PLAAS researchers have engaged with policy processes since 1995. They have worked closely with various government departments, as advisors at national or provincial level, as consultants in the design or facilitation of programmes or projects, as reviewers or evaluators, and as facilitators of policy workshops.

Researchers have also provided critiques of different policies, publishing articles and academic papers, participating in public debates, and making presentations at policy-oriented workshops and conferences. In recent years PLAAS staff have been active within a number of emerging civil society alliances in the land reform sector, and have contributed to deepening understanding of key policy issues among NGOs and CBOs.

In 2001 PLAAS initiated its Policy Brief series to communicate the policy implications of research findings to key decision makers in a more accessible form.

Land Restitution

Andries du Toit acted as a consultant/facilitator for restitution policy formulation in 1997, and in 1998 he co-ordinated a Ministerial Review of the restitution programme, authoring the influential final report of the review.
In 1997 Thembela Kepe was commissioned to write a report on the Mkambati land claim and in 1998/99 he and Rachel Wynberg wrote a commissioned paper on land restitution in protected areas.
In 2006 PLAAS formed part of a consortium undertaking work on post-settlement support for restitution beneficiaries, and Edward Lahiff, Zabantu Nzakane and Ruth Hall contributed to research reports and theme papers.

Land Redistribution

In 1995/96 Andries du Toit was commissioned to do diagnostic evaluation studies in the southern Cape. Stephen Turner led a team in a review of the land redistribution programme for DLA in 1997.
In 2000/2001 PLAAS researchers (Ben Cousins, Edward Lahiff and Lungisile Ntsebeza) contributed to critiques of the DLA’s Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme.
In 2005 Edward Lahiff and Ruth Hall contributed to drafting of final resolutions on land redistribution at the National Land Summit, and in 2006 they participated in a DLA working group on designing a review of ‘willing seller, willing buyer’ approaches to land acquisition.

Tenure Reform

Ben Cousins contributed to the formulation of tenure reform policy between 1995 and 1999. He was also a member of the DLA reference group for the Communal Land Rights Bill (CLRB) in 2002.
In 1997/98 Lungisile Ntsebeza investigated land ownership and governance in Tshezi/ Coffee Bay for the Eastern Cape DLA office.
In 1997 Andries du Toit investigated aspects of the Upgrading of Land Rights Act of 1991 for DLA, and in 1999 he evaluated the implementation of the Land Titles Adjustment Act.
Between 2002 and early 2004 PLAAS staff collaborated closely with the National Land Committee (NLC), several of its affiliates and a number of other land NGOs, as well as community members, in a process of community consultations over the draft Communal Land Rights Bill. This culminated in the parliamentary hearings of November 2003. (See also Occasional Paper 28).

Ben Cousins facilitated the working group on farmworker tenure at the National Land Summit in 2005 and formulated the final resolution on this issue.

In 2005 Ben Cousins was asked to act as an expert witness by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in a legal challenge to the Communal Land Rights Act (CLaRA), which was launched in 2006.

Land Reform and Environmental Issues

In 1996/97 Stephen Turner led an international consultancy team on the establishment of policy on integrating environmental issues into land reform.

Agriculture

In 1997/98 Stephen Turner participated in a policy working group on sustainable resource use, preparing inputs to the Discussion Document on Agricultural Policy. In 2000/01 Andries du Toit and Fadeela Ally helped develop civil society policy stances on a statutory minimum wage for agricultural workers.

Land and Agrarian Reform Policy Frameworks

In 2001/02 PLAAS staff actively participated in the formation and functioning of the Western Cape Alliance for Land and Agrarian Reform. In 2001 Lungisile Ntsebeza facilitated the formation of a similar grouping of NGOs and CBOs in the Eastern Cape.

In 2003 and 2004 the ‘Evaluating Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa’ (ELARSA) project saw Ruth Hall, Peter Jacobs and Edward Lahiff compare land reform targets to actual results achieved. Workshops were organised with Department of Land Affairs (DLA) staff to report the research findings. PLAAS staff gave submissions to a Land Tribunal in November 2003 organised by the Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE). In 2003, Peter Jacobs facilitated learning events for the Landless Peoples Movement (LPM). Hall and Jacobs also assisted the People’s Budget project in 2003.

Pan-African Networking on land and resource rights

Since January 2002 PLAAS has co-hosted (with three other partners) an Africa-wide network of practitioners, advocacy groups and scholars concerned with the land and resource rights of the rural poor. In July 2002 this group drew up the Lagos Declaration on Land and Resource Rights in Africa, which was launched at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002.

Spatial Development Initiatives (SDI's)

In 1997/98 Thembela Kepe was contracted to assist mediation of conflicts in relation to the Wild Coast SDI project in Mkambati, and to prepare background briefs for the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs and the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry.

Traditional Leaders and Local Government

Between 1998 and 2001 Lungisile Ntsebeza participated in several policy workshops on the role of traditional leaders in local government, presenting invited papers and commenting on draft policy documents.

Chronic Poverty

In 2003-4 Cobus de Swardt and Andries du Toit played advisory roles in the Integrated Food Security and Nutrition programme in the Western Cape. In 2004 du Toit also advised the Western Cape Department of Welfare and Social Development on the development of an integrated poverty reduction strategy.

In 2004 du Toit took a lead role in a consortium helping to develop a Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System (FIVIMS) for the Department of Agriculture (DoA).  

Between 2002 and 2004 du Toit and de Swardt played a supportive role in relation to a variety of civil society initiatives around social protection, e.g. expert testimony in court cases.

In 2005/06 du Toit and David Neves were commissioned to undertake a major study on Vulnerability, Labour Markets and Social Protection (VLMSP) for the South African Treasury.

Co-Management of Marine and Coastal Resources

Mafa Hara, together with the Environmental Evaluation Unit (EEU) of the University of Cape Town, has co-ordinated a National Coastal and Fisheries Co-management Programme for government since 2001, and was joined by Moenieba Isaacs in 2004.

Hake Fisheries in Namibia and South Africa

Moenieba Isaacs led the social analysis and modelling component of this project in 2003.

The objective was to determine the optimal harvesting ratio between trawled and long-lined hake while at the same time ensuring long-term sustainability of stocks in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME).

Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI)

In 2000/01 Andries du Toit and Fadeela Ally, in collaboration with the Centre for Rural Legal Studies (CRLS), worked with the Ethical Trade Initiative in its pilot programme in the South African wine industry.

The Role of Forestry in Reducing Poverty

Moenieba Isaacs and Jeanette Clarke were commissioned to undertake this study in 2004/05 by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF).