The Role of Capital Assets in the Success and Failure of Water Allocation Reform Arrangements: A Case Study of Joint Ventures in South Africa

Fenji Materechera-Mitochi (), Matthew Weaver, Elizabeth A. Mack and Oghenekaro Nelson Odume
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Fenji Materechera-Mitochi: Institute for Water Research (IWR), Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
Matthew Weaver: Institute for Water Research (IWR), Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa
Elizabeth A. Mack: Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Oghenekaro Nelson Odume: Institute for Water Research (IWR), Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-25

Abstract: Joint ventures (JVs) are an example of a government facilitated arrangement geared towards water allocation reform (WAR) designed to improve the lives of emerging farmers through participation in the agricultural economy in South Africa and other emerging countries around the world with segregated agricultural sectors. This paper will qualitatively analyse semi-structured, in-depth interviews with emerging farmers and key institutional actors to investigate the extent that JVs produced perceptible socio-economic benefits for emerging farmers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Socio-economic benefits are operationalised across five types of capital assets (human, natural, financial physical, social). The paper posits that an analysis of the socio-economic benefits derived from emerging farmers in JVs can be useful for informing the governance and institutional arrangements geared towards accelerating equity imperatives. The findings of the analysis, which is conducted using a sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF), reveal that factors such as level of education, formal training in agriculture, and power differentials within the partnership arrangements determine whether JVs produce tangible benefits for emerging farmers. This paper recommends the SLF be used in conjunction with concepts, tools, and modes of analysis used in other fields to address differential conditions, assets, and strategies of differentiated groups.

Keywords: capital assets; joint ventures; water allocation reform; South Africa; agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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