Grondvergrype in Afrika neem toe | Die Nuus in Afrikaans - Koerant.co.za
Grondvergrype in Afrika neem toe
Navorsing van Oxfam het aangetoon grondvergrype in Afrika het toegeneem en tussen 2000 en 2012 is daar meer land in Afrika “gegryp” as globaal oor die res van die wêreld.
Dr. Blessing Karumbidza, verbonde aan die Durbanse Universiteit van Tegnologie, het gister op ‘n konferensie oor grondvergrype in Midrand gesê “in koloniale tye is dit met vuurwapens gedoen, nou geskied dit met die hulp van die owerhede.
Die eise om grond het toegeneem soos beleggers plekke soek om voedsel te kweek met die oog op uitvoere.
Dr. Samuel Oloruntoba van Nigerië meen baie van die grondvergrype word deur voedselsekerheid en ‘n behoefte aan alternatiewe energiebronne in ontwikkelende kapitalistiese lande in Europa, die VSA en China gedryf. Die burgerlike samelewing moet dié tendens fyn dophou en beveg, het hy gesê.
Volgens dr David Olanya, dosent aan die Gula Universiteit in Uganda is alle grond in dié land in staatsbesit. “Die staat speel ‘n aktiewe rol om grondvergrype te steun om buitelandse beleggings in landbou te werf.”
Afgevaardigers uit Ethiopië, Botswana, Malawi en Zimbabwe het gevalle van grondvergrype in hul lande geopper.
Lees SAPA berig in Engels
Johannesburg – Over 55 million hectares of land in Africa have been “grabbed” since 2000, according to research presented at a conference on Wednesday.
More land was “grabbed” in Africa between 2000 and 2012 than in the rest of the world combined, Dr Blessing Karumbidza, senior research associate at the Durban University of Technology, told the Africa Conference on Land Grab in Midrand.
He made a presentation on behalf of Professor Robert Home from Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom.
Land grabs are broadly defined as large-scale land acquisitions which displace vulnerable communities and farmers, with disregard for the rights of these people and social and environmental impacts.
They take place without free prior and informed consent, within the context of poor institutional governance structures.
Large multinational companies, with the consent of the state, and the state itself, have been implicated in land grabs.
A contributing factor to land grabs is the legacy of the colonial land ownership system which, following decolonisation, left the question of who owned what land unresolved.
“Even in countries like South Africa, where they have the resources… the knowledge of who owns what specific land is not yet clear,” Karumbidza said.
“The whole governance framework is not yet resolved within South Africa and across the continent. What is the best land system that would suit Africa?” he asked