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PHONE:
+27 (0)21 959 3733
FAX:
+27 (0)21 959 3732
EMAIL: plaas@uwc.ac.za
POSTAL ADDRESS:
PLAAS, UWC
Private Bag X17
Bellville
7535
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PLAAS, the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, is a leading research and teaching centre, with an international reputation for high quality applied research and critical scholarship.
Debate about Zimbabwe’s land reform has been plagued by a lack of empirical data on impacts and consequences. The land reform that has unfolded in Zimbabwe since 2000 has resulted in a major reconfiguration of land use and economy. But there is no single, simple story.
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 | POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME NEWS | APPLICATIONS FOR 2011 ACADEMIC YEAR ARE NOW AVAILABLE
For more information about the programme, click here.
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 | The Future Agricultures Consortium is inviting applicants for their Early Career Fellowships Programme.
This exciting new opportunity for grants is open to young researchers who have recently completed their degree in an appropriate development-related field. The focus is on junior candidates who have a strong interest in conducting research on agricultural policy issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eligible women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
For more information about this programme and to apply for fellowships, please click here. Applications close on 30 June 2010. |
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 | CALL FOR PAPERS International Academic Conference on ‘Global Land Grabbing’ 6-8 April 2011 Co-organized and hosted by the Future Agricultures Consortium Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, Brighton, UK download the details about submissions here
The deadline for Call for Papers is 31 October 2010 |
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FORTHCOMING BOOK "Zimbabwe's Land Reform : Myths and Realities"
Scoones, I., Marongwe, N., Mavedzenge, B., Mahenehene, J., Murimbarimba, F. and Sukume, C.
(2010, forthcoming)
Zimbabwe’s Land Reform: Myths and Realities. James Currey, Oxford/Weaver Press, Harare |
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by Ian Scoones
From early 2000, headlines around the world reported the invasion of Zimbabwe’s largely white-owned commercial farms in dramatic terms. This was ‘Mugabe’s land grab’, with an ‘unruly’, ‘violent mob’ of war veterans looting and destroying property across the country. Zimbabwe, it was claimed, had been turned from ‘bread basket’ to ‘basket case’. Zimbabwe’s subsequent economic collapse and widespread food insecurity were attributed to the ‘chaotic’ land reform, where property and human rights were violated and successful commercial farming had been transformed into underutilised plots run by ‘political cronies’ with no knowledge or interest in farming.
But the story of Zimbabwe’s land reform is of course far more complex than the generalisations of the media headlines. A forthcoming book produced as part of the Livelihoods after Land Reform programme looks at the realities behind the headlines, and tries to tackle some of the oft-repeated myths about Zimbabwe’s land reform with a hard look at empirical data from one province – Masvingo – in the south and east of the country. |
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Ben Cousins wins 2009 UWC Vice Chancellor's Book Award |  | We are pleased to announce that Ben Cousins (DST/NRF Chair in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at PLAAS) has been awarded the 2009 University of the Western Cape Vice Chancellor's Annual Book Award in the category "UWC editor(s) of a book published by a recognized publishing house, which book is based purely on research undertaken by the authors". The prize was awarded for the book " Land, Power and Custom: Controversies Generated by South Africa's Communal Land Rights Act", which Professor Cousins co-editored with Aninka Claassens (UCT Press, 2008). |
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An analysis of the budget for rural development and land reform in 2010/11 |  | by Ruth HallThis year’s budget (2010/11) offers half a billion rand more for land reform than last year, with funds of just over R4 billion, but surprisingly little both for the priority area of rural development and for the unfinished work of land restitution. At the same time, rural development will require coordinated provision of funds and support from different parts of government. The indications that rural areas will be prioritised for job opportunities under the expanded public works programme: the creation of a new on-site water and sanitation grant as part of the rural housing programme are steps in the right direction. But the actual shape and scale of rural development is yet to become clear. On 9 March 2010, PLAAS presented an analysis of the rural development and land reform budget for 2010/11 to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform. |
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A Comparative Study of Rural Water Governance in the Limpopo Basin