CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL LAND REFORM IN AFRICA

Land reform has traditionally had two objectives: equity and productivity. Food insecurity and the need for agriculture to contribute to development emphasise the need to maintain and improve productivity while improving equitability. Land must foster production and agriculture must attract good human material. The main problem involves policy formulation and delivery Necessary conditions include: (1) A proper institutional framework involving all the relevant public and private bodies: the role and tasks of each should be clear, and also relationships between institutions. (2)Proper fiscal planning is essential. (3) Potentially successful farmers must be selected and given special support, including extension and adult education. Existing extension services are generally not adequate, particularly in the fields of finance and marketing. (4) Complementary services and infrastructure are needed in the form of improved access to financial services, markets and inputs and also improved transport, health, communications and other infrastructure. (5) As not all functions can be done at the same time, proper prioritising is needed to optimise the process. (6) Land tenure reform is usually necessary: property rights and security of tenure are at the core of the matter. International agricultural markets are very important: there is a need for wealthy nations to cease trade-distorting protection of their own farmers