- AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS
Internal Achievements
- The Land Reform and Gender Policy sub-directorate was established
in July 1996 to develop policy guidelines to facilitate women’s
participation in land reform. A policy framework has been developed
and approved by the Minister. A Departmental gender committee has been
established to implement the policy.
- Gender indicators are being developed by the department to monitor
and evaluate policies and programmes as well as to develop gender dis-aggregated
data.
- The Department’s in-house diversity management programme has
included a component on anti-sexist and anti-racist behaviour.
- The Director -General of Agriculture is a woman.
- The Minister is a woman.
- The Department has launched an annual programme of awards for outstanding
women in agriculture, including women in:
- Agricultural Technical Fields
- Administrative Support
- Supportive Staff
- Secretarial Support
- Young Leadership
- The Department is currently investigating the possibility of introducing
a psycho-socio counselling service in the Department
- The following gender issues are being addressed through training:
- Gender sensitisation workshops around gender stereotypes
- Women’s rights
- Sexual harassment
- Capacity building for secretaries
- Violence and abuse of women: [the Department has a working relationship
with People Against Human Abuse (PAHA) to enable the Department to
refer battered and abused women to them.
- The gender sensitisation workshops have enabled the Department to
compile a full report on the status of gender awareness in the Department,
and the report is used as a management tool to understand and address
gender issues
- The Department is considering a flexi-time policy to accommodate
women’s domestic responsibilities, within the working hours of
the Department, and is investigating the provision of crèche
facilities either on its premises or nearby.
Achievements For South African Women
Policies and Legislation
- A land reform policy has been approved by the Minister to give women
security and equal rights with men regarding ownership, control and
use of land.
- The White paper on South African Land Policy stresses gender equity
in all of the land reform programmes
- The Land Rights Bill, which is still at a formative phase, is a
legal instrument that aims at:
- securing land rights
- protecting human rights under group systems
- addressing overcrowding and overlapping land rights
- The enactment of the Communal Property Associations Act makes
provision for non-discrimination between women and men in communal
property ownership and the use of communal land.
- In 1994, the Department redefined ‘farmer’ to
include previously disadvantaged farmers, and to make specific
reference to women,
- The principles of agricultural policy were examined to ensure
they were both gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory.
- The Department is reviewing laws so as to give women security
and equal rights with men regarding ownership, control and use
of land.
- The Restitution of Land Rights Act (1994) assists the Land
Claims Courts to make restitution awards and provides that this
shall be done in a manner which is fair and non-discriminatory
towards women.
- Extension of Security of Tenure Act (1997) gives women and
children independent rights as occupiers on farms owned by another
person, to ensure women are protected against arbitrary or unfair
eviction.
Programmes and Activities
- The Department has instituted a Women in Agriculture Day
- It is planning to institute a ‘best female farmer of the year’ award
- A submission was made to the SA Law Commission on traditional customary
practices that blocks women’s access to land and to security
of tenure.
- A Project has been initiated by the National Department of Agriculture
on:
- improving rural women’s agricultural productivity
- investigating how law can be used as an economic development
tool
- promoting agricultural productivity of rural women.
- The Department has participated in a ‘Women in Land
Exchange Programme’ to provide a framework within which
women may plan and implement a process of information-sharing
and debate on women’s rights to land within their respective
communities.
- The Department has co-operated with NGOs on a range of issues
relating to women and land, including exploring enabling mechanisms
for women at project level, identifying systems and procedures
for effective implementation of Departmental policy, fulfilling
Beijing commitments and the Women’s Convention; and participating
in the development of the CEDAW training manual.
- The Department is currently drafting a programme to integrate
all women engaged in agriculture and related activities into
the national economy, to ensure that women:
- are brought into resource management
- obtain access to land
- obtain access to finance
- obtain access to water
- are recognised as major role players
- have agricultural research directed to include the needs
of women
- are involved at all levels during development planning
- The Department launched an Agricultural Youth Development
Initiative on the 16th June 1998. Although not solely aimed
at women, it does target young females, ranging in age
from 14 to 35, and thus addresses some of the needs of
future females in agriculture.
- The Department has introduced a bursary scheme to empower
women through education, and plans also to introduce a
graduate internship programme.
Budget Allocations
- The Budget for the Gender Sub-directorate is R 1.2