Land reform key to future food security

National development will continue to be frustrated until a permanent solution is found to water security and fundamental adjustments are made to land ownership, government and developmental NGOs were saying this week, as summer commenced with a spell of hot, dry weather. "The perennial water shortages suffered in Swaziland are the biggest challenge facing government and the people right now, and we can't run away from it," Minister of Agriculture Stella Lukhele said in a speech in the central agricultural region of Manzini. Lukhele, the first woman to hold the agriculture ministry post, farms in the region. "We have seen the good that comes from new techniques in farming, but very little can be done because of the water problem," she said. Based on long-term weather patterns that can be identified by September, the National Weather Service is predicting a third year of poor or erratic rainfall during the rainy season, which normally lasts from October to April. In its assessment of likely harvest yields, the World Food Programme (WFP) has already predicted a fifth consecutive year of declining agricultural production. Drought-prone areas like the eastern lowveld may produce no crops at all. By January, at least one fifth of the population could be without food, and dependant on emergency relief supplies donated by the WFP and other international assistance groups. An ad hoc debate amongst developmental officials over Swaziland's "dry quagmire," as one official put it, occurred when Minister Lukhele toured food cultivation pilot projects at the Republic of China's Agricultural Technical Mission outside the Matsapha Industrial Estate, 30 km east of Mbabane, the capital. Ironically, for years Taiwanese agricultural advisors sought to introduce rice cultivation to Swaziland, but were defeated by the lack of water needed to flood the rice paddies. "As government, we say people should develop a culture of having gardens in their backyards, even if it is not for commercial purposes. This would assist with the food production situation. But, realistically, we are again faced with the shortage of water," said Lukhele. The reservoir at Maguga Dam in mountainous northern Swaziland is at less than 20 percent of capacity. Swaziland's largest public works project, built in partnership with South Africa, the dam was intended to harness the Komati River for irrigation purposes, and bring relief to rainfall-dependant Swazi farmers. "It hasn't worked out that way yet. The dam was opened last year during a drought, and it's been 'droughty' ever since," Ben Nsibandze, regional administrator of the northern Hhohho Region where the dam is situated, told IRIN. Nsibandze said he and other local and national officials are wondering whether they should adjust policy thinking to reflect a new weather paradigm, because the drought has been present in varying degrees for the past decade. "We can't depend on donor aid to feed the people of a country that was once self-sufficient in food, and has the ability to do so again," Nsibandze remarked. The National Weather Service said data indicating a possible drying shift in the climate of usually temperate Swaziland was inconclusive. Senanele Shongwe, a meteorologist, told IRIN: "Weather patterns vary in any country, and the decade of lower than normal rainfall may be broken by a summer cyclone or a prolonged wet spell." But agriculture development field worker Sipho Mngomezulu said: "Up to three quarters of Swazi farmers depend on rainfall, and whether good rains return [or not], this a risky way to achieve food security. Alternatives have to be found." Early summer will see a renewed campaign by the agriculture ministry to wean Swazi farmers from maize, the national staple food, to drought-resistant crops like sorghum and cotton. "Farmers who form cooperatives to grow cash crops for export will have the support of the agriculture ministry, and access to irrigation water," said a ministry official. In the past, government encouraged maize cultivation by awarding prizes like tractors to farmers who produced the largest yields. To bolster its new emphasis on crop diversification, similar inducements will be awarded to good production of other foods and agricultural products. "Farming is a business, and we must instil a business sense in the small-landholder farmer," said former agriculture minister Roy Fanourakis, who is currently foreign minister. But with 80 percent of the population living as landless peasants under chiefs, true reform will only come after land reform allows Swazis to own title deed to their fields. "An ambitious Swazi who makes his small farm prosper is a fool, because a jealous chief can confiscate it all. Swazis will only make the land productive when they own it," said a Manzini seed distributor. Labour organisations representing agricultural workers are advocating for land reform. "If you turn Swazis from tenants to owners of their land, that will be the inducement for food security," said Africa Magongo, president of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions. But will land reform offset drought conditions, and bring needed water? "In a way, it can. Swazis have no inducement now to make the land they don't own profitable, and if their small maize crops fail, they know they'll be fed by donor agencies. But when Swazis own their land, they can use their properties to secure bank loans to buy pumps and irrigation equipment, and to drill boreholes," Magongo explained. Political observers say land reform is linked to political reform. Until Swaziland shifts from a feudal society to a democracy, empowering food producers in the process, poor rainfall is just one contributing factor to diminishing crop yields.