Tackling ‘the most avoided issue\'*: communal rangeland management in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Democratisation in 1994 resulted in a shift in state focus from white commercial farmers to small-scale and subsistence black farmers living in communal areas in South Africa. The LandCare Program of the National Department of Agriculture aimed to improve productivity at the same time as promoting sustainable land-use practices. However, agriculture officials have remained reluctant to tackle communal rangeland management.
This paper examines the experiences of stakeholders who undertook communal rangeland management and rehabilitation on the Okhombe LandCare project in the northern Drakensberg. The paper explores how community facilitators can be trained and supported in their work. Facilitator training for communal rangeland management should include social skills, the social context of communal rangelands and novice facilitators should be supported by mentors. There is a need for greater financial support and law enforcement from the state in the area of communal grazing management.

Keywords: communal rangeland management, facilitator training, LandCare, LandCare training, resting

African Journal of Range & Forage Science 2005, 22(3): 167–175