Centre for Environmental Rights – Advancing Environmental Rights in South Africa

The Draft Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Policy was first published for comment in 2015. It has been re-published for comment on 2 September 2016 by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The aims of the Draft Policy are to protect and preserve agricultural land and its productive use in order to ensure national and household food security, ensure that agricultural land remains available and viable for agricultural development, ensure sustainable development of the agricultural sector, maintain and increase rural employment, ensure a reduction in poverty levels and a sustained improvement in quality of life, and increase agricultural production and the contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).