Part Two: The People and Re-Allocation of Resources after Apartheid

While in South Africa, the Grower-Shipper Association, along with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and others paid a visit to the Western Cape to discuss drought and climate change mitigation strategies for agriculture. GSA’s Abby Taylor-Silva is sharing a three-part blog series on the visit, focused upon urban education on drought, the empowerment of and challenges inherent for South African farmers, and agriculture’s response to drought.

Over the course of our trip, we met with many farmers. Sixth generation farmers well established on lands their families have farmed for hundreds of years and new farmers who are hoping to draw their families up from life in violent shantytowns.

Under apartheid, the system that systematically segregated people by their race from 1948 through the early 1990’s continues to significantly influence where people live, 25 years later. The landscape of farming remains predominately the same today, with strong racial divides that challenge the future of farming in the Western Cape.

Land reparation is on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

When land comes for sale, many times the government will purchase it and give it to a native African farmer, giving back lands that were appropriated to European farmers during apartheid. If a native African farmer can provide paperwork that shows the land originally belonged to their family, an “apartheid claim”, it can be taken and returned to that family by the government.

These situations make foreign investors and local farmers concerned to invest in new land. Sometimes, the land that is redistributed goes back on the market quickly. Agriculture is a challenging trade that requires education and capital. Many times, the new farmers don’t have the background or financing to make it work. How does one learn to become a farmer? In California we ask ourselves the same question. Farming is a complex business, and high land rents, enormous risk, and an unpredictable regulatory climate make it challenging for the best farmers. Programs like Agriculture & Land- Based Training Association exist to teach new farmers on California’s Central Coast, but even with training it’s a job for the lion-hearted.

In Stellenbosch, we visited the Living Soils Learning Farm. The Farm is a partnership between the Sustainability Institute, Spier Wine Farm and Woolworths, a local retailer. At the farm we met three interns who were planting their first crop: broccoli. Vuyolwethu Zicina, Thandiwe Mtyingizani and Phutuma Mgu are all mothers living in townships that are fraught with violence. One of the women told us that agriculture “chose her”. Knowing she needed to keep her restless mind busy and make money for her family she accidentally signed up for an agronomy course instead of a child development course. She quickly balked when realizing her mistake, but she went forward with the lessons and realized that being outside, sowing crops: this was her calling. She had felt trapped in her small home each day, and now she had purpose.

All of the women had heard the same rebuke from friends and neighbors. Agriculture? Why would you choose such a job? These are questions by those who can’t imagine the possibility of owning their own farm. These women know that with the proper training and support, one day they will be farmers themselves.

It’s also a way out. On average, a person dies every week from violence in many of the shantytowns. One of the interns shared that she had seven years to learn farming, acquire ground and move her family away from their shack. Her timeline was set by her son’s 15th birthday. She’s determined to secure a better life for him.

In the final installment of this series, we will delve into the technologies growers are applying to their farms to address climate change. Stay tuned.