TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURAL AND UNDEVELOPED LAND IN THE BOLAND REGION OF THE WESTERN CAPE

 

Land use dilemmas in the Western Cape

 The competitiveness of the agricultural sector and increase in producer prices often force farmers toconsider alternative ways of generating income, which include rezoning and/or subdividing and selling the land for non-agricultural uses (CAPE Info Sheet 2001). The great need for housing, services and infrastructure in most communities in the Western Cape is contributing to urban sprawl, and this is putting pressure on agricultural land to be rezoned for non-agricultural uses. Not only urban development put pressure on agricultural land, but also rural development such as afforestation, desertification and fragmentation of agricultural land into non-economical units (Bergstrom, Goetz & Shortle 2005). The challenge is to prevent the rezoning of valuable agricultural land to non-agricultural uses by preserving land with agricultural potential as a national asset (South Africa 1998a). The following sections investigate the main contributors and cause of development pressure as well as the associated impact on agricultural land.

 Development pressure and land use dynamics

Development pressures are mostly driven by human activity which creates the need for the
development of necessities such as housing, infrastructure and services, which in turn gives developers an opportunity to gain some economic benefits (Bockstael 1996). The main factors causing development pressure on agricultural land are the increase in human population, instability of currencies, farming systems, disturbances of different land use types and the need for infrastructural development (Ouadba et al. 2008). The intensification and diversification of different land uses, caused by development, influences the functioning of natural processes and landscape dynamics, which in turn affect human well-being (Knickel 2007). It is therefore important that the negative impacts associated with these interlinked processes are assessed and steps taken to prevent any further negative
occurrences. 

The main cause of inappropriate land use change in the Western Cape is the clearing of land for socio-economic uses such as urban settlements (Giliomee 1994). Other forms of unsuitable land use change in the Western Cape are inappropriate road construction, forestry planting, and inappropriately located rural and informal settlements which all contribute to land degradation (Garland, Hoffman & Todd 1999). These inappropriate agricultural land use changes, as well as the construction of recreational  activities and the expansion of urban settlements (including associated infrastructure), put additional pressure on the remaining agricultural land as it leaves less land for farming. Another factor that
contributes to development pressure on a piece of land is limited water resources. As urbanisation accelerates, the competition for water between urban and agricultural uses increases (DEADP 2005a).
 

The Western Cape has high levels of urbanisation because of its favorable location and high
environmental quality, putting pressure on natural resources and undeveloped rural areas. It is therefore important to ensure a suitable balance between economic development and the conservation of agricultural land and biodiversity in these rural areas (DEADP 2005b).

The problem with land use change is that role players do not always consider the agricultural, cultural, demographic and socio-economic characteristics of an area before the land is actually developed, resulting in unsuitable land use changes (Lockeretz 1988; Werner 1993). These land use changes often result in negative impacts such as congestion, air and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, fragmentation of agricultural land and flooding (Polyakov & Zhang 2008). Land use changes also entail the expansion of existing urban areas resulting in the deterioration of ecosystem services when development is not properly planned (Polyakov & Zhang 2008).

Agricultural land under pressure

Inappropriate land use practices in South Africa have been in the foreground of agricultural and political debates for many years (Fey & Mills 2003). Developments on agricultural land in the Western Cape have been a sensitive topic in the media in the recent past. Examples are numerous (Cape Times 2001, 2006; Carter 2004; Die Burger 1990; Duvenhage 2006; Essop 2005, 2006; Herman 2005;
Jordaan 2001; MacLennan 2004; Morris & Yeld 2004; Paarl Post 2001; Powell 2007; Saturday Weekend Argus 2004a, 2004b; Steenkamp 2006; Thamm 2006; The Herald 2005; Visser & Van Huyssteen 1997) and they indicate the seriousness with which agricultural land use change in the Western Cape is viewed.

The remaining undeveloped land in the Western Cape is mostly agricultural land and given the population growth in the Western Cape there is an increased demand to acquire some of this undeveloped land to expand the urban edges of the cities and towns in the province. 

This puts the remaining agricultural land, especially the land surrounding urban areas, under great development pressures. The development of these rural areas for urban uses places increased pressure on rural land used for agriculture, as agricultural land use is replaced by urban developments (Lockeretz 1988). It also has serious implications for the conservation of biodiversity and for the prospects of sustainable agriculture (Rookwood 1995). The establishment of conservancies and reserves are also contributing to agricultural land being rezoned to non-agricultural uses. As this market is fairly new and still being
explored in the Western Cape, it has the potential to contribute to large amounts of agricultural land being rezoned in future (CAPE Info Sheet 2001). Factors such as the instability of the Rand, increasing international competition and a rise in property taxes place additional pressure on agricultural land as farmers are forced to consider alternative ways to generate income on farms, which mostly results in the subdivision or rezoning of agricultural land for non-agricultural development and resort purposes (Duvenhage 2006).

Often unsustainable agricultural practices such as overgrazing and soil erosion reduce the production potential of agricultural land, leading to the rezoning of the land to alternative land uses that are more economically viable on degraded agricultural land (Fraser & Mabusela 2003). In these instances it is argued that it is more appropriate to develop the land as it will mean that degraded, unused land will be optimally (from an economic point of view) used. Fragmentation of agricultural land in the Western Cape also contributes to a large quantity of agricultural land being lost to non-agricultural developments. This often entails the subdivision of farms into smaller unsustainable agricultural units, where the subdivided units are then used for non-agricultural purposes (Van der Westhuizen 1998). 

Fragmentation makes supervision and protection of the land difficult and results in small and uneconomic sized operational holdings (Bizimana, Ferrer & Niewoudt 2004). Farm tourism also contributes to the subdivision and rezoning of agricultural land in the Western Cape by stimulating the establishment of a variety of activities such as guest houses, conference facilities and off-road tracks (Jordaan 2001). Field sports such as golf, horse racing, polo and tourism resorts are greatly contributing to the rezoning of agricultural land uses. An example is the approval of the multibillion Rand lifestyle developments along the south and east coast of South Africa, where 77% of the proposed sites are on
high potential agricultural land (Thamm 2006). Urban sprawl and luxury housing estates are two of the main contributors to agricultural land use change in the Western Cape (Cape Times 2006). There is an environmental price to pay as either large tracts of natural vegetation or some agriculture uses are being replaced by resort and urban developments (Mannion 2002).

One of the greatest concerns is that agricultural land in the Western Cape has more or less reached its capacity in terms of expansion, leaving very little land for future agricultural expansion. This puts a heavy responsibility on current generations to preserve the existing agricultural land for future generations. Undoubtedly, there are numerous challenges facing the preservation of agricultural land in the Western Cape (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 2006).

Source:

Stellenbosch University

TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURAL AND UNDEVELOPED LAND IN THE
BOLAND REGION OF THE WESTERN CAPE

AUTHOR: BERNARD NIEMAND

Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University

Supervisor: Prof JH van der Merwe

Copyright © 2011 Stellenbosch University
All rights reserved
 

Mozambique Doing Business - South Africa

2025

Link: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/d82e3dd7-c4e0-4499-af64-4a3e3a84e39b/content