He is the coauthor of Reforming Land and Resource Use in South Africa: Impact on Livelihoods and Rural Development and the Construction of New Markets. Ben Cousins is a professor and a Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation (DST/NRF) research chair in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) as the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He founded PLAAS in 1995 and directed it from its inception until September 2009.