CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.4. Ownership and control
This section is responding to the current ownership and control arrangement of the land that has been redistributed. In the literature review the study highlighted the land redistribution programme and illustrated its inception and history since 1994 and the changes that happened during its implementation to date. The reason for the introduction of land redistribution was to redistribute the land to the previously disadvantaged, the poor and alleviate poverty and finally create sustainable jobs for the communities.
105 During the implementation of the land redistribution programme started with SLAG, then LRAD replaced SLAG and then LRAD was replaced by PLAS which is currently under implementation. The ownership and control pattern has been changing due to policy shift which was affecting the implementation programme. It is evident that SLAG control was affected by the large number of households compared to the other programmes. In the selected projects the ownership and control is different however the SLAG and LRAD projects the ownership is in the form of a title deed. The PLAS farm the ownership is a lease because the title deed is with the state. Eleven of the twelve households are land owners and have title deeds and the remaining household the title deed is with the state.
“I am now a very respectable man around my community because I have a farm now. I am not only a farmer I am a new farm owner with a title deed and that is great, nobody believed that a black man could have a title deed for a farm. When it all started it was like a dream”.
In terms of the ownership eleven of the twelve beneficiaries are happy with the ownership arrangement. The ownership arrangement for the household interviewed as indicated in the table above is that eleven out of the twelve household have title deeds, but only one household is staying on the state farm and was supposed to have the lease but it is not there. Out of the eight households six households say that it is good to be many ideas are shared and help each other whereas others feel that it is a burden to be many in a group as this hampers chances of growth. The fact that some are happy with the idea of being many is because of their level of education and the lack of knowledge and skills to be able to run their farms. This makes life easier if the household heads is surrounded by others. However one male in the group indicated that for him to be in a group is a problem as he is expected to look after the farm but he cannot make a decision without them. For each and every decision needed requires the resolution from the beneficiaries.
In terms of control eight out of the twelve households are not even sure in terms of how the farms are run and controlled on a daily basis. It is evident from the findings that women are owners but they are not participating in the running of the farms and the decisions that are involved in farming. They have emphasized that they are
106 owners but they are working on the farm as they need an income, if there is no job that can give them salaries why should they stay in the farm. However in the polygamous marriage the women are not on the farm on a daily basis as they stay far from each other but they are involved in the major decision making that concerns the farm. They are conversant with the idea on how they want to take the farm in future. However one household indicated that group acquisition of land specifically for production purposes has a lot of challenges. The control and management of the land with many members who have different interest is a challenge on its own.
“Some of the members never showed any interest from the start of the project, they were just adding the numbers to qualify for the grant, hence the regularization of the CPA”.
The ownership in the PLAS farm is where the household does not understand why they are staying without the lease agreement. Since title deed is with the state they seem to understand but they are not happy. However the control of the land lies with the lease. In other words the beneficiary able to make decisions that concerns the farm.
“I am not happy at all, I am staying on a state farm without a lease agreement and I should be staying with the title deed”.
The lack of title deed is negatively affecting the control in terms of the day to day running of the farm as it is not possible for the beneficiary to invest in the farm as he does not own it and he is not able also to get financial assistance from financial institutions. However the issue of the control on the land is still a problem even on the land that is owned with title deed. The owners are always approaching the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform whereas they should take control of the land.
“When I moved onto the farm I was so happy because I had been farming and I wanted to expand my farming but the government was holding my hands because of the title deed”.
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