The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)

19/10/2026

👩🏿‍🌾 The Trichardtsdal-Ofcolaco area in Limpopo, South Africa, was once considered a success case by the government for land redistribution and land rights restitution to disadvantaged people. Soon after and sometimes years later, however, it became clear that it only very partially produced forms of justice and livelihood that the beneficiaries, the government, and ‘mentor’ farmers had envisioned.

Associate Professor of International Development Studies Janwillem Liebrand at Utrecht University will deliver a seminar this Thursday on his work up until October 2026 in the area. The results pose questions of progressive land and water policies in South Africa: what is or can be expected from them, and are land and water policy reforms perhaps ‘too ambitious’ and ‘unimplementable’? Join us.

🗓️ Thursday, 22 October 2026
🕐 13:00 to 14:00 SAST
📍 PLAAS seminar room, Jakes Gerwel Hall, University of the Western Cape & online
📝 Register on Zoom and read the full abstract here: https://shorturl.at/KiXEd

16/10/2026

"In the face of environmental crises, wars, and the rise of the far right, rethinking agrarian reform in the 21st century is an absolute necessity.” - Morgan Ody, Secretary General of La Vía Campesina

Launching on February 4, 2027, this new book, Redistributive Land Reform: Challenging Inequality in the 21st Century, edited by Ian Scoones, Saturnino M. Borras, Ruth Hall, and Wendy Wolford, shows that inequality worldwide cannot be addressed if redistributive land reform is not part of the picture.

Drawing on case studies presented at our Land, Life and Society Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the book demonstrates that redistributive land reform remains an important route to addressing the concentration of land, building inclusive societies, and boosting local economies.

To learn more, visit: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/redistributive-land-reform-9781350631168/ Bloomsbury Publishing UK

Sign up to receive information about the book launch and when you can access a free download: https://forms.gle/FnBcoSRrZxHL2qN27

17/09/2026

What does equitable access to land mean?

We joined the Civil Society National Workshop on Equitable Access to Land to support our civil society partners from across the country. Our research helped them to shape what they would like "equitable" to mean, how they want "land" to be understood, and how laws on land access, old and new, should provide justice for landless South Africans.

We've tagged some of the organisations below who built with us over this week. We'll share more on the outcomes soon! ✊🏿

Afesis Alliance for Rural Democracy - ARD Association For Rural Advancement (AFRA) Centre For Applied Legal Studies- Wits University. Development Action Group TCOE - Trust for Community Outreach and Education Lamosa Landnnes Legal Resources Centre Ndifuna Ukwazi Nelson Mandela Foundation Nkuzi Development Association Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) Reclaim the City Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) Surplus People Project Women on Farms Project

09/09/2026

Seminar 📢

Human-made climate change undermines the ecological and socio-economic basis of African life. Addressing this global climate crisis requires a rapid and drastic reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions. But while a transition towards renewable energies has become inevitable, justice has not.

Dr Hamza Hamouchene delivers on Monday this seminar challenging the deceptive narrative that obfuscates questions of ownership and sovereignty, and that masks ongoing global relations of neo-colonial domination.

Monday, 14 September 2026
13:00 to 14:00 SAST
PLAAS seminar room, or online
Register on zoom: https://shorturl.at/vgeoD
Read the abstract: https://shorturl.at/RGY8J

Transnational Institute UWC Research & Innovation

14/08/2026

📢 Seminar: Navigating the Green Energy Dilemma: A Case Study of Geothermal Development in Kenya🗣️

While solar, wind, and geothermal projects are crucial for global climate goals, their low energy density frequently leads to new land conflicts, displacements, and marginalized rural burdens at the local level.

Join us for this seminar with Professor Clemens Greiner from the University of Cologne, who will explore these complex dynamics and their intersections with local communities, economic development, and environmental sustainability.

📅 27 Aug 2026
🕐 13:00 SAST
📍 Jakes Gerwel Hall, UWC / 💻 Zoom
Register: https://uwc.zoom.us/meeting/register/AF0s8zLZTyCTfBjRyfdQZw

13/08/2026

PLAAS PhD graduate, Dr Charity Rusere, takes on a new role as Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the Bio-social Security: Social Science Transformations of Biosecurity (BIOSSCI) project at the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ). 🌍

For the next three years, Dr Rusere will explore livestock systems in South Africa with project PI Professor Stephen Hinchliffe and Dr Andrew Bennie, bringing her expertise in agrarian change, land governance, rural livelihoods, food systems and rural development.

Congratulations, Dr Rusere! 🎉 We are so proud of you and look forward to the incredible impact you will make on people’s lives.

11/08/2026

🎓 Kenya and Tanzania PhD candidates, we're looking for you!

We have two scholarships in poverty, land and agrarian studies, working on our "Digital Agrarian Futures" project with the Collaborative Research Centre TR228 with the University of Cologne. If you have the right doctoral topic, can conduct long-term ethnographic research, write scholarly publications, and are confident you can present your findings at academic conferences, we want to hear from you. Women candidates are strongly urged to apply.

Find more information on the flyer, and apply via this link: https://plaas.org.za/apply-phd-scholarships-digital-agrarian-futures-project/

The University of the Western Cape

28/07/2026

📢 CALLING ALL BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION PROFESSIONALS!

Why are so many conservation approaches unable to do justice to people who live in these areas? Our Living Landscapes: New Thinking on Integrating Biodiversity and Social Justice short course is designed to answer this question and many more about how conservation is practised in Africa. Apply for this fully funded in-person course, taking place this October, where you can learn how to apply considerations about the ever-present racial, gender and other inequities in conservation.

🗓️ 26-30 October 2026
📍Cape Town, South Africa

Participants must be available in person in Cape Town for the duration of the course. Read more and apply below.

In-person short course 26-30 October 2026 Cape Town, South Africa Why are so many conservation approaches unable to do justice to people who live in these areas? What could an integrated approach to “living with” biodiversity rather than separating locals from nature achieve? Is conservation cau...

14/07/2026

“I don’t want to be seated in heaven seeing my grandchildren without land.”

Watch this new documentary, based on research by Tapiwa Chatikobo, Ian Scoones and other researchers and produced by Alport Ndlovu. It explores the reality of Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform programme 25 years later and how it yielded different results across communities.

It follows field visits in May 2025, when land reform beneficiaries from Mvurwi, Matobo, Gutu, and Masvingo communities visited one another to learn from each other’s dynamics and have remained in touch to date.

Listen to their stories below.

Our research has explored the experiences of land reform in A1 smal...

07/07/2026

Applications open for 2027: Postgraduate Diploma in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (NQF Level 8)! 🎓

This programme is the only accredited qualification of its kind in South Africa. It is ideal for graduates and working professionals who are looking to strengthen their knowledge in poverty, land, and agrarian studies.

💼Strategise your next career move with an accredited university qualification (NQF) level 8, learning from internationally renowned African lecturers with established teaching, learning, and research expertise in poverty, land and agrarian studies.

🏛️Build a solid understanding of key concepts in poverty, land, agrarian reform, ecosystem management, and climate change.

🌍Get ahead in your profession by learning historically accurate and timely critical engagement with land and related policies in Southern Africa to make real-time interventions in your context.
Learn more and apply here: https://plaas.org.za/postgraduate-diploma/