Land reform cannot undermine food security
Note to the Editors: This is an extract from Helen Zille speech on ‘economic liberation in our lifetime', delivered at the University of the Western Cape, Friday, August 3 2012
Food Security must be a priority in any country that wants to deal with economic exclusion and poverty. Food security is a vital component of economic liberation. Often countries that produce enough food to feed their people do not know what an advantage they have until they lose it.
That has happened in other countries, now desperate to regain food security.
Although there are people who are hungry in South Africa, we are still a country that produces enough food to feed all 50-million people and export food. Our challenge is economic inclusivity so that everyone can afford to eat. And our next challenge is the looming drought which will increase food costs (especially staple food such as maize) and threaten food security.
Land reform is also an imperative. We need to broaden access to land. This is part of the inclusion we seek. We must ensure that we undertake land reform in ways that do not undermine food security.