Impact of Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) Projects on Human Capital Livelihood of Beneficiaries in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District in South Africa

Abstract

This study assessed the effect of PLAS projects on human capital aspects of beneficiaries in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality. Out of 97 beneficiaries, stratified random sampling technique was used to select 54 from all the 36 PLAS projects in the District. Data was collected through the use of a structured questionnaire and analyzed using version 21 of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) with frequency count, percentage and Wilcoxon test on “before” and “after” basis. The results show that majority of the farmers were above 50 years of age; 18% do not have formal education; land sizes of beneficiaries ranged between 55.7 and 1500 hectares; and majority of respondents had farming experience of more than 10 years. The results indicate that participation in the PLAS projects have impacted positively on skills and knowledge of the farmers in the areas of farm production, finance, marketing and veldt management. The results of the Wilcoxon sign rank test on human capital show that significant difference exists in human capital among beneficiaries “before” and “after” participation in PLAS projects for all 21 variables considered. This implies that significant number of the respondents have acquired various human capital skills after their participation in the PLAS projects.