV/AIDS severely affects households’ ability to
cereal deficits in excess of 500 000 tonnes. While South
escape the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
Africa produced a cereal surplus of 4,1 million tonnes,
145
even with South African exports the SADC region as a
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© Per-Anders Pettersson/AfriLife
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whole has a shortfall of 1 million tonnes for the 2005/
October Household Surveys conducted annually between
2006 season. Considering the centrality of South Africa in
1994 and 1999 by Statistics SA contained a question on the
the transport, trade and infrastructure network of the
ability of households to feed children as an indication of
southern African region, its responsibility in terms of
food security. Although the quality of the information
regional food security is beyond doubt.147
was slightly impaired due to the inconsistent phrasing of the questions over the years, the surveys revealed that
Yet despite South Africa being considered food secure and
between one quarter and one third of households nation-
apparently self-sufficient in terms of food production,
ally were unable to purchase food to meet the dietary
by the end of 2003 more than 14 million South Africans (or
requirements of children at any given time. Again, the
about 35% of the population) were estimated to have
impact of food insecurity was felt most acutely in rural
been vulnerable to food insecurity, 1,6 million children were
households in poorer provinces, especially in the Eastern
stunted by malnutrition, and approxi-
Between one quarter and one
mately 43% of households were suffer-
third of households nationally
ing from food poverty. The National Food
were unable to purchase food to
Consumption Survey carried out in 1999
meet the dietary requirements
found that of South African children
of children at any given time.
aged between one and nine years, one
Cape and Mpumalanga. On the basis of the Food Consumption Survey of 1999, 52% of households nationally experienced hunger during 1999, 23% were identified to be at risk of hunger, while only 25% appeared to be food secure.
in ten was underweight while about one in five was stunted
Consistent with other studies, the impact of food insecurity
(low height for age).
also seems to
was found to be greater in rural areas, with the highest
suggest that malnutrition in South Africa has worsened
prevalence on commercial farms.151 Research carried out
over time: the prevalence of underweight children, for
from 1998 to 2000 in 15 randomly selected rural and urban
instance, increased from 9,3% to 10,3% during the 1990s,
areas in the North West province used a set of indicators to
while stunting among children aged one to six years
determine household food security by dividing households
increased from 22,9% in 1994 to 23,3% in 1999. The preva-
into categories of ‘very insecure,’ ‘insecure,’ relatively secure,’
lence of underweight, stunted and wasted (low weight
and ‘secure.’ Remarkably, 74% of households in the sample
for age) children was also consistently higher on commer-
were classified as insecure or very insecure. These house-
cial farms and in rural areas compared to urban areas.
holds either regularly experienced food insecurity or did
148
Empirical evidence
149
150
not feel secure that they had enough food to eat.152
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A rural household study surveying 677 households in
holds. A major coping strategy adopted by some
Limpopo province during 2001 found that 24,3% of the
households involves the withdrawal of their chil-
households could be described as AIDS-affected
dren from school.154
153
house-
holds. The average annual income for affected households (R13 314) was found to be approximately 35% lower than
The more critical food security situation in rural areas is
that of unaffected households (R20 606), and affected
given some perspective when viewed in context of the
households spent more money on transportation, medical
findings of Stats SA’s Rural Survey, conducted in 1997.155
care, and funeral expenses, but less on education and other
The overwhelming majority (93%) of the households
cost of living items compared to unaffected households.
surveyed were engaged in subsistence farming, and income-
Many affected households, the study concluded,
generating activities were insignificant. Only a small proportion (3%) of the sample relied on farming activities for
...tried to supplement their household income in various ways. Some households engaged in diversification of their income sources, for example, some household members started petty trading in agricultural products such as fruit and vegetables, while
A major coping strategy adopted by some households involves the withdrawal of their children from school.
their main source of income. A full 72,2% (N=1 700 544) of the surveyed population had no access to electricity, while 78,2% (N=1 841 829) had no access to piped tap water. The main sources of income were specified as: salaries and wages from members
other households started selling second-hand clothes.
of the same household (37%); pensions or grants (31%);
Many households adopted borrowing as their
and remittances/allowances from family members living
survival strategy. Loans or credit were obtained
elsewhere (21%).156 It has been estimated that over two
from relatives, friends and funeral agencies to cope
thirds of ultra-poor households are located in rural areas,
with the HIV/AIDS-engendered problems of medical
and as the ultra-poor spend over 50% of their income
treatment, increased transportation and funeral
on food, increasing food prices have a disproportionate
costs. Some households adopted sale of their house-
impact on them.157
hold assets such as cattle, goats and chickens to generate additional income to meet up with house-
The poverty and malnutrition prevalent in South Africa’s
hold’s cash requirements. This was a popular coping
rural areas amid the country’s apparent wealth of food
strategy adopted by smallholder farming house-
resources remain a sombre testament to a heritage of
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© Gisele Wulfsohn/South Photographs
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entrenched inequality. South Africa’s levels of inequality
The survey found unemployment to be twice as high in
in income and consumption remain staggering: the poorest
rural areas compared to metropolitan areas, and as was
20% of the population has only a 3,5% share of national
confirmed by subsequent studies, poor households devel-
consumption, while the richest 20% has a share of 62,2%,
oped coping strategies of multiple sources of income. Thus
giving South Africa a Gini index value of 57,8 (with a value
social pensions and remittances were found to each play
of 100 representing perfect inequality).158 The excessive
as significant a role as wages among the poorest 20% of
or indeed appalling long-term impact of inequality and
households. Eighty per cent of poor rural African house-
discrimination in South Africa is reflected in the findings
holds were found to spend an average of four hours a day
of the 1993 SALDRU survey,159 undertaken at the advent
fetching water and firewood, and more than 80% of the
of the new political dispensation. Unlike official statistics
people performing these chores were women. The survey
hitherto, the SALDRU survey sample included the nominal
also included a physical examination of the heights and
homeland areas. The survey found South
The legacy of apartheid has left
Africa’s poverty rate160 to be 24%, with
the majority of the population
the level of poverty in rural areas alone
in poverty, with little access to
accounting for 77% of this total (three
employment, education, health,
times more than metropolitan areas), even
or other basic services.
though rural households only made up
53% of the population. The geographical distribution
weights of a sub-sample of children, and among the poorest 20% of households 38% of children below five years of age were found to suffer from stunting. In his analysis of the findings of the SALDRU Survey, Stephan Klasen concluded that
the survey
of poverty was found to closely resemble the administrative structures of the old political dispensation. Thus
has shown that the legacy of apartheid has left
the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces (which were
the majority of the population in poverty, with little
largely constituted of homeland areas) carried a higher
access to employment, education, health, or other
burden of poverty, as a poverty rate of 92% in the Transkei
basic services. It offered a spatially unsustainable
attests. Despite containing only 50% of the population,
residential pattern, leaving a majority of the poor
the homeland areas in total carried 70% of the poverty
economically marginal areas of the country, depend-
burden, and black Africans were estimated to account
ent on transfers and whatever incomes they could
for no less than 96% of national poverty.
eke out of the available resource base...The analysis
161
also shows that income poverty is closely related
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© Rob Brown/PictureNET Africa
to other capability failures such as poor health, poor mobility, poor education, and poor access to services.162
By 1999, in the wake of considerable and auspicious political change, the National Food Consumption Survey (which surveyed 2 894 children between one and nine years of age nationally) found one in five fathers in rural, tribal and informal urban areas to be unemployed, and no less than 50% of mothers to be unemployed. Fifty-five percent of the households surveyed still used paraffin, wood/coal or an open fire for cooking. As has been noted, this survey found stunting to be by far the most common nutritional disorder affecting children, and it emphasised that this disorder was considerably more prevalent on commercial farms, and in tribal and rural areas.163 In response to the findings of the National Food Consumption Survey, a research team from the University of Pretoria conducted a needs assessment research study in a community on a commercial farm in the north-eastern Free State province. The aim of the study was to conduct a situational analysis in order to verify the national findings of nutritional problems on commercial farms. Focusing on 18 homesteads (with
hygiene, as
an average monthly income of R650) on a farm covering
they don’t practice personal hygiene, don’t wash
an area of 1 500 hectares, the study found 53% of the sur-
themselves, don’t brush their teeth, and don’t wash
veyed children (n=20) to be underweight, while 63% were
their hands after defecation. Children don’t use pit
moderately or severely stunted. The participants were
latrines but go to the field. Faeces were observed
also found to be lacking in personal and household
within 5 metres of the houses... All the children
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appeared very dirty, and were wearing dirty clothes.
Statistics SA’s Income and Expenditure Survey of 2000
They also indicated that they had not bathed within
revealed that 57% of all South African households derived
that particular week. During food preparation times,
their main source of income from wages or salaries, followed
no surfaces were cleaned when fresh vegetables
by social grants (14%) and remittances (10%), while only
were cut. Hands were also not washed before prepa-
4% of households reported agriculture as their main source
ration started... Only 4 of the 18 houses could be
of income. Thus while agriculture is no doubt a significant
described as domestically clean...
component of household food security and rural livelihoods,
164
other sources of income (especially for the poorer echelons Analyses of chronic food insecurity (under-nutrition) and
of the population) have come to play an equal or more
acute food insecurity (famine) in Africa have begun to pro-
significant role. Poor households have diversified their
duce an emerging consensus which examines a household’s
livelihood strategies by constructing a portfolio of income-
food security in the context of both limited food availability
generating activities and social support capabilities in order
and restricted access to food. This bifurcation is an essential point of departure in understanding patterns of poverty in South Africa.
165
We have seen that South
Thus it is not a question of the availability of food, but rather of people’s ability to access food.
to survive. This implies that people’s ability to acquire food has come to rely almost solely on their ability to engage with the cash economy – hence the direct link be-
Africa is a net exporter of food, easily seeing to its own needs
tween malnutrition and factors such as poverty and unem-
in cereals, yet we have also seen that malnutrition and food
ployment. Thus it is not a question of the availability of
poverty affects at least 35% of South African households.
food (which is clearly no concern, given South Africa’s agri-
This anomaly has much to do with the way the largest part
cultural export statistics), but rather of people’s ability to
of the population was systematically denied independent
access food. The historical trend of socio-economic develop-
farming opportunities or economic and social mobility under
ment in South Africa has ensured the erosion of a funda-
a segregationist political dispensation until late in the twen-
mentally agrarian existence for the poor and an increased
tieth century. The dire social circumstances that persist today
reliance on non-farm and even non-rural incomes. With
in the former homeland areas and much of rural South
the state of economic underdevelopment of the majority
Africa166 have made people’s access to food persistently
of the non-white population this has exposed a great
problematic, and the resulting malnutrition has consequently
number of people to food insecurity and malnutrition.167
interacted insidiously with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses.
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Adding HIV/AIDS
ill and more resources are needed to care for them, households have less money to purchase seed or to pay for
Household income In South Africa is thus especially impor-
ploughing services, resulting in under-utilisation of the
tant in terms of food security as it directly affects households’
available land. The study also found that because land
access to food. Income earned from both on-farm and off-
left under-utilised became vulnerable to seizure, households
farm activities allows households to access food either via
would opt to hire casual workers. Different options such
the money economy or through bartering. HIV/AIDS under-
as renting or selling the land or engaging in sharecropping
mines food security, however, through its impact on incomes
agreements were either disallowed or perceived to be
and food purchasing power, its impact on the ability to
too risky to undertake. The impact of HIV/AIDS, the study
engage in agriculture for both food and cash crop produc-
concluded, exacerbated
tion, and its effect on diverse livelihood strategies. In the process HIV/AIDS increases households’ vulnerability by gradually undermining the basic capacity to perform work, cultivate fields, interact socially and implement diverse livelihood strategies. Poorer
AIDS-affected households thus increasingly rely on children or the elderly for a greater proportion of income, and on pensions and other forms of state support.
households are much less able to cope
the termination of cultivation due to a lack of inputs (which) has resulted in many households becoming increasingly dependent on the cash economy, lending associations and state welfare grant, or dropping fur-
with the impact of HIV/AIDS than wealthier households,
ther into the poverty cycle. The impact of HIV/AIDS
which can hire casual labour and better absorb shocks. AIDS-
...usually severely undermines existing resources
affected households thus increasingly rely on children or
so that agricultural activity no longer is an option
the elderly for a greater proportion of income, and on
for many households.169
pensions and other forms of state support.168 Individuals and households affected by food insecurity will One study conducted during 2002 on the impact of HIV/
engage in experimentation and adaptation as they attempt
AIDS on issues of land and land livelihoods in four sites in
to cope with immediate and long-term shocks. Thus house-
rural KwaZulu-Natal found that one of the earliest and
holds under stresses of hunger, poverty or disease will adopt
most direct consequences facing rural households was less
a range of multiple livelihood strategies, which can be either
labour available to work the land. As individuals become
erosive (unsustainable, undermining resilience) or non-
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erosive (easily reversible). The sale of selected livestock,
labour organisation or legal protection, African farmers
for instance, may not result in increased poverty, yet at some
were exposed to human rights violations and other work-
point household livestock holdings may be reduced to a
related abuses, inhibiting their skills to engage in the wider
point where they are no longer sustainable. Consumption
economy and prospects for advancement. Research172 on
reducing and switching strategies are generally the first
the health of farm workers underlines the fact that they
option utilised in the face of food shortages. Thus
continue to represent a seriously underserved worker popu-
households may switch to ‘wild’ foods or go entire days
lation whose health is negatively affected by occupational
without food. As has been noted, another option for
hazards in agriculture, migrancy, discrimination and poverty.
households under stress is the removal of children from
Also noted was the high level of alcohol abuse, domestic
school in order to release them for household chores or
violence and chronic malnutrition, and that children living
to save the expenses of their schooling. Such children, however, may be removed from school feeding schemes and their nutritional balance adversely affected.170
According to the FAO, the projected loss through HIV/AIDS in South Africa’s agricultural labour force between 1985 and 2020 will be 20%.
Farm workers continue to represent a seriously underserved worker population whose health is negatively affected by occupational hazards in agriculture, migrancy, discrimination and poverty.
on commercial farms are more likely to be stunted and underweight than any other children.173
Despite the deplorable social and economic conditions on farm households, there is a lack of research on farm households in South Africa, especially in regard
South African farm workers are among
to the impact of HIV/AIDS. One study that was conducted by
the most vulnerable members of the workforce, earning
the International Organisation for Migration and published
the lowest wages, with women earning even less than men.
in 2004, however, consisted of a behavioural surveillance
Yet as agriculture provides about 11% of South Africa’s
survey among farmworkers living and working in the South
formal employment and 27% of informal employment, it
African/Mozambican border region. Surveying 183 South
constitutes an important economic sector. Because of the
African and foreign workers on 12 farms, the study found
exploitative nature of the political development of agricul-
a striking lack of both governmental and non-governmental
ture in South Africa, however, rural Africans were uprooted
interventions directed at the farm workers, which contrib-
from the natural resource basis of their livelihoods, severely
uted to poor knowledge of HIV/AIDS among the workers
affecting rural subsistence farming. Lacking any significant
and to the prevalence of unchallenged myths about the
171
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© Tasos Calintzis
© Tasos Calintzis
© Tasos Calintzis
© Lisa Hutchinson/AfriLife
disease. Although AIDS was rarely spoken about on the
pounds, both in sexual relations with steady and casual
farms, widespread beliefs among the workers included,
partners and in cases of transactional sex. While condom
for instance, that AIDS could be cured and that it is not
use was extremely poor, the study also found indications
deadly, and that condoms are ineffective in preventing
of a flourishing trade of transactional sex during harvest
HIV. The study also found that high-risk sexual behaviour
time. Reflecting on the low standard of living on the farms,
is common between men and women on the farm com-
the study concluded that
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The more things change...
farm workers’ vulnerability to HIV should be seen as inextricably linked to the socio-economic context of the farms. A picture of the workers’ vulnerability
Since 1994 land reform has come to perform an important
emerges when one considers the combined impact
symbolic function as tangible evidence of addressing histori-
of the entire gamut of negative social, economic and
cal injustices as part of a more comprehensive process of
labour conditions which exist on farms. Each worker
nation-building in the ‘new’ South Africa. Yet with the three
confronts difficult basic conditions: not only poor
components of land reform – redistribution, restitution and
pay together with often exploitative working con-
tenure reform – the limited means provided for extensive
ditions, but also overcrowded accommodation, poor
outcomes have ensured that the significant process of
sanitation, long absences from home, boredom,
land reform has fallen far short of expectations. Moreover,
limited recreation opportunities, and a meagre hand-to-mouth existence with little hope for the future. When one’s daily life is a struggle in so many respects, HIV/AIDS appears as a distant threat, only one of many faced daily by workers. Interviews with workers gave a sense that many feel disem-
Land reform has come to perform an important symbolic function as tangible evidence of addressing historical injustices as part of a more comprehensive process of nation-building in the ‘new’ South Africa.
development in post-apartheid South Africa has been integrated with neo-liberal capitalism175 that elevates economic growth above social justice, making the market the nexus of developmental activities. Yet markets are not merely instruments for the regulation of supply and demand, they are also social institutions
powered, leading them to believe that they have
constantly restructured by governments, firms, social move-
few options and little possibility to improve, or alter
ments and individuals. Power in the market is inevitably
the course, of their lives. They lament that there
skewed towards those who have legal possession, while
is little hope for the future, which suggests that
those without legal possession fall further behind if the
workers may have little incentive to act in a manner
market is the central distributive mechanism. Significantly,
which will safeguard their health in the long term,
markets only recognise ‘effective demand’, i.e. they register
or seek help when their health and well being is
only the demand of those who can pay the going rate for
threatened.174
goods and services, and as a result the majority of the population is marginalised and left out of the development processes supposedly aimed at benefiting them. Instead,
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global markets increasingly dictate the nature and direction
in administering a post-apartheid society, the politically-
of economic growth, while state intervention is limited
inclusive character of the liberation movement exposed
to assisting those previously marginalised to participate
it to various ideological influences, in particular the neo-
in them more effectively.
liberal political project which was in global ascendancy at
176
the time of South Africa’s transitional period. As a result, Considering the heritage of prolonged labour-repression
according to Stephen Greenberg, the
and discrimination in South Africa, the inadequacy of the market to rectify decades of rural underdevelopment is
approach to development in the neo-liberal context
clearly apparent. The history of the most impoverished parts
was a hybrid of tendencies and frameworks that
of the rural areas is mostly an account of women forced
lacked coherence, and was dragged inordinately to
to remain behind while men were forced to seek employment in urban areas, on farms, and on the mines. With children to support, women stayed behind to work the land (for which they had no legal title) and had to go to great lengths to collect water and fuel. As has been repeatedly documented in this study, by 1994 the
The history of the most impoverished parts of the rural areas is mostly an account of women forced to remain behind while men were forced to seek employment in urban areas, on farms, and on the mines.
the left and the right by the ebb and flow of the balance of power between class and social forces, domestically and globally.177
Thus attempting to ensure limited disruption of the economy while making efforts to redistribute opportunities and resourc-
rural areas were mostly poverty-stricken with an acute lack
es, with the centrality of the market the post-apartheid
of services, characterised by survivalist practices in rural
state contented itself with only intervening in the economy
ghettos and remote settlements affected by circular migra-
by facilitating entry into its margins for those without their
tion. Irrespective of any efforts launched during the new
own resources (i.e. via grants and subsidies) and by using
dispensation to resuscitate the rural economy and address
the power and resources of the state to create opportunities
the backlog of services, it is obvious that the fragmented
for black advancement, in other words black economic
and impoverished state of rural areas by the time of the end
empowerment. After 1994 these strategies were concretised
of apartheid had already created a milieu conducive to a
in the form of the Reconstruction and Development Pro-
mounting HIV/AIDS epidemic and the attendant ills of malnu-
gramme (RDP). The RDP located land reform at the centre
trition and food security. In rising to the challenges inherent
of rural development, and called for the transfer of 30%
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of agricultural land in five years. However, as the market
compared to the price of land, the programme often in-
was expected to mediate the transfer of land, the extensive
duced households to pool their grants to be able to purchase
land reform objectives were undermined by the state’s
land, leading to overcrowding. In addition, not only were
emphases on fiscal stringency, export-led growth and the
the beneficiaries not trained or supported in maintaining
desire to construct a black bourgeoisie on a par with the
economic activities once they were settled, but the land
white elite. With the implementation of the Growth,
acquisitions were also not linked to support and resources
Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) macro-economic
which would enable people to effectively generate a liveli-
strategy from 1996, rural development strategies were
hood on the land. In response to widespread criticism of
designed with stability and strengthening competitiveness
the SLAG programme, a moratorium was placed on land
in mind. Thus, by largely leaving economic reform to the
redistribution in 1999, pending an internal policy review.
control of the market and by providing for minimal state
Subsequently, the welfarist approach was replaced in 2000
involvement to reduce expenditure, the state has ceded the direction of reform to those who wield the greatest control of the market – the bulk of the country’s elites controlling most of South Africa’s resources. As a result, the land reform
The welfarist approach was replaced in 2000 with a ‘modernisation’ strategy aimed at establishing a class of commercial black farmers.
with a ‘modernisation’ strategy aimed at establishing a class of commercial black farmers. The 30% target was confirmed, but it was now to be achieved over a longer period of 15 years (2000 to 2015). The new Land Redistribution for Agricultural
programme was given a limited budget, targets for redis-
Development (LRAD) programme was designed for people
tribution were revised from RDP estimates, and land redis-
with capital to invest, as applicants were expected to make
tribution was subordinated to maintaining continuity
a contribution to the costs of the land of between R5 000
with commercial agriculture.178
and R400 000, while accordingly being eligible for a matching grant of between R20 000 and R100 000.179 While
The primary focus of land reform after 1994 was the redis-
the LRAD programme has been more successful than its
tribution of land via a market-led ‘willing buyer, willing
predecessor, the programme is still lagging far behind the
seller’ programme. Between 1995 and 1999 this was embod-
rate of 2,1 million hectares needing to be transferred
ied in making settlement/land acquisition grants (SLAG)
annually in order to meet the target of 30% of agricultural
available to poor households in order to purchase land. Yet
land transferred by 2015. Beneficiaries of the LRAD pro-
because the grants (R16 000) were relatively insignificant
gramme differ markedly between provinces,180 and land
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distribution remains beset with difficulties, i.e. lack of
have involved cash settlements with individual house-
land for sale at reasonable prices in areas of high demand
holds in urban areas, and little progress has been made in
and financial and practical obstacles to the poor accessing
settling rural claims involving many more people and large
the programme.
tracts of land. Where restitution of land has been achieved,
181
it appears that black recipients have mostly gained access A land restitution programme was also adopted in 1994 as
to low-value land,182 while little inroads have been made
a separate process of redistributing land rights from white
into white ownership of the profitable high-value sectors
to black South Africans who were dispossessed of their land
of agriculture. The contradiction inherent in the restitution
after 1913 by means of such measures as forced removals
process between black communities’ historical claims to
in terms of the Group Areas Act. The Restitution of Land
land and the property rights of its current owners remains
Rights Act of 1994 provided the legal framework for the implementation of the land restitution programme, and hence a Commission on the Restitution of Land Claims as well as a Land Claims Court was established. Claimants could reclaim their land or opt for other redress, and 63 455 claims had been lodged
The vast majority of the settled claims have involved cash settlements with individual households in urban areas, and little progress has been made in settling rural claims involving many more people and large tracts of land.
a daunting challenge, and is not helped by the budgetary constraints affecting the programme.183
The third pillar of the land reform policy is tenure reform, aiming to create a unitary, non-racial system of legal tenure rights in South Africa’s former
when the deadline for submissions passed in December
homeland areas. This has recently been legislated in the
1998. Most of the claims were urban claims lodged by
form of Communal Land Rights Act (CLRA) of 2004. The
individual households. Settling the claims proved to be
drafting of the tenure legislation was an arduous process
very time-consuming, and by 1999 only 41 claims had been
as people residing in the former homeland areas hold con-
resolved. The rate at which claims were settled increased
flicting and overlapping rights to the land, which were
rapidly, however, when an administrative process (where-
acquired through occupation and not through a statutory
by the state seeks negotiated settlements with claimants)
process. In addition, following the end of statutory apart-
was implemented instead of the arduous legal process,
heid, systems of land administration in these areas have
and 18 000 claims were settled during a one-year period
collapsed and hence there is widespread uncertainty
in 2001/2002. The vast majority of the settled claims
about land rights. The drafting and implementation of
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the CLRA have seen protracted tensions about the role
macro-economic environment within which it is to be
of traditional authorities, as the question of whether land
attained. The market-led state purchasing or subsidising
should be transferred to these authorities or rather to the
of land is difficult to achieve in a context of fiscal restraint
communities themselves was a very contentious issue.
and an emphasis on limiting the involvement of the state
Despite being passed by Parliament, the CLRA remains a
in the economy. Consequently, a mere 2,9% of agricultural
bone of contention, leaving rural tenure rights in a pre-
land was transferred in the first decade after 1994, a state-
carious position. Of special concern is the fact that the
ment that seems more poignant when one considers that
concept of ‘community’ envisaged by the act is mostly a
the budget allocated for land reform in this period consist-
product of social engineering under apartheid, as well as
ently remained at or below 0,5% of the national budget.
fears that the act places undue discretionary powers in
Yet by one consideration the cost of settling the outstanding
the hands of the minister of agriculture and that it impairs women’s access to land under communal tenure. With rural tenure rights still uncertain and with increasing focus of redistribution afforded to commercial agriculture, overcrowding and poverty in the former homelands remain altogether unresolved.184
With rural tenure rights still uncertain and with increasing focus of redistribution afforded to commercial agriculture, overcrowding and poverty in the former homelands remain altogether unresolved.
rural restitution claims is reckoned to be over R10 billion. It is not surprising that emphasis has been placed on mobilising private capital in assisting LRAD participants, yet the scale of the shortfall is considerable. In addition, the process of the removal of state subsidies and support to the agricultural sector since the late
1980s has complicated the state’s attempts to generate a In light thus of the inauspicious progress made with land
class of emerging black farmers. Nevertheless, while agricul-
reform, the problem, according to Ruth Hall, is essentially
ture only accounts for 4% of the GDP, as we have seen it
a question of ‘big policy and the shrinking state’. Despite
is a significant earner of foreign exchange, as well as an
the excessive extent of dispossession in South African his-
important source of livelihood for vast rural populations.
tory, current attempts to rectify this have been cautious,
Since the mid-1990s, however, the agricultural sector has
able neither to achieve limited aims nor to fundamentally
been shedding jobs, and the state’s ideological attachment
restructure the rural economy. Moreover, the intent and
to commercial agriculture has tended to undervalue small-
objectives of the reform programme are at odds with the
scale, remote and resource-poor farmers.185
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It is apparent that the development of South Africa’s
ages, the price of processed maize meal increased by 60%,
agrarian structure has aggravated food insecurity for the
while the prices of vegetable oil, flour and beef also rose
majority of the black population, especially those in the
steeply. The benefits of large-scale capitalist growth envis-
rural areas. Black subsistence farming was undermined
aged for the commercial agricultural sector is unlikely to
for most of the twentieth century in an effort to drive the
benefit the majority of the rural population much.186
black population into wage labour, and the very fact that people remained on the land was used to justify the pay-
While the post-apartheid order has achieved political lib-
ment of extraordinarily low wages. Thus not only was the
eration, it appears to have come at the cost of economic
black population at large unable to produce food, because
continuity.187 It is a cruel irony that liberation from political
of the low wages it was also unable to access food in the
oppression has not concurrently ensured liberation from
market. In addition, as maize produced on commercial
hunger and poverty for South Africa’s rural population,
farms was taken to grain silos near urban areas and sold back into rural areas, the value added was retained in urban areas. White-owned retail companies were also not allowed to locate outlets in the homelands, and maize thus had to be
The benefits of large-scale capitalist growth envisaged for the commercial agricultural sector is unlikely to much benefit the majority of the rural population.
despite the fact that the country is apparently self-sufficient in food production. It seems not too audacious to contend that people who were regarded as superfluous were dumped in rural reserves in the past, and they remain
distributed via small retail stores, which increased the
there still, seemingly again left out of the loop of devel-
retail price. The deregulation of agriculture also has not
opment strategies, in which they are a concern and not
been overly kind to the poor. When the bread industry was
a priority. They also remain poor, and now have to con-
deregulated in 1991, for example, the price of bread rose
tend with HIV/AIDS as well.
by 46% in the 12 months after November 1991, while the volume of bread consumed declined by 6%. Long distances and poor roads, moreover, meant that the cost of delivery of a loaf of bread in rural areas was almost twice that in urban areas. To offset this, rural bakeries would often reduce the quality of the bread. During 2001, as a result of the devaluation of the rand and regional food short-
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A different future It seems South Africa is unable to escape its past. In terms
unchanged. The single-digit annual percentage points of
of production the agricultural sector is generally in good
macro-economic growth which are so highly prized in gov-
shape, yet many of South Africa’s people are not. We had
ernment circles are paltry comfort for the millions of South
the euphoria of a democratic transition from what was
Africans concerned about the source of their next meal.
in every respect a turbulent and traumatic past. Yet for a
In short, food security remains in a state of crisis in South
large share of the population the primacy of the market
Africa: the comprehensive range of studies and statistical
in post-apartheid South Africa has ensured continuing
evidence reflect a society seriously affected by hunger,
levels of poverty and hunger more commonly associated
poverty and disease.
with exploitative regimes. Many households are still caught up in a maelstrom of hunger and disease: the close synergy
In a society which reproduces within itself patterns of mal-
between malnutrition and HIV/AIDS has been well docu-
nutrition while concurrently producing enough food, one
mented in this study.
needs to question the very essence of South Africa’s socioeconomic system. It seems true that if a state fails to feed
Seen within a macro-economic context, South Africa’s agri-
its own people properly it has entered the realm of primary
cultural sector has performed admirably: the value of agricul-
culpability. South Africa’s case, however, is not nearly so
tural exports has increased from just over R8 billion in 1995
simple. Prolonged and systemic historical processes of dis-
to about R23 billion in 2003. Over this period, South Africa
crimination and exploitation have fashioned a dire socio-
has vastly increased its agricultural exports to Angola,
economic life for many South Africans. In fact, we have
Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.188 Yet as
seen in this study that an entire class of black farmers was
this study has shown, 30-40% of South Africans remain
practically destroyed, rural populations were pushed to
affected by hunger and malnutrition, HIV prevalence rises
the very margins of the economy, and many people came
annually, and the government’s hands-off approach and
to suffer great privations and exertions in order to produce
export-oriented fixation have seen almost no progress
a livelihood. The statistics mentioned in this study have
made with land reform. As a result, for many people in
revealed a picture of hardship and hunger; that 78% of
rural South Africa, the need to merely survive remains
the population surveyed in the 1997 Rural Survey had
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no access to piped tap water seems almost unbelievable,
redistribution programme has attested to this. While South
yet it is not possible to comprehend the extent of hardship
Africa’s macro-economic strategists forge ahead with lofty
of the human reality behind such a statistic. To effectively
long-term goals, South Africa remains a country character-
redress South Africa’s longstanding historical inequalities
ised by a dualistic agricultural system, by healthy agricul-
in a relatively short period of time will be difficult, irrespec-
tural exports and malnourished populations, and by modern
tive of the policies employed. It seems that the dire circum-
industrial centres and underdeveloped rural areas (or, more
stances that continue to affect rural populations are an
crudely stated, ‘black spots’ lingering eerily as reminders
ineluctable reality of post-apartheid South Africa. We
of a previous era). South Africa is a country of great opulence
continue to live in the shadow of the past.
and abject poverty. Indeed – as the popular epithet goes – it is a world in one country.
What seem more reasonable to question are the policies currently in place to redress the injustices of the past. While retaining comprehensive objectives of land reform, in line with its macro-economic strategies the post-apartheid state has structured its activities wholly in the context of
While South Africa’s macro-economic strategists forge ahead with lofty long-term goals, South Africa remains a country characterised by a dualistic agricultural system.
Patrick Bond has on occasion referred to the effects of South Africa’s macroeconomic policy on the population, describing it as no less than ‘the conflict between neo-liberalism and life’.189 He has accused the post-1994
the market. Such an approach is consistent with directives
government of ‘talking left and walking right’. It is tempt-
from international financial bodies, such as the World
ing indeed to see newly emergent class structures in terms
Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In order to
of petty bourgeoisie construction (or what has been termed
limit inflation, the state has accepted a restricted role in the
the up-and-coming ‘blackeoisie’), which takes place at
economy, forming public-private partnerships to ensure
the expense of the majority of the population. Those who
service delivery and relying on broad-based macro-economic
were wealthy under the previous dispensation have gener-
gains to trickle down to the population at large. Yet it has
ally remained wealthy (or have become even wealthier),
become patently obvious that the market on its own will
and those who were poor have increasingly become
not adequately reconstitute South Africa’s racially skewed
poorer. In light of the fact that the overall gap between
socio-economic conditions: the market is by nature geared
rich and poor has widened in South Africa in the last 10
for profit and not redistribution – the failure of the land
years, the restructuring of the country’s economy to
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facilitate a more widespread distribution of resources might
of people who run the risk of suffering food insecurity are
well be the moral imperative.
to be included. In the light of rampant unemployment, a basic income grant may well be necessary if ‘perverse
Yet while it is possible to see current prospects for change
incentives’, such as individuals opting to become infected
in an inauspicious light, it is important to note that the
with HIV or not adhering to antiretroviral treatment in
current socio-political situation is dynamic and not imper-
order to access grants, are to be negated. Another option
meable to more radical influences. Frustration with the slow
to consider may be the distribution of food stamps to
pace of land reform has spawned movements such as the
those considered most vulnerable.
Landless People’s Movement, and land invasions in Zimbabwe have become an ominous indication of what is possible
It is tempting to conjecture how the current decade will
in a society grappling with, and frustrated by limited land
be recorded in South African history. After the euphoria of
reform. Recent indications are that the South African government has decided to jettison the ‘willing buyer-willing seller’ principle hitherto considered responsible for the slow pace of land redistribution. Tozi Gwanya, South Africa’s chief land claims commissioner,
it should be emphasised that HIV/AIDS is only one facet of a comprehensive developmental quandary in South Africa.
the transition, South Africa is still engaged in an intense struggle to deal with its overbearing historical realities. This period will certainly be characterised in terms of HIV/ AIDS: when the epidemic was at the height of its impact, and when millions of South
announced in February 2006 that the government would
Africans succumbed to the disease. Yet it should be empha-
now resort to expropriation of white-owned land. “We
sised that HIV/AIDS is only one facet of a comprehensive
cannot wait any longer,” Gwanya stated, adding that the
developmental quandary in South Africa: other very prom-
government would engage in expropriation with just
inent aspects are malnutrition and hunger, together con-
compensation.190
stituting a multifaceted challenge to the general well-being of an entire nation. Dealing with history is just about as
The government’s extended public works programme could
difficult as constructing a different future.
potentially be a step in the right direction too – building much-needed infrastructure, while at the same time creating jobs in areas where very few existed previously. But the programme needs to be considerably expanded if 30-40%
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© Tasos Calintzis
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© Henner Frankenfeld/PictureNET Africa
© Michael Wolf
© Tasos Calintzis
© Michael Wolf
© Tasos Calintzis
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Endnotes 1 K. Marx, Kapital, Volume I, Der Produktionprozess des Kapitals, pp. 726-727.
key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, p. 4.
in South Africa 2005, p. 48.
2 United States Department of Agriculture,
9 D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand
Food security assessment: May 2005, p. 1.
& C. Heyns (Eds.), Socio-economic rights
3 M.B. Jooma, ‘Southern Africa assessment:
19 H. Marais, Buckling: the impact of AIDS
in South Africa, pp. 156-157.
20 H. Marais, Buckling: the impact of AIDS in South Africa 2005, p. 48. 21 FAO, The state of food insecurity in the
food security and HIV/AIDS’, in African
10 FAO, The state of food insecurity in the
world 2005: eradicating world hunger –
Security Review 14(1), 2005, pp. 59-66.
world 2005: eradicating world hunger –
key to achieving the Millennium Develop-
4 D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand & C. Heyns (Eds.), Socio-economic rights in South Africa, p. 154. 5 M.B. Jooma, ‘Southern Africa assessment: food security and HIV/AIDS’, in African Security Review 14(1), 2005, pp. 59-66. 6 J. Drèze & A. Sen, Hunger and public action, quoted in D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand & C. Heyns (Eds.), Socioeconomic rights in South Africa, p. 189. 7 This is true in spite of the fact that several important human rights documents that
key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, p. 2; p. 4. 11 D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand & C. Heyns (Eds.), Socio-economic rights in South Africa, pp. 157-159. 12 D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand & C. Heyns (Eds.), Socio-economic rights in South Africa, p. 155.
from:
[email protected] 23 T. Barnett & A. Whiteside, AIDS in the twenty-first century: disease and globalisation, p. 223. 24 See for example: M. Hunter, ‘The materiality of everyday sex: thinking beyond
13 D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand
‘prostitution’’, in African Studies, 61(1), July
& C. Heyns (Eds.), Socio-economic rights
2002, pp. 99-120; and S. Leclerc-Madlala,
in South Africa, pp. 161-162.
‘Transactional sex and the pursuit of
14 R. Mkwandire & K. Albright, Achieving
have a direct bearing on food security
food security: what next for sub-Saharan
came into being in the late 1960s and early
Africa? 16 March 2006.
1970s. Examples are the International
ment Goals, pp. 8; 10-12. 22 IAC 2004: Empowering rural households,
15 M.B. Jooma, ‘Southern Africa assessment:
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
food security and HIV/AIDS’, in African
Rights (1966), which proclaims rights to
Security Review 14(1), 2005, pp. 59-66.
modernity’, in Social Dynamics, 29(2), Winter 2003, pp. 213-233. 25 N. Nattrass, The moral economy of AIDS in South Africa, pp. 24-29. 26 H. Marais, Buckling: the impact of AIDS in South Africa 2005, p. 50.
adequate food and freedom from hunger
16 D. Brand, ‘The right to food’, in D. Brand
27 D. Patient & N. Orr, ‘Ego and pig-headed-
(and is probably the most important doc-
& C. Heyns (Eds.), Socio-economic rights
ness’, in Mail & Guardian, 2-8 June, 2006,
ument in international law with respect
in South Africa, p. 152.
p. 24.
to socio-economic rights generally and the right to food specifically); and the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (1974). 8 FAO, The state of food insecurity in the world 2005: eradicating world hunger –
17 UNAIDS, AIDS epidemic update: December 2005, p. 17.
all along’, in Mail & Guardian, 9-15 June
18 See for example: A. De Waal & A. Whiteside, ‘New variant famine: AIDS and food crises in southern Africa’, in Lancet, 362:
2006, p. 23. 29 ‘Verbatim’, in Mail & Guardian, 9-15 June 2006, p. 23. 30 ‘Verbatim’, in Mail & Guardian, 9-15 June
1234-1237.
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28 M. Tshabalala-Msimang, ‘We were right
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2006, p. 23. 31 N. Nattrass, The moral economy of AIDS in South Africa, p. 35. 32 Department of Social Development and the Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria, Population, HIV/AIDS and development: a resource document, p. 44. 33 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in
43 South African Human Rights Commission, Report of the public hearing on the right to basic education 2006, p. 3. 44 I. Frye, Poverty and unemployment in South Africa, pp. 12-13. 45 Statistics South Africa, Labour force survey: 46 I. Frye, Poverty and unemployment in 47 HSRC, South African national HIV prevalence, HIV incidence, behaviour and
34 C Vogel, C de Swart, J Kirsten et al, Food security in South Africa: key policy issues for the medium term, p. 16. 35 I. Frye, Poverty and unemployment in South Africa, p. 6. 36 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in
communication survey, 2005. 48 Statistics South Africa, Labour force survey: 49 See for example: HSRC, South African
38 Statistics South Africa, Labour force survey: September 2005. 39 H. Marais, Buckling: the impact of HIV/ AIDS in South Africa, 2005, p. 57. 40 Statistics South Africa, Labour force survey: September 2005. 41 I. Frye, Poverty and unemployment in South Africa, p. 19.
black South African households: creative ways of coping and survival, p. 56. consequences in rural South Africa, Chronic Poverty Research Centre Working Paper No. 60, p. 6; N. Nattrass, Disability and
2005; S. Leclerc-Madlala, Transactional sex
welfare in South Africa’s era of unemploy-
and the pursuit of modernity; J. Wojcicki, problem of violence in taverns in Gauteng
No. 60, pp. 6-7.
AIDS in South Africa, 2005, pp. 58 59. 59 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in
behaviour and communication survey,
ways of coping and survival, pp. 52-53.
Poverty Research Centre Working Paper
Town, 2000.
national HIV prevalence, HIV incidence,
She drank his money: survival sex and the
consequences in rural South Africa, Chronic
MAY, J. (Ed.), Poverty and inequality in
60 E. Francis, Poverty: Causes, responses and
September 2005.
black South African households: creative 37 E. Francis, Poverty: causes, responses and
survey: July 2005. 57 D Budlender, ‘Human Development,’ in
58 H. Marais, Buckling: the impact of HIV/
South Africa, p. 18.
ways of coping and survival, p. 30; I. Frye, pp. 1-2.
ways of coping and survival, p. 30. 56 Statistics South Africa, General household
South Africa: Meeting the challenge. Cape
September 2005.
black South African households: creative Poverty and unemployment in South Africa,
black South African households: creative
province, South Africa; M. Hunter, The materiality of everyday sex: thinking beyond prostitution.
ment and AIDS, p. 1. 61 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in black South African households: creative ways of coping and survival, p. 56. 62 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in black South African households: creative
50 See for example: N. Nattrass, The moral
ways of coping and survival, p. 56.
economy of AIDS in South Africa.
63 N. Nattrass, Disability and welfare in South
51 H. Marais, Buckling: the impact of HIV/ AIDS in South Africa, 2005, pp. 52-53. 52 N.K. Poku, ‘Global pandemics: HIV/AIDS’ in D. Held & A. McGrew, Governing globalisation: power, authority and global governance, pp. 114-115.
Africa’s era of unemployment and AIDS, p. 1. 64 Hungry AIDS, TB patients shun treatment, Mail & Guardian Online, 30 June 2006. 65 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in black South African households: creative
53 J. Mulama, Using ARVs to fill empty stom-
ways of coping and survival, p. 56.
42 D Budlender, ‘Human Development,’ in
achs, Mail & Guardian Online, 14 June 2006.
66 N. Nattrass, Disability and welfare in South
MAY, J. (Ed.), Poverty and inequality in
54 Statistics South Africa, General household
Africa’s era of unemployment and AIDS,
South Africa: Meeting the challenge. Cape Town, 2000.
p. 2; p. 19.
survey: July 2005. 55 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in
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67 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in
black South African households: creative ways of coping and survival, p. 55. 68 S. Lemke, Food and nutrition security in black South African households: creative ways of coping and survival, p. 59. 69 C.H. Feinstein, An economic history of South Africa: conquest, discrimination and development, pp. 34- 35. 70 N Vink and J Kirsten, ‘Agriculture in the
76 Thus between 1960 and 1976 the share of
88 M Lipton, Capitalism and apartheid. South
public investment in GDP increased from
Africa, 1910-1984, pp. 368-369; Union
8% to 15%, before declining to 7% in
statistics for fifty Years, 1910-1960. Com-
1990 (World Bank, 1994, p. 9).
piled by the Bureau of Census and Statistics,
77 South African agriculture: structure, per-
Pretoria, 1960, K-3, L-3.
formance and options for the future. World
89 SJ Terblanche, ‘Empowerment in context:
Bank Discussion Paper No. 6, 1994, pp. 3-12.
the struggle for hegemony in South Africa,’
78 Abstract of agricultural statistics, Depart-
in J Kirstein et al, Agricultural democrati-
ment of Agriculture, p. 78.
sation in South Africa, pp. 17-19.
national economy,’ in L Nieuwoudt and
79 Development Bank of South Africa, Policy
J Groenewald, The challenge of change.
distortions and agricultural performance
formance and options for the future. World
Agriculture, land and the South African
in the South African economy, Discussion
Bank Discussion Paper No. 6, 1994, pp.
economy, pp. 3-5.
Paper No. 138, pp. 6-9.
44-46; N Vink and J Van Zyl, ‘Black disem-
71 N Vink and J Van Zyl, ‘Black disempowerment in South African agriculture: a historical perspective,’ in J Kirstein et al,
80 M Lipton, Capitalism and apartheid, pp. 258-260. 81 B Bayley, A revolution in the market. The deregulation of South African agri-
Africa, p. 61.
culture, pp. 39-40.
formance and options for the future. World
powerment in South African agriculture: a historical perspective,’ in J Kirstein et
Agricultural democratisation in South 72 South African agriculture: structure, per-
90 South African agriculture: structure, per-
al, Agricultural democratisation in South Africa, pp. 61-62. 91 By 1904, of a total of 900 000 African
82 FL Coleman (ed.), Economic history of South Africa, pp. 178-180.
households, 14% farmed their own land, 20% lived on crown land, and 49% lived
Bank Discussion Paper No. 6, 1994, p. 44.
83 M Lacey, Working for Boroko. The origins
73 South Africa comprises three main rain-
of a coercive labour system in South Africa,
leaving 11% residing in the reserves and
pp. 182-185.
less than 6% in wage employment (World
fall areas: the winter rainfall area in the Western Cape; an all-year rainfall area along the southern Cape coast; and a summer rainfall area that covers the re-
84 M Lipton, Capitalism and apartheid. South Africa, 1910-1984, pp. 258-260. 85 R Davies, D Kaplan (et al), ‘Class struggle
on white manorial estates as tenants,
Bank, 1994, p. 46). 92 South African agriculture: structure, performance and options for the future. World
mainder of the country (Nieuwoudt &
and the periodisation of the state in South
Bank Discussion Paper No. 6, 1994, pp. 45-
Groenewald, 2003, p. 21).
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46; N Vink and J Van Zyl, ‘Black disempow-
No. 7, September-December 1976, pp. 4-7.
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74 T Fényes & N Meyer, ‘Structure and production in South African agriculture,’ in
86 R Davies, D Kaplan (et al), ‘Class struggle
L Nieuwoudt & J Groenewald, The chal-
and the periodisation of the state in South
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the South African economy, pp. 21-45. 75 Unsurprisingly, South Africa’s share of
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93 Outside the reserves, Africans owned a mere 0,7% of land while 3,6% resided on
global manufactured exports fell by more
and the periodisation of the state in South
state or white-owned land. The size of
than half between 1955 and 1985, from
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the reserves remained unchanged until
0,8% to 0,3% (World Bank, 1994, p. 8).
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1936, when the Native Land Trust was
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established, which released the recommended 6 209 858 hectares to the original
towns (World Bank, 1994, p. 53). 102 Further legislation affecting African land
areas allotted in 1913, thus increasing the
ownership was promulgated in 1936,
total size of the reserves to 13,7% of the
whereby the land allotted to the reserves
country (Kirsten et al, 1998, p. 64).
was increased. Africans were also deprived
94 J. Hyslop, The notorious syndicalist: J.T. Bain: a Scottish rebel in colonial South Africa, p. 212. 95 C. Bundy, The rise and fall of the South African peasantry. 96 One result of this period of strong state
110 S. Greenberg, ‘Redistribution and access in a market-driven economy’, in S. Greenberg, (Ed.), Interfund development update, 4(2), pp. 3-4. 111 S. Greenberg, ‘Political stabilisation and
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103 South African agriculture: structure, performance and options for the future. World Bank Discussion Paper No. 6, 1994, pp. 53-56. 104 Formally known as The Commission for
support was the growth in the number
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of white farms from 81 432 in 1921 to
Bantu Areas within the Union of South
119 556 in 1952 (World Bank, 1994, p. 53).
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in S. Greenberg, (Ed.), Interfund development update, 4(2), p. 114. 112 SJ Terblanche, ‘Empowerment in context: the struggle for hegemony in South Africa,’ in J Kirstein et al, Agricultural democratisation in South Africa, pp. 33-35. 113 B Bayley, A revolution in the market. The
97 M Lipton, Capitalism and apartheid. South
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98 In 1996 about 250 agricultural co-operatives
106 A rural population of about 13,1 million
deregulation of South African agriculture, pp. 29-37. 114 In the broader political economy, the 1980s
being abolished in 1986 (Kirsten et al, 1998,
owned total assets worth R12,7 billion,
resided in the 17,1 million hectares of
enjoyed an annual turnover of R22,5 bil-
homelands in 1988. Thus 29% of South
lion, operated about 1 200 branches
Africa’s rural population (mostly farmers
1994 to 2004: some reflections,’ Agrekon,
throughout the country and employed
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99 B Bayley, A revolution in the market. The deregulation of South African agriculture, pp. 14-29.
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100 SJ Terblanche, ‘Empowerment in context:
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108 N. Nattrass, The moral economy of AIDS
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124 S. Greenberg, ‘Political stabilisation and
134 Human development report, 2005, UNDP.
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135 E Stillwaggon, ‘HIV/AIDS in Africa: fertile
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Agriculture, land and the South African
125 H. Marais, South Africa: limits to change.
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126 S. Greenberg, ‘Political stabilisation and
119 G. Williams, ‘Setting the agenda: a critique
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120 After roughly eight years of state spon-
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128 SADC food security early warning system. Monthly update – January 2006. Released 20 February 2006, Gaborone, pp. 1-3. 129 J von Braun, The world food situation. An overview, IFPRI, pp. 1-3. 130 In the context of population growth, the
2002 Annual Report), pp. 3-7. 139 S Gillespie and S Kadiyala, HIV/AIDS and
pp. 617-620. 141 Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Congo-Brazzaville, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. 142 S Gillespie & S Kadiyala, HIV/AIDS and food and nutrition security, p. 32. 143 TS Jayne et al, Interactions between the
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122 Mail & Guardian Online, 27 May 2006.
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123 J Van Zyl et al, ‘South African agriculture
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147 SADC food security early warning system.
155 The Rural Survey was designed to deter-
Monthly update – January 2006. Released
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29 June 2006.
148 National food consumption survey in
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164 C Green et al, ‘Needs assessment in a rural
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157 E Watkinson and N Makgetla, South
149 See Bradshaw, D; Masiteng, K.; & Nannan,
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158 Human development report 2005, UNDP.
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159 At the request of the ‘government-in-
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Consumer Sciences, 32, 2004, pp. 46-59. 165 C Vogel, C de Swart, J Kirsten et al, Food security in South Africa: key policy issues for the medium term, pp. 28-30. 166 According to the national census conduct-
waiting’ and with technical assistance from
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the World Bank, the Southern African
population resided in rural areas, although
security in South Africa: key policy issues
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only 43% of (black) Africans were living in
for the medium term, pp. 3, 25-26.
(SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town
urban areas, compared to 83% of coloured
151 C Vogel, C de Swart, J Kirsten et al, Food
150 C Vogel, C de Swart, J Kirsten et al, Food
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(Statistics SA, Measuring poverty in South
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education, transport, housing, agriculture
152 S Lemke et al, ‘Empowered women, social networks and the contribution of qualitative research: broadening our understanding of underlying causes for food and nutrition security,’ Public Health Nutrition, 6 (8), pp. 760-762. 153 Households were classified as affected
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160 Using the international poverty rate, i.e.
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Africa, 2000). 167 C Vogel, C de Swart, J Kirsten et al, Food
162 S Klasen, ‘Poverty, inequality and deprivation in South Africa: An analysis of the
169 S Drimie, The impact of HIV/AIDS on land: case studies from Kenya, Lesotho and South Africa, HSRC, August 2002, pp. 16-19. 170 S Drimie, The impact of HIV/AIDS on land: case studies from Kenya, Lesotho and South Africa, HSRC, August 2002, pp. 20-22. 171 FAO, HIV/AIDS, food security and rural livelihoods fact sheet, 2003. 172 See for instance Schenker, M., ‘The health
1993 SALDRU Survey, Social indicators
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163 National food consumption survey in children aged 1-9 years: South Africa 1999.
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Journal, 1998, 88 (9); London, L., Nell, V., Thompson M., & Myers, J., ‘Health status
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10-11.
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177 S Greenberg, ‘Power and politics in the
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178 S Greenberg, ‘Redistribution and access
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173 S Lemke, ‘Nutrition security, livelihoods
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179 The minimum requirement of a R5 000
political economy of land reform in South Africa,’ Review of African Political Economy, 100, pp. 217-218. 184 SM Kariuki, Failing to learn from failed programmes? South Africa’s Communal Land Rights Act (CLRA 2004). ASC Working Paper, 2004. 185 R Hall, ‘A political economy of land reform in South Africa,’ Review of African Political Economy, 100, pp. 219-221. 186 S Greenberg, ‘Political stabilisation and market extension: Restructuring of agri-
cash contribution was later discarded, and
culture and its impact on food security,’
the poor could instead contribute this in
Interfund Development Update, 4(2),
the form of a sweat equity (Hall, p. 216).
pp. 111-121.
180 In KwaZulu-Natal, for instance, it is almost
187 S Greenberg, ‘Redistribution and access
Migration, Regional Office for southern
exclusively the well-off who have profited,
in a market-driven economy,’ Interfund
Africa, 2004.
while in the Eastern and Western Cape a
border. International Organization for
175 In contrast to redistributive land reform policies, market-led neo-liberal policies
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Development Update, 4(2), pp. 2-3. 188 Abstract of agricultural statistics. Department of Agriculture, RSA, 2005, pp. 86-88.
181 R Hall, ‘A political economy of land reform
189 P. Bond, Can five million people with AIDS
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‘Redistribution and access in a market-
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in South Africa,’ Review of African Political
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Interfund Development Update, 4(1), pp.
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Acknowledgements The assistance and contributions of the following organi-
Jabu Khumalo, Esther Ledwaba, Danie Brand, Peris Jones,
sations and individuals in the writing of this Review are
Scott Drimie, Alborica Malatji and Karuna Reddy. The
acknowledged:
Dean and staff of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.
Staff members of the Centre for the Study of AIDS; community workers in Hammanskraal, the Community Based
Mmatshilo Motsei for the title and her contribution to the
Project Officers of the sustainable permaculture project,
development of the discussion.
Centre for the Study of AIDS The Centre for the Study of AIDS (CSA) is located at the
large number of student volunteers are involved in the
University of Pretoria. It is a 'stand alone' centre which is
programme, as are many community groups, ASOs and
responsible for the development and co-ordination of a com
NGOs.
prehensive University-wide response to AIDS. The Centre operates in collaboration with the Deans of all Faculties
To create a climate of debate and critique, the Centre pub-
and through Interfaculty committees to ensure that a
lishes widely and hosts AIDS Forums and seminars. It has
professional understanding of the epidemic is developed
created web- and email-based debate and discussion forums
through curriculum innovation as well as through exten-
and seeks to find new, innovative, creative and effective
sive research.
ways to address HIV/AIDS in South African society.
Support for students and staff is provided through peer-
Together with the Centre for Human Rights and the Law
based education and counselling, through support groups
Faculty at the University of Pretoria, the Centre has created
and through training in HIV/AIDS in the workplace. A
the AIDS and Human Rights Research Unit headed by a
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AIDS Review 2005
Professor of AIDS and Human Rights. This research unit is
munity structures. Review 2004, (Un)Real looked at the
continuing the research into the relationship between
dominant images of men in society and focused on mas-
AIDS and human rights in the SADC countries, is engaged
culinities in the South African context. Review 2006 will
in the development of model legislation, of research in
look at HIV and AIDS in the context of education, race and
AIDS and sexualities and sexual rights, and in the placing
class.
of interns to work in various sub-Saharan parliaments and with parliamentarians to strengthen the role of parliaments and governance.
AIDS Review, published annually since 2000, addresses major aspects of the South African response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Review 2000, entitled To the edge, addressed the complex question as to why, despite the comprehensive National AIDS Plan adopted in 1994, South Africa has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in the world. Review 2001, entitled Who cares?, dealt with the levels of commitment and care – in the international community, in
Centre for the Study of AIDS
Africa and in South Africa. Review 2002, entitled Whose
University of Pretoria
right?, addressed the relationship between AIDS and human
Pretoria 0002
rights in eight of the SADC countries and how the ways
Republic of South Africa
in which a rights-based or a policy-based approach has determined the ways in which people living with HIV or
Tel: +27 (12) 420 4391
AIDS have been treated and the rights of populations
Fax: +27 (12) 420 4395
affected. Review 2003, entitled (Over) extended, evaluated
[email protected]
age, demographic changes and changing family and com-
www.csa.za.org
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AIDS Review 2005
Centre for the Study of AIDS University of Pretoria Pretoria 0002 Republic of South Africa Tel: +27 (12) 420 4391 Fax: +27 (12) 420 4395
[email protected] www.csa.za.org