Poverty is caused by inadequate income. Effective assistance to small-scale enterprises may benefit the urban and rural poor. Small enterprises have the potential to create employment, reduce poverty and support sustainable livelihoods, as small enterprises satisfy local needs, provide employment opportunities in local areas, increase income, ensure food security and improve health. The Department of Land Affairs has recently introduced policies such the Land Reform Policy to correct the injustices of South Africa’s past. During 2005, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs introduced the Agrarian Revolution Programme, in an effort to close the gap between the first and second economy. The Agrarian Revolution and the LRAD programmes encourage agribusinesses through the formation of co-operatives or trusts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of an envisaged processing enterprise with a group of women from an LRAD project, within the Engadini Community Trust. An action research methodology was followed. A training manual was developed and training conducted with the Engadini women’s group through which they prepared a business plan, developed prototype products; conducted market research; estimated prices for the products and developed a marketing plan. The study results indicate that the group would have the technical skills to make a good quality product. The group is likely to face problems ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials as the current supply of milk would hardly be sufficient to supply the target market sampled during the consumer survey. The success of the dairy processing enterprises depends heavily on the ability of the Engadini Trust to overcome internal social problems. Conflict between the Engadini dairy processing enterprise members and conflict within the larger Engadini Community Trust had a crippling effect on the dairy processing enterprise. The main recommendations for the group are that the group needs to secure a sustainable supply or fresh milk. A dairy processing facility that will meet food safety standards needs to be erected for the enterprise. The location of the dairy processing enterprise needs to be re-considered. To overcome internal conflict within the group, the women’s group needs to gain representation on the Engadini Community Trust’s Executive Committee, to ensure that the dairy processing enterprise interests are considered by the Trust. The main recommendations for small-scale enterprises are that they should ensure to have sustainable supply of good-quality raw materials and a reliable, sustainable market, even if the market is relatively small. Policy recommendations are that Government Departments such as the KwaZulu-Natal Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs and Economic Development should consider adapting policies that will focus on funding individual enterprises, rather than group enterprises. A directorate or sub-directorate dedicated to the development of small and medium sized food processing enterprises should be created. The marketing section of the KwaZulu- Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs should provide marketing information for small-scale food processing enterprises available to extension officers and small-scale enterprises.

This research project examines the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development Programme (LRAD) in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in terms of a public policy framework, which includes policy implementation. In analyzing the nature of the LRAD Programme the project investigates the issues of governance, development, the policy agendas, policy actors and policy subsystems in South Africa (the executive; the legislature; the appointed officials; research organizations; the labour; civic organizations; the mass media; and the electorate). The relationship between the national government and provincial government has also been discussed. The reasons for adopting the land reform policy have also been examined which include the need to address the past legacies of apartheid; to demonstrate democracy and good governance as a way of upholding the human rights principles; to develop the previously disadvantaged poor communities through acquisition of land as property; to address the unemployment problem. through agricultural development; and to broaden the base of agricultural industry in South Africa. The project further investigates the history of land in South Africa. The author has given an analysis of the new Government's LRAD policy; the systems of land acquisition in South Africa; the beneficiaries and their contribution; and the problems encountered in the implementation of the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development Programme. In understanding the progress of the LRAD Programme an area of Moshesh in Loteni (in KwaZulu-Natal) which has a Communal Association Project known as Sibonginhlanhla Communal Project has been studied. Issues such as the objectives, the financing, the nature, the management of the project, and the project evaluation and monitoring systems have been considered. The project critically analyzes the LRAD Programme in KwaZulu-Natal where some issues of good governance and development have been looked at including elements of good governance in South Africa, such as being a responsive government, coordination and network, transparency, efficiency and accountability, the exercise of discretion, and the challenge of policy implementation. The writer has also looked at elements of development in South Africa, namely, women empowerment, youth participation, the collaboration of national and provincial government. Finally, the project proposes areas of further research. These are: effective and efficient implementation of the LRAD Programme to ensure that more people are engaged in agricultural development; transparency in the allocation of land to project participants to ensure that the programme benefits more people; and training programmes in various areas of need should be established for the benefit of upcoming farmers. The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs should coordinate and implement the training programmes before the projects start. There is need to encourage cooperation between government and some NGOs that are involved in land reform and farmer support programmes, especially in the area of training, to drive and to give priority to the youth in agricultural development programmes, and to empower women. Finally, there is a need for capacity development through institutional reforms, human resource development and organization strengthening. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Apartheid and colonialism left deep imprints on contemporary South African society. Nowhere are these more compellingly apparent than in the highly skewed distribution of land between whites and blacks. At the beginning of the 1990' s, it was estimated that 12 million black people lived on only 17.1 million hectares of land, whilst 60,000 white commercial farmers occupied 86.2 million hectares. Since democratisation in 1994 various modes of land redistribution have emerged in South Africa to redistribute farmland to previously disadvantaged people. In 1994, an African National Congress (ANC)-led government initiated a land redistribution programme by offering Settlement/Land Acquisition Grants (SLAG) to previously disadvantaged South Africans to purchase formerly white-owned farms on a willing buyer-willing seller basis. The aim of SLAG was to redistribute 30 per cent of the country's commercial farmland to previously disadvantaged South Africans within five years. However, by the end of the first five years less than two per cent of white-owned farmland was transferred to previously disadvantaged South Africans. Government responded by introducing a new grant programme, the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme in August 2001 with a less ambitious objective of transferring 30 per cent of white-owned farmland to previously disadvantaged South Africans over 15 years (i.e. two percent per annum). In addition to the government's land redistribution programme, private and semi-private initiatives have emerged to redistribute farmland to previously disadvantaged people. The BASIS Collaborative Research Support Programme sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has monitored government (SLAG) and private farmland transactions in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since 1997. This study builds on these previous analyses of farmland transactions by comparing the performance of LRAD relative to private transactions in transferring farmland to previously disadvantaged South Africans during 2002, and contrasts the results with those from years 1997 to 2001. Results from the study indicate that the launch of LRAD in 2001 had a significant impact on land redistribution in 2002. In KwaZulu-Natal, the rate of land redistribution doubled from 0.5 per cent in 2001 to one percent in 2002. The results also show that LRAD has not only succeeded in drawing private resources into the land reform process, but has also been more successful in targeting women than the earlier SLAG programme. Findings further show that unlike the earlier (SLAG) programme, LRAD offers larger grants to wealthier and more-creditworthy beneficiaries and is therefore conducive to establishing farms owned and operated by individuals or by small groups of individuals. A small area (1,454 hectares) was transferred back to previously advantaged owners in 2002. Such transactions were not detected before 2002 and should be monitored to identify the underlining reasons for these sales. It is also recommended that research should be conducted to ascertain whether improvements in the rate of land redistribution in KwaZulu-Natal during 2002 will be sustained in the future. / Thesis (M.Agric.Mgt.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Many authors and practitioners involved in rural or local development agree that co-operation and the integration of efforts by the delivery agents is crucial for sustainable development programmes. The delivery of Land Reform as initiated by the new government in South Africa (SA) is one programme that has been faced by a number of challenges including the slow pace of delivery, lack of support and co-operation from the key stakeholders, negligible impact on the improvement in the lives of its beneficiaries and many others. Many Land Reform participants including the government argue that among the challenges facing this programme is a lack of co-operation between the key stakeholders including the different spheres of government involved or impacted upon by the delivery of the Land Reform programme. The Department of Land Affairs (DLA) which is responsible for Land Reform delivery is facing challenges in integrating Land Reform with the rural or local level development which is facilitated by the local and district municipalities through the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process. This thesis seeks to look at how the Land Reform planning process and the internal spatial data systems within the DLA can be used to integrate Land Reform delivery with the municipal IDP processes to attain integrated rural development. There is a growing realization of the fact that the development of an integrated spatial data is critical for sustainable development in SA. A number of initiatives have been embarked upon by various organizations to establish the spatial data infrastructure. However these efforts have been reported to be often fragmented and isolated in the areas of operation and focus. Thus, the challenge is to develop a strategy to develop an integrated spatial data infrastructure that would be used to support sustainable development programmes such as the Land Reform programme. This thesis therefore proposes to look at the various data sources particularly within the DLA and from other organs of state involved in Land Reform and local development with a view to highlight the limitation and shortcomings that can be addressed in integrated spatial data infrastructure. To assess the current status of the spatial data sources and usage for Land Reform implementation, an analysis of the spatial data sources within the DLA was conducted to determine its suitability for the development of an integrated spatial data infrastructure. Different sections of the DLA responsible for acquiring and providing spatial data were assessed to ascertain whether their data can be shared, transferred or integrated to support the Land Reform implementation. An integrated spatial data infrastructure is then proposed as a solution to forge co-operation and collaboration among all users involved in Land Reform implementation. / Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Land reform in South Africa has not been very successful. The process of land delivery has been slow and livelihoods in South Africa are becoming increasingly vulnerable as land reform fails to meet its objectives. Since 1994, millions have been made homeless due to farm evictions that have counteracted the positive impact of land reform. Intensive debate has been initiated about the approach to land reform; however, current programme-specific information has been unreliable in providing insight into the impact of land reform projects that have been implemented. This thesis exammes the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme, to determine how it can be enhanced to improve the lives of the programme's intended beneficiaries. Monitoring and evaluation is examined as a tool for improving programmes. This research also explores some of the shortcomings of the current monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for land reform. It is proposed that the LRAD programme should have a comprehensive ME promulgation of appropriate new land reform policy. An LRAD project at Loteni in rural KwaZulu-Natal is used as a case study and exposes some of the contextual challenges for LRAD policy. The qualitative analysis given provides insight into some of the problems of implementing the programme and reveals challenges for extension support. As a result of this critique, some recommendations are provided for improving the performance of LRAD. Key among the recommendations made to enhance LRAD is a set of measurable indicators for each of the stated objectives of the LRAD programme. Adopting such indicators will enable the programme to contribute to the improvement ofthe lives and livelihoods of the intended beneficiaries ofLRAD. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.