WORKSHOP A - LAND ACCESS AND OWNERSHIP
From left to right: Moderator Hon. Jerry Thibedi, MP, and Discussion Leaders, Prof Gilingwe Mayende (centre) and Hon. G.G. Mokgoro, MP.
the dialogue and engagement with women and traditional leaders in rural communities where issues of land access are being discussed. Prof G. Mayende, Chairperson of AgriSETA, referred to the historical and contemporary factors influencing land access and emphasized that agrarian reform should be linked to broader rural development. Noting the delicate balance between economic efficiency and social justice, he felt that the sub-division of land could with effective support become successful and the main pillars of the agricultural economy. Those most in need of land are the landless and land-poor communities which also includes
vulnerable groups such as matriarchal households. There is a need to strengthen the support mechanisms for land reform beneficiaries. He focused on the importance of pre- and post-settlement support in the form of training, mentoring, credit and market access and also agreed on the role of traditional authorities in assisting with land access. Professor Mayende strongly felt that there is a need for Parliamentarians to increase their outreach activities among poor rural communities.
Mr Brij Behari Lal Butail Butail, MLA, Himachal Pradesh, identified land as an economic resource and an important factor in the formation
of individual and collective identity and in the day-to-day organization of social, cultural and religious life. Land access and ownership affects the everyday choices and prospects of rural communities and determines how much a farmer would be prepared to invest in improving the land. Addressing the land access and tenure security needs of the rural people is crucial for social justice, political stability and peaceful co-existence. Parliament, being the highest decision-making body, could play a pivotal role in implementing the necessary legislation, giving sanction to budgetary demands, laws and programmes and also
through exercising the necessary oversight. Capacity building is critical for improving access to land and for effective land administration, both in state institutions and in civil society. There is also a need on the part of Parliamentarians:
• To develop and disseminate a range of tools for improving land tenure security and delivering low cost land titles; • To systematically support democ- racy through land institutions and land information systems which are decentralized and problem-centred; • To improve access to appropriate and comprehensive systems of land
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