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Seminar on the impact of HIV/AIDS on land reform in KwaZulu-Natal
Hosted by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network and the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking University of Natal, Durban
Scott Drimie
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Deborah Heustice
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[Briefing note]
[Seminar proceedings]
[Delegates]
[Annexures]
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Seminar proceedings
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4.2. Key issues and challenges
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At the outset of the seminar, delegates felt that in order to know how
best to respond to the effect of HIV/AIDS there was a need for more
information about how HIV/AIDS was affecting the particular sectors of
land reform, agriculture and rural development, the implications for
and impact on each sector, and how the relevant sectors were currently
dealing with HIV/AIDS. A number of key issues and challenges facing land
reform, agriculture and rural development were identified during the
presentations. These have been briefly listed below:
4.2.1. Land Reform and HIV/AIDS:
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HIV/AIDS fundamentally changes all aspects of the land reform policy as it impacts on both the people whom land reform is intended to benefit and the people staffing the institutions that support land reform;
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The DLA HIV/AIDS Policy has emphasized an "internal programme"
focused on the education of DLA personnel with little attention
on the external programme and the "community outreach programme"
focused on the beneficiaries of the Land Policy;
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As a consequence very little progress has been made in integrating HIV/AIDS into land reform planning; and
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A number of key questions need addressing for the department to
effectively engage with the role land reform can play within communities
affected by HIV/AIDS. Policy makers and planners would plan far more
effectively if such correlations and variations in impact were taken
into consideration in policy, planning and implementation.
These questions include:
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What is the impact and implications of HIV/AIDS for access to land? For example, selling off productive resources like land has critical long-term implications for the household, increasing their vulnerability and sustainability in the long term. The forced removal of widows from land, as well as property grabbing have become additional issues that needs urgent attention from policy makers and land officials;
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Have the demand projections for land, agricultural extension and other services and systems been revised as a result of the pandemic? and
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There is great geographic variation in HIV/AIDS impact in KwaZulu-Natal, with identifiable ‘hot spots’.
This has important implications for DLA planners
4.2.2 Agricultural Production and HIV/AIDS:
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Although the Department of Agriculture does not have a concerted HIV/AIDS programme it has identified the priority focus on increasing food production from the land, so that South Africa can support its population, and HIV/AIDS survivors;
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The impact and implications of HIV/AIDS for land and food security at the household and national level are profound.
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At the household level, people who fall sick with HIV/AIDS are less and less able to work productively;
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As a result family members begin to devote more time to caring for them and devote less time to vital seasonal agricultural activities (e.g. planting or weeding);
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When people become sick, vital physical and social assets like cattle or tools are depleted or sold off as they or their families draw on their savings to pay for expensive medical care and then funerals, and for the hire of replacement labour;
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The incidence of child labour on the land and in the home may increase;
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Thus the households’ ability to cope depends on the extent to which they can adapt to the changes in household composition (age, gender) brought about by HIV/AIDS, and their ability to take on new roles and responsibilities; and
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Policy makers and planners need to note these changing relationships in households, as they will affect both with whom they engage and how they plan interventions.
4.2.3. Rural development and HIV/AIDS:
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The impact and implications of HIV/AIDS for sustainable livelihoods and economic development is immense. Policy makers and planners would be far more effective if the correlations and variations in impact were taken into consideration in policy, planning and implementation, particularly in the following issues:
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Population profiles are changing dynamically with the most economically active group at greatest risk;
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Growing numbers of dependent orphans, school drop-outs and other vulnerable children will be seen in the community and in migration patterns;
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Household and community "wealth" will decline due to loss of bread winners and subverted expenditure;
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There will be a decline in the number of experienced teachers in communities and consequently in their availability to guide and influence community life;
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Growing incidence of illness and mortality will change the social patterns of community life and work;
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Impact on education will reduce the flow of skilled labour but increase the flow of unskilled and dependent labour; and
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Demand for training in land use coupled to access may increase, with capacity to stem the degree of likely migration.
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