Only 13% of SA’s land surface is suitable for agriculture, so use it wisely
The draft Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill seeks to address just that
On February 6, Business Day published a piece by Wandile Sihlobo in which he detailed the growing trend in the communal areas of the Eastern Cape where agricultural land is increasingly being used for settlement purposes. This article struck a chord as it could easily have been written about any province in SA, such is the magnitude of the trend. SA may be a rather large country but only 13% of our land surface is suitable for crop production, with only 2% to 3% truly being regarded as high potential. The 13% is spread across the areas of the Eastern Cape referred to by Sihlobo, as well as large areas of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the coastal areas of the Western Cape, and Gauteng. Coincidentally, many of these areas are also densely populated, being rapidly urbanised or sought after by other sectors of the economy due to the presence of mineral and coal deposits, as well as water resources required for electricity generation and heavy industry. Land is about more than just...
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