Tenure security and productivity in the Zimbabwean small farm sector : implications for South Africa.
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Date
1996
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Abstract
Within the context of sub-Saharan Africa's rising population growth rate and declining
agricultural productivity, there is much debate about whether communal land tenure
institutions are a constraint on agricultural productivity and transformation in the region.
Some argue that tenure institutions have adapted to the needs of the local communities,
while others contend that the evolution of tenure institutions is constrained by the actions of
vested interest groups and prohibitive transaction costs. This study empirically tested the
relationship between land tenure security and agricultural productivity in the Zimbabwean
small farm sector. Specifically, the study investigated the interaction between land tenure
security and credit use, long-term on farm investments , complementary short-term input
use and yield from a sample of 119 Zimbabwean households interviewed during 1995 .
Implications for land reform in South Africa were derived from the empirical results.
The study area was stratified so as to maximise the variation on the tenure variables
measured. Three strata were identified, namely the privately owned small scale commercial
sector, the traditional communal area and the government initiated Model A Resettlement
Area. Tenure security was estimated as an index, capturing the breadth, duration and
assurance of an individual's property rights to land. A simultaneous equation model was
estimated using two-stage least squares regression analysis. Empirical results indicate that
households with more exclusive and assured property rights invested significantly more in
long-term on-farm improvements, applied greater levels of short-term inputs and attained
higher yields compared to households with less secure property rights, ceteris paribus.
Credit use was too infrequent in the sample to warrant statistical analysis.
Given similarities between the Zimbabwean and South African agricultural sectors, the
result has two important implications for proposed land reform in South Africa. Firstly, the
result lends support to the notion that communal tenure in South Africa is likely to be a
constraint on agricultural development. Secondly, any national land reform policy must be
accompanied by innovative tenure institution which facilitate economic interaction and
internalise externalities on land resettled to individuals or groups. In this regard, the
process of institutional change must be impartially administered and well adapted to the
particular needs and resource constraints at community level.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.
Keywords
Land reform--Zimbabwe., Land tenure--Zimbabwe., Farms, Small--Zimbabwe., Agricultural productivity--Zimbabwe., Land reform--South Africa., Theses--Agricultural economics.