Introduction
While some land reform projects have successfully been implemented, most failed dismally. The bigger picture stills show that only approximately 10% to 15% were implemented successfully. Since the Covid 19 pandemic and governmental financial problems, available funding from government for land reform will be reduced significantly.
However, the private sector has now become more involved in facilitating and making funding available, especially with the establishment of the Agriculture Development Agency (AGDA) and other initiatives.
The limited success rate of land reform is a major contributing factor for funders to not make funds available for projects. Role players in land reform therefore have a major role to play in turning around the negative views regarding land reform projects. This can only be done with many more successful and sustainable projects and no more failures.
The availability of funding is not the only limiting factor for the implementation of projects, but also the way these projects are implemented. There is a belief system that by making funding available and in giving support with farm redevelopment in some cases, the new farmers and beneficiaries could be left alone and the project should be successful. The requirements for the implementation of a successful and sustainable project requires much more than financial and initial support. With a different approach, the success rate for projects could be improved significantly.
Successful Land Reform
A successful land reform project is where new farmers or beneficiaries have managed to create an economically viable business over the medium to long term with benefits flowing through to the beneficiaries. The successful implementation of a land reform project requires the creation of capacity and the ability for new farmers and beneficiaries to manage all the farming business processes involved to develop and grow a successful business over the long term. In most cases, only the operational side of these projects are addressed while the total requirements are not considered resulting in failure over the short to medium term.
Reasons for Failing Projects
After evaluating successful and failed projects, a clear and common picture starts to emerge regarding the main reasons for failure. Being involved in setting up and managing agriculture land reform partnerships with beneficiary communities over 15 years, many lessons were learned.
Different reasons contributed to project failures but all of them could be associated with the following 4 main reasons: the initial wrong model and business plan, lack of appropriate funding, lack of skill transfer and corruption.
These risks are linked to land reform projects but on top of that, the other normal risks would also be applicable, for instance, the normal agricultural risks like weather and product prices but also the normal project management risks during project implementation. All these risks should be managed carefully until a more mature and robust business exists.
Project Philosophy
The potential main risk areas must be considered when the project philosophy and plan are developed. The project philosophy and plan should be developed to address these risks or minimize the impact thereof.
A recipe has been developed to cater to these factors which are used when these project plans are developed. By successfully plan and then implement this recipe, gives the project an excellent chance to succeed.
As any project, a land reform project also consists of different phases. Different requirements per phase are needed for each business process which needs to be addressed in an effort to address capacity issues and business process shortcomings. Gap analyses need to be done on a regular basis during each phase to ensure that all deviations against the set expectations are identified and addressed before the project could move to the next phase.
When the business starts to move into a more mature phase, then the necessary skills transfer has been done and the business processes well developed which will then ensure a strong foundation for this business to be sustainable over the long term. This approach will contribute towards a viable and sustainable business to the benefit of the new farmers and community beneficiaries where applicable.
Collaboration and Partnerships
There are many different parties which are involved in land reform like agriculture sector forums and organisations, funding institutions, agriculture service companies, agriculture industries like sugar and citrus as well as engineering and project management companies interested in supporting the redevelopment of farms. While some limited co-operation exists, it is far from what can be achieved.
AGDA should play an important role in facilitating collaboration and partnerships going forward, which will add a lot of value within the land reform space. By collaborating and working together in partnership on land reform projects, an opportunity is created to complete more projects successfully. These partnerships do not only happen, and it is important to facilitate this collaboration and partnerships.
Giraffe Consulting
Very few parties in the land reform space have sufficient experience in all the phases of successful land reform projects. By previously leading the development of land reform strategies and then implementing them by inter alia establishing and managing various land reform and emerging farmer support companies over more than 15 years, gave Giraffe Consulting the needed experience and are in a unique position to contribute to successful projects. With a well-defined recipe, the normal land reform risks could be significantly reduced.
Giraffe Consulting also believes in collaboration and partnerships where a lot more projects will be possible if industry members, agriculture companies and funding institutions be jointly involved with each party contributing his share towards a successful and sustainable project. Members of the same value chain, that specific industry involved in such a value chain, and a funding institution could unlock potential land reform projects and participate in the successful implementation of such projects.
Giraffe Consulting believes that the participation, support, and implementation of land reform projects is a strategic imperative for parties involved in agriculture value chains to the benefit of the broader agriculture sector.
Giraffe Consulting has a virtual team of different highly skilled experts including project management skills available on stand-by so different teams could be put together to cater to different needs of clients. Giraffe Consulting is based in the Strand, Western Cape and in Malelane in Mpumalanga. Giraffe Consulting wants to expand its area of operation outside of the current Mpumalanga and Limpopo areas. The focus is to create and supports the implementation of solutions for its clients.
Recent Comments