Concern about the concentration of property and rights to natural resources is prompting calls for the redistribution of land, fishing rights and other rural assets and sources of wealth.

By Amelia Genis, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad

Prof Ruth Hall, director of the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), says concentration is increasing across the spectrum – from land ownership and control over oceans and fisheries, to market power in food systems and the management of water and forests.

Writing in a blog on the PLAAS website, Hall warns the concentration of land in the hands of a few individuals and companies is dangerous.

“Monopolising territory, eroding ecosystems, industrial agriculture, plantation forestry, mining and other extractive industries erode the sustainability of ecosystems and the livelihoods of people.”

An increase in landlessness, especially among rural residents, leaves people more vulnerable in an era of climate change and drives migration, as the concentration of power and control over land can undermine effective and equitable climate action.

Hall says redistribution applies not only to land but also to fishing rights, control of territory and participation in food systems.

“Diverse themes ranging from climate finance to biodiversity conservation similarly hold the potential to drive equitable development if, and only if, rural populations are at the centre of priorities, and shape their design and implementation.”

Also read: Land reform still falling short – Minister Nyhontso

Inequality Hinders Economic Growth

In 2006, the members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that gathered at the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) in Brazil issued a declaration that endorsed agrarian reform as the path towards equitable development. It called for widespread land reforms to enable “secure and sustainable access to land, water and other natural resources” to be “an inherent part of national policies”.

In February 2026, Colombia will host the Second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD+20).

PLAAS recently hosted an international conference titled “Land, Life and Society” (7-9 October) at UWC in Cape Town to discuss these issues and to prepare for ICARRD+20. The conference also marked PLAAS’s 30th anniversary.

Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Land reform bottleneck hampering agricultural potential – Wandile Sihlobo

PLAAS: 30 Years of Research and Advocacy

Emeritus Professor Ben Cousins founded PLAAS in 1995 to conduct policy research that would assist the new South African government in implementing land reform.

At the time, it was called the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies. It gained accreditation as an institute in 2009, and is now known as the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies.

The programme quickly earned an international reputation for the quality of its in-depth research into the politics of human rights and access to land, the norms and rules that shape land governance, the management of natural resources, and the working and living conditions of farm workers.

PLAAS continues to conduct research, engage in policy dialogue and train students.