Abstract
When South Africa’s present government came to power, Africans who comprised about 80% of the population had access to 13% of the country’s total land area and to an even smaller proportion of land with high agricultural potential. To bring about a more equitable distribution of land the government embarked on a Land Reform Programme. A number of constraints prevent ‘good agricultural potential’ from being employed as a prerequisite in this Programme when designating white-owned farms for transfer to peasant farmers, and there is therefore concern that the transferred farms will not be sustainable. The government commissioned the development of methodologies to monitor various aspects of the transferred land.
The first stage of this development involved carrying out full, detailed environmental audits of four land transfers in KwaZulu Natal. The four areas differed from one another in respect of biophysiographic characteristics, spatial extent and land-use histories. The influence of land-use practices over the two decades prior to transfer, the areas’ inherent susceptibility to erosion and agricultural potential, the post-transfer status, and the beneficiaries’ perceptions of the areas’ water, soil, vegetation and animal resources, were assessed.
This paper describes the procedure used to assess sustainability of the soil resource in the four case studies. A comparative analysis of the four audits enabled 14 key indicators of (i) the soil’s potential susceptibility to erosion, (ii) contemporary erosion status, (iii) agricultural potential, and (iv) impact of land-use practices, to be identified. The indicators were rated in terms of their potential influence on sustainability, and a composite measure representing the overall sustainability of the soil was derived. In addition to providing a reliable assessment of soil sustainability, the procedure proved to be simple, quick and cheap to use and is intended to provide the basis for a nationally applicable methodology for monitoring soil sustainability in land transfers.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Brincate, T.A & Hanvey, P.M. (1996) Perceptions and attitudes towards soil erosion in the Madebe community, Northwest Province, South African Geographical Journal 78, 75–82.
Camp, K. (1995) Valley Bushveld of KwaZulu Natal - natural resources and management,KwaZulu Natal Department of Agriculture Report N/A95/2, Cedara.
Crosby, C.T., McPhee, P.J. and Smithen, A.A. (1983) Introduction of the Universal Soil Loss Equation in the
Republic of South Africa, American Society of Agricultural Engineering,Paper No. 832072, 1–15.
Dardis, G.F., Beckedahl, H.R., Bowyer-Bower, T.A.S. and Hanvey, P.M. (1988) Soil erosion forms in southern Africa, in G.F. Dardis and B.P. Moon (eds.), Geomorphological studies in southern Africa, Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 187–213.
Department of Agricultural Technical Services (DAIS) (1976) Soil loss estimator for southern Africa,Bulletin 7, Cedara.
Department of Land Affairs (DLA) (1997) White Paper on South African Land Policy,Pretoria.
Experiment Station of the South African Sugar Association (ESSASA) (1984) Identification of the soils of the sugar industry,Bulletin 19, Mount Edgecombe.
Garland G.G., Robinson J.R. and Pile K.G. (1994) Policy, perception and soil conservation - a case study from
Cornfields, Natal, Human Needs, Resources and Environment Report,HSRC, Pretoria, pp. 1–41.
Land Type Survey Staff (LTSS) (1986) Land types of the Map 2730 Vryheid,Memoirs on the Agricultural
Natural Resources of South Africa, 7, Government Printer, Pretoria.
Mcllister, P.A. (1988) The impact of relocation in a Transkei `betterment’ area, in C. Cross and R. Haines (eds.), Towards freehold options for land and development in South Africa ‘s black rural areas, Juta, Cape Town, pp. 112–121.
Mcllister, P.A. (1989) Resistance to `beterment’ in the Transkei–a case study from Willowvale district, Journal of Southern African Studies 15, 346–368.
Morgan, R.P.C. (1986) Soil Erosion and Conservation, Longman, London.
Moodley, M. (1997) Off-road vehicle perturbation effects on the geomorphic environment of Golden Gate
Highlands National Park, South Africa, Unpubl. MSc thesis, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Phillips, J. (1973) The agricultural and related development of the Tugela Basin and its influent surrounds
Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission, 19, Pietermaritzburg.
Slabbert, F. (1999) SPOT based image maps for land reform applications,Website
Smithen, A.A. and Schulze, R.E. (1982) The spatial distribution in southern Africa of rainfall erosivity for use in the USLE, Water SA 8, 74–78.
Stocking, M.A. (1994) Assessing vegetation cover and management effects, in R. Lal (ed.), Soil erosion research methods, 2nd ed., Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, pp. 211–232.
Turner, S.D. (1997) Environment and land reform in South Africa,Land and Agriculture Policy Centre Policy Paper, 33, Johannesburg.
Watson, H.K. (1991) A comparative study of soil erosion in the Umfolozi Game Reserve and adjacent KwaZulu area from 1937 to 1983, Unpubl. PhD thesis, University of Durban-Westville.
Watson, H.K. (1996) Short and long term influence on soil erosion of settlement by peasant farmers in KwaZulu Natal, South African Geographical Journal 78, 1–6.
Watson, H.K. (1997) Geology as an indicator of land capability in the Mfolozi area, KwaZulu Natal, South African Journal of Science 93, 39–44.
Watson, H.K. (1998a) Land reform implications of the distribution of badlands in the Mfolozi catchment, KwaZulu Natal, Proceedings of the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists Biennial Conference, June/July, Grahamstown, pp. 201–216.
Watson, H.K. (1998b) A methodology for assessing the environmental impact of the Land Reform Programme, Department of Land Affairs Report, Pretoria.
Watson, H.K. and Ramagopa, P. (1997) Factors influencing the distribution of gully erosion in KwaZulu Natal’s
Mfolozi catchment - Land reform implications, South African Geographical Journal 79 27–34.
Whitlow, J.R. (1988) Potential versus actual erosion in Zimbabwe, Applied Geography 8, 87–100.
Wischmeier, W.H., Johnson, C.B. and Cross, B.V. (1971) A soil erodibility nomograph for farmland and construction sites, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 5, 189–193.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Watson, H.K. (2001). Soil Sustainability and Land Reform in South Africa. In: Conacher, A.J. (eds) Land Degradation. The GeoJournal Library, vol 58. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2033-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2033-5_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5636-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-2033-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive