The Changing Global Landscape in Rural Development: Critical Choices for Results-Oriented Research in Southern Africa

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Rethinking The Rural Development Research Agenda
In Southern Africa

• The Changing Global Landscape in Rural
  Development Critical Choices for
  Results-Oriented Research in Southern Africa
• By
• Vuyo Mahlati
• 24 November 2010
• University of Pretoria Postgraduate School of
  Agriculture and Rural Development

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PROBLEM AREAS

• Global Realities and the Rural Dilemma
• Meaning and Measurement - Definitions and
  Conceptual Frameworks
• Strategic Intent (Skirting the Structural/Systemic
  Issues)
• Problematic Institutional Premise
  (Traditional/Colonial/Post-Colonical-Global)
• Donor-dependency impact on research (sponsored
  views)
• Fragmentation of Research
• Sector-focus versus Issue-based
• Mono-discipline

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Global Realities

• Declining world economy with massive job losses
  and contraction of world trade
• Poverty and Hunger
• Climate change and ecosystem change
• Threat to rural livelihoods
• Vulnerability of rural sectors -agriculture,
  coastal resources, energy, forestry, tourism, and
  water
• Low-latitude location - Up to 80 percent of the
  damages from climate change may be concentrated
  in low-latitude countries (Mendelsohn 2008)
• Regional and Global integration focuses on
  integrating global markets, neglecting the needs
  of people that markets cannot meet
• Foreign aid decline with increasing doubt on
  effectiveness
• Financialisation of the global economic system
  with financial exclusion of the rural poor

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Rural Dilemma

• Rural Poverty, Disease and Low Productivity
• Feminization of rural areas Feminization of
  agriculture Feminization of poverty and disease
  (Youth exodus to cities),
• Social protection (absolute poverty strategies)
  vs productive and sustainable livelihoods
• Comparative advantage that does not translate to
  competitiveness,
• Ecosystem sustainability,
• Spatial imbalances Rural-urban disconnect
• Overdependence on subsistence agriculture,
• Food Insecurity,
• Limited access to off-farm employment,
• Unemployment with sluggish development in urban
  areas,
• Skewed income distribution,
• Poor transport, basic services and market
  infrastructure,
• Low literacy rates
• Legacy of colonialization and apartheid

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Comparative Advantage Competitive Disadvantage
Dependence on the export of primary products,
absence of an industrial base, weak savings and
investments, limited profit-earning capacity of
capital, under-serviced basic and social needs
(health, education, and social welfare)
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Zambia Example 65 Rural Pop

• Economic growth averaging more than 4 between
  1997 and 2007 (6.2 in 2007, 5.8 in 2008 and
  4.5 in 2009)
• 2nd largest producer of Cobalt and 7th largest
  producer of Copper in the world BUT
• Inequality and exclusion from mainstream
  financial markets
• 64 of individuals live below the traditional
  dollar a day poverty line, which has now been
  adjusted to 1.25/day
• Almost 87 of individuals survive on less than
  2.50 a day (the traditional 2/day line)
• 85 of FinScope Survey 2009 rural based
  respondents - no formal education compared to 14
  urban dwellers
• Only 13.9 of Zambian adults use commercial bank
  products.
• Usage of commercial bank products is higher in
  urban than in rural areas.
• Low insurance penetration (6.6)

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Zambia Example
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Zambia Microenterprise Sector Source Zambia
Business Survey 2010
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RURAL DILEMMA SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

• Rural development and Land Reform Addressing
  the Past, the Present and the Future
• How can land reform redress injustices from
  colonial and apartheid regimes of dispossession
  and discrimination (racial/gender), the legacy of
  poverty and under- development, as well as tackle
  the challenges of population growth, increasing
  inequality, climate change and financialisation
  of the economic system.
• According to Foster (2007) financialisation
  refers to the shift in the weight of economic
  activity from production to finance.

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Problem

• Lack of clarity, coherence and consensus on rural
  development conceptualization, definition(s), the
  driving development agenda, with inadequate
  delivery strategies and measurement.

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Rural Development Definitions

• Chambers(1983) definition
• strategy to enable a specific group of people,
  poor rural women and men, to gain for themselves
  and their children more of what they want and
  need. It involves helping the poorest among those
  who seek livelihood in the rural areas to demand
  and control more of the benefits of development
  (1983147).

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What is rural development?

• Rural development (RD)- is the improvement of the
  spatial and socioeconomic environment of rural
  space, which leads to the enhancement of the
  individuals ability to care for and sustain
  his/her well-being (Madu, 2003b).
• multidimensional and multifunctional in nature
  (SARDF, 1997 Knickel and Renting, 2000).
• constitute a broader subject than agricultural
  economics, with a spatial as opposed to a
  sectoral definition (de Janvry et al, 2002).

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Difference between agricultural economics and
rural economics

• Agricultural economics
• Elementary unit of analysis- farm
• Major fields of analysis
• Farm production
• Marketing of agricultural commodities
• Demand for food
• Performance of product and factor markets

• Rural economics
• Elementary unit of analysis- household with the
  farm as a typical subset of economic activity
• Major fields of analysis
• Resource allocation by household
• Choices of income strategies
• Poverty and inequality (de Janvry et al., 2002).

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Cont

• Linkages between agriculture and other sectors of
  the economy, and the rest of the world
• Agricultural and food policy (de Janvry et al.,
  2002).

• Emergence of performance of agrarian institutions
• Income levels
• Income and food security
• Satisfaction of basic needs (access to public
  goods and services e.g health and education)
• Intergenerational equity
• Quality (standard) of life (de Janvry et al.,
  2002).

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Rural Population and Agricultural Employment in
South Africa Compared to the Rest of the World,
2004
Calculated from FAO, The State of Food and
Agriculture 2006 (Presidency 2008 )
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Influence by Ideological Paradigm shifts

• Neo-classical economics- well functioning markets
  versus market distortions and imperfections
• New institutional economics- linking equity and
  productivity
• Livelihoods- a developmentalist version
  development as a livelihood improvement and
  poverty reduction
• Livelihoods- a welfarist version poverty
  alleviation, and social protection
• Radical political economy- development as
  agrarian transformation
• Marxism- the agrarian question, focusing on the
  transition to capitalism in agriculture (Cousins
  and Scoones, 2010)

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REDISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

• The WCARRD (World Conference on Agrarian Reform
  and Rural Development) asserts that the
  transformation of rural life must be pursued by
  policies which allowed growth to be reached in an
  equitable way, through redistribution of the
  economic and political power and peoples
  participation
• Meeting constitutional commitment and moral
  obligation for redress social cohesion
  (Deracialization of commercial farmland and
  advancement of womens rights in communal, family
  household land)
• Walker (in Ntsebeza Hall 2007134) states that
  land reform can make a contribution to economic
  development at both household and societal level,
  but one cannot assume that it is a cure for
  deeply entrenched problems of poverty, inequality
  and social dislocation.

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South African Case Study
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Settlement patterns
Bantustans
Provinces
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Population by type of region
Quantec
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The economy by region
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Household amenities by region
CPS 2007
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BACKGROUND RSA RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

• The first rural development policy initiatives
  came directly after the launch of the
  Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) in
  1995 by the Ministry in the Office of the
  President with the release of a discussion
  document entitled Rural Development Strategy of
  the Government of National Unity. Renewed efforts
  to design a rural strategy were launched under
  the auspices of the Rural Task Team of the RDP
  office. This process led to the publication of
  The Rural Development Framework by the Department
  of Land Affairs in May 1997. This framework
  focused on rural infrastructure, public
  administration, local government, and rural
  non-farm employment, but it was not confirmed as
  government strategy for rural development.

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BACKGROUND RSA RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

• The Integrated Sustainable Rural-Development
  Strategy (ISRDS)
• Confirmed by cabinet as a government strategy
  following President Mbekis State of the Nation
  Address in 1999.
• The ISRDS mainly draws from the Sustainable Rural
  Livelihoods (SRL) approach with strong emphasis
  on the poverty agenda. According to a 2001 IDT
  Report the ISRDS was designed to realise a vision
  that would attain socially cohesive and stable
  rural communities with viable institutions,
  sustainable economies and universal access to
  social amenities, able to attract and retain
  skilled and knowledgeable people, who are
  equipped to contribute to growth and
  development.
• The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme
  (CRDP) Introduced in 2009 by President Zuma with
  the new Department of Rural Development and Land
  Reform. The key thrust of the framework is an
  integrated programme of rural development, land
  reform and agrarian change .
• It is therefore fitting and appropriate, that the
  strategy of the Department of Rural Development
  and Land Reform be 'Agrarian Transformation' -
  interpreted to denote 'a rapid and fundamental
  change in the relations (systems and patterns of
  ownership and control) of land, livestock,
  cropping and community.' The objective of the
  strategy is 'social cohesion and development.'
  Minister Nkwintis Budget Speech 24 March 2010

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Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP)

• Minister Nkwintis 2010 Budget Speech highlighted
  that
• The CRDP has set us on a new course for post
  colonial reconstruction and development. This
  shall be achieved through coordinated and broad
  based agrarian transformation which will focus
  on
• Building communities through Social mobilization
  and institution building
• Strategic investment in old and new social,
  economic, ICT infrastructure and public amenities
  and facilities coordinated through the Rural
  Infrastructure Programme
• A new land reform programme implemented in the
  context of the reviewed Land Tenure System
• Rendering of professional and technical services
  as well as effective and sustainable resource
  management through the component of Geo-spatial
  Services, Technology Development and Disaster
  Management.
• Effective provision of cadastral and deeds
  registry as well as Surveys and Mapping services
• The Department is committed to the achievement of
  outcome 7 of the 12 outcomes pursued by
  Government over the MTSF period and that is
  'vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural
  communities'. The success of this Department over
  the MTSF period will be measured through delivery
  on the following outputs
• Sustainable land reform
• Food security for all
• Rural development and sustainable livelihoods
  and,
• Job creation linked to skills training.
• (www.dla.gov.za)

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BACKGROUND RSA LAND REFORM

• The South African White Paper on Land Reform
• The central thrust of land policy is the land
  reform programme. This has three aspects
  redistribution land restitution and land tenure
  reform.
• Redistribution refers to the transfer of land to
  recipients who were not necessarily original
  owners, but were nonetheless dispossessed of land
  under apartheid law. It also aims to provide the
  disadvantaged and the poor with access to land
  for residential and productive purposes. Its
  scope includes the urban and rural poor, labour
  tenants, farm workers and new entrants to
  agriculture.
• Land restitution refers to the transfer of land
  back to original owners or their descendents. It
  covers cases of forced removals that took place
  after 1913. This is being dealt with by a Land
  Claims Court and Commission established under the
  Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994.
• Land tenure reform is led by a vision of
  flexible tenure regime that legally secures the
  rights of people occupying and using land,
  balancing these rights equitably against rights
  of owners. The intention is to improve tenure
  security of all South Africans and to accommodate
  diverse forms of land tenure, including types of
  communal tenure. According to Hall (2007) tenure
  reform policy was intended to address the chaotic
  state of land administration in the communal
  areas of former homelands coloured reserves.
• Target transferring 30 of arable land from
  large white-owned farms to black small- holders
  (Extended to 2014).
• Source The South African White Paper on Land
  Reform, www.dla.gov.za, Ntsebeza Hall (2007)

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Source Rural Dev Dept (2010)
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GAPS Asset-based Empowerment

• The World Development Report (WDR 2008) indicates
  that
•  
• The asset endowments of rural households have
  been low for generations, and they continue to
  decline in places. Market and government failures
  affecting the returns on those assets are
  pervasive. Adverse shocks often deplete already
  limited assets, and the inability to cope with
  shocks induces households to adopt low risk,
  low-return activities (200872).
• Asset-based empowerment, the causal variables
  critical for self-reliance and sustainability
  (human capabilities, resource access and
  conditions of exchange) Human, social, natural,
  financial and physical capital

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Measuring Human DevelopmentTowards a New Human
Development Dashboard
Empirical Measure Components of Human Development Components of Human Development Components of Human Development
Empirical Measure Health Education Material Goods Political Social Health Education Material Goods Political Social Health Education Material Goods Political Social
Average Level Human Development Index Empowerment Indicators Empowerment Indicators
Deprivation Multidimensional Poverty Index
Vulnerability Indicators of environmental sustainability, human security, well-being , decent work Indicators of environmental sustainability, human security, well-being , decent work Indicators of environmental sustainability, human security, well-being , decent work
Inequality Inequality-adjusted HDI
Inequality Gender Inequality Index Gender Inequality Index
Source Pritchett (2010) in UN HDR (2010)
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Value chain System
Source Roduner (2007)
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System Failure Interdependency of rural
infrastructure

• Telecommunication, agro-industry, rural
  electrification, and other development
  initiatives for rural areas are often dependent
  upon each other.
• development of rural telecommunications programs
  is dependent upon electricity resources in one
  form or another
• appropriate and adequate water pumping requires
  power for agricultural sector expansion and
  development
• cottage and other rural industries and
  agro-processing under the form of small rural
  businesses can increase the productivity by using
  mechanized/ electrified technologies and
• quality of education and healthcare delivery
  systems increase proportionally with improvements
  in RE and other infrastructure investment (CORE,
  2003).

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Factors Affecting Success (Leite Avilla 2006)

• The presence of a strong governmental structure,
  accompanied by a political will and by legal
  security for the new landowners
• A favourable macroeconomic policy (interest
  rates, exchange rates, agricultural policy)
• Technical assistance, support to the organization
  and financial assistance of the beneficiaries (in
  a non-centralized and non-bureaucratic form)
• Administrative experience of the beneficiaries
  and the requisite infrastructure around their
  farm holdings
• Economic encouragements to the beneficiaries
  (being their own supervisors ) supporting
  productivity and the creation of non-agricultural
  enterprises
• The creation of social capital with the
  involvement of the beneficiaries in the decisions
  concerning them
• An effective agricultural policy (good land
  registration systems, land planning and taxation).

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RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

• Review land reform and agriculture as a defining
  concept of Rural Development (delink)
• Redefine the driving agenda and the
  interconnectedness of land reform, agricultural
  transformation and Rural Development
• Recognise and clarify the spatial, policy,
  institutional and relational linkages
  (rural-urban linkages, household-community-municip
  al-provincial-national, rural development policy
  macroeconomic framework)
• Rural Demography Livelihood Patterns
  Addressing Poverty and Inequality. Poverty
  reduction as a means, not an end, a component of,
  but not a rural development strategy. Households
  as an entry point and unit of analysis for
  enhancing capabilities and sustainable
  development.
• The value of the rural space sustainable
  resources use Leveraging potential to sustain
  livelihoods, nurture socio-cultural coexistence
  and enhance productive potential.
• Diverse Sector Strategies (beyond farming)
  Critical Sector strategy contributing to
  redress, as a growth-oriented and development
  mechanism (e.g. agriculture) rather than an
  overarching driving agenda. Agrarian
  transformation is thus viewed as a strategic
  transformative mechanism (means and method) and
  not an overall macro-framework for sustainable
  rural development (the end).  

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH REALIGNMENT

• Research agenda review to refocus National,
  Regional and Continental Agendas
• G20 Nations Commit to Growth, Aid for Poor
  Countries (Nov 2010)
• The new "development consensus" calling for
  "inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth" to
  reduce poverty, asserting that foreign aid
  "remain(s) essential to the development of most
  low-income-countries.
• The Leaders identified "nine key pillars" which
  required action to remove bottlenecks to growth
  in developing countries.These are
• Infrastructure, human resource development,
  trade, private investment and job creation, food
  security, growth with resilience, financial
  inclusion, domestic resource mobilization and
  knowledge sharing.