What are the alternative options for diversifying land use under forestry land restitution: A case of Limpopo Province forestry land restitution, South Africa

Abstract

Diversifying land use of monoculture forestry plantations in land restitution projects is very critical in achieving multipurpose production system. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential land use options desired by land claimant beneficiaries. A random sampling technique was used to select 351 and 170 households’ beneficiaries in Livubu and Tzaneen communities in Limpopo Province, respectively. Data were collected using household questionnaire and focus group discussions. Descriptive analysis, Binary logistic regression and Friedman test were used to analyse data. The study revealed that over 80% of the beneficiaries desired to diversify land use options in both study communities and these potential land use options were found to be linked directly with socio-economic factors. There were significance difference among the potential land-use options for both Livubu (p<0.001) and Tzaneen (p<0.001) communities. Predominate desired land-use option was agriculture and the least was grazing. The findings reflect that the beneficiaries are willing and desire to transform monoculture forest plantation to multifunctional forest plantation. Multifunctional forest plantation such as agroforestry and eco-tourism could help beneficiaries to diversify sources of income, fight poverty, create employment and reduce the dependence on natural forests.

Keywords: Beneficiaries, Communities, Forestry, Land use options, Land restitution

ID: 3486070