Whites Own 73% of South Africa's Farming Land
30 OCTOBER 2017, 1:25PM
KEVIN CROWLEY
Bloomberg
A farmer walks across a field of beans grown from Syngenta AG bean seeds on a farm near Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. China National Chemical Corp. is seeking commitments of about $5 billion each from four or five lenders to fund what would be the largest acquisition by a Chinese firm, according to the people. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG - White farmers own almost three-quarters of South Africa’s agricultural land, even after 23 years of government efforts to redistribute land to the black majority, City Press reported, citing a land audit by farm lobbying group Agri SA.
Some 73.3% of agricultural land is owned by whites, down from 85.1% in 1994, the year South Africa first held democratic elections, the newspaper reported.
Black ownership has increased markedly in some of the country’s most fertile provinces. Black farmers own 74 percent of the land in KwaZulu-Natal and 52 percent in Limpopo, City Press reported, citing the report to be released this week.
Total acreage available for farming fell 4 percent over the 23 years reviewed, as mining and expanding municipalities took over agricultural land, according to economist Johann Bornman, who conducted the audit for the lobbying group.
KEVIN CROWLEY
Bloomberg
A farmer walks across a field of beans grown from Syngenta AG bean seeds on a farm near Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. China National Chemical Corp. is seeking commitments of about $5 billion each from four or five lenders to fund what would be the largest acquisition by a Chinese firm, according to the people. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG - White farmers own almost three-quarters of South Africa’s agricultural land, even after 23 years of government efforts to redistribute land to the black majority, City Press reported, citing a land audit by farm lobbying group Agri SA.
Some 73.3% of agricultural land is owned by whites, down from 85.1% in 1994, the year South Africa first held democratic elections, the newspaper reported.
Black ownership has increased markedly in some of the country’s most fertile provinces. Black farmers own 74 percent of the land in KwaZulu-Natal and 52 percent in Limpopo, City Press reported, citing the report to be released this week.
Total acreage available for farming fell 4 percent over the 23 years reviewed, as mining and expanding municipalities took over agricultural land, according to economist Johann Bornman, who conducted the audit for the lobbying group.
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