, Columnist
The Promise and Peril of South African Land Reform
Making farming more productive is the key to faster growth in developing nations.
This won’t be easy.
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Right-wing groups have been sounding the alarm about proposed land reforms in South Africa, where the ruling African National Congress party is preparing to amend the country’s constitution to make it easier for the government to redistribute farmland without compensation. On Aug. 22, President Donald Trump caused a stir with a tweet on the subject:
The tweet, possibly intended to capitalize on racial tensions, was in part inaccurate — there is no large-scale killing of farmers going on. But the part about plans to make land seizures easier is accurate.