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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Land Degradation and Soil Conservation: Policy Issues for a Democratic South Africa
Authors:Stocking, MichaelISNI
Garland, Gerry
Year:1995
Periodical:Africanus
Volume:25
Issue:1
Pages:27-35
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:agricultural policy
erosion
Politics and Government
Law, Human Rights and Violence
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
Development and Technology
Abstract:There is a large-scale farming sector in South Africa in which the land is relatively well-conserved. This paper is mainly concerned with the far more populated small-scale farming and land use sector as found in the former 'homelands' such as the Transkei, Ciskei and other parts of rural South Africa. It puts soil conservation policy in South Africa into perspective by charting recent international policy changes. It shows that approaches to tackling land degradation through soil conservation programmes have undergone a radical shift in the last fifteen years. Soil conservation policy has moved from an approach which saw soil erosion as primarily an agricultural engineering problem to an approach which recognizes that people allow their soils to erode often because they have no rational choice in the prevailing physical, economic and social environments. Conservationists are now looking at solutions from within the whole farming system, based on indigenous technical knowledge, and on an understanding of the influence on farming practices of variables such as land tenure, market prices, opportunity costs of labour and cultural taboos. The article examines the relevance of these changes for and applicability to South Africa. Bibliogr.
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