Report on Delivery to Women

1. 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