Happiness works as a land rights field worker with the Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA) in South Africa. In her role, she engages with farm dwellers and government officials. Her work entails building the capacity of farm dwellers so they can claim their land rights and engaging with duty bearers (government officials) to ensure that they are held accountable when it comes to providing land rights to farm dwellers.
Happiness talked to us about how she uses a rights-based approach in her everyday work.
What is a rights-based approach to land rights?
“On the one hand, we have the farm dwellers who are right holders. On the other hand, we have the government who are duty bearers. Duty bearers have to be held accountable by providing both men and women land rights.”
She says the problem on the ground is that poor farm dwellers, especially women, do not always have equal access to land.
Working with farm dwellers to claim land rights
Happiness says the process typically starts by looking at the land rights that exist and identifying the rights that have been denied to farm dwellers.
Happiness says that the work is not a size fits all. Instead, it is a case-by-case assessment of the situation/problem facing the identified farm dwellers. What is important, though, is to look at the problem holistically. That is, instead of looking at it as a single problem, it is important to identify how other farm dwellers on a farm are equally affected or likely to be affected by the identified problem, Happiness explains.
“Most often, farm dwellers do not know about these rights, so you have to make them aware. Creating awareness is important because farm dwellers do not realise that a right has been denied in the first place,” Happiness explains. Once awareness has been created, then the work with farm dwellers begins.
The approach is not a one size fits all. Instead, it is a case-by-case assessment of the situation/problem facing the identified farm dwellers. What is important, though, is to look at the problem holistically. That is, instead of looking at it as a single problem, it is important to identify how other farm dwellers on a farm are equally affected or likely to be affected by the identified problem, Happiness explains.
She elaborates by saying, “if there is an eviction occurring, we attend the eviction, document how many households are being evicted. Beyond just the ongoing eviction, we also look at other issues such as water access, how farm dwellers access electricity, and whether they have access to schools, healthcare and others. So, we have that holistic understanding of broader issues affecting farm dwellers on a given farm.” Doing this is essential, according to Happiness, because lack of access to land rights typically intersects with other issues that farm dwellers are likely to face.
Holding duty bearers accountable
Happiness says that one of the things that have worked is the creation of a multi-stakeholder platform where representatives of farm owners through their unions, duty bearers and civil society sit and discuss matters that affect farm dwellers. She explains that having union representatives on these platforms is particularly important because it is easier to implement alternative dispute resolution mechanisms instead of always going to court or pursuing the legal route.
Happiness goes on to say that engaging duty-bearers used to be a challenge. But, having a forum with different Government representatives in the same room has helped.
"Government representatives usually have overlapping responsibilities and programmes. During engagements, we will realise that the Department of Agriculture is responsible for supporting emerging farmers. And then you’ll find that the Department of Land and Rural Development also has the same project, but they are working in silos, and it gets hard to know exactly who to hold accountable when things do not go right. So, by bringing them in one room, there is streamlining of responsibilities and coordination.''
For Happiness, the ILC Gender Expert Network is an avenue through which she can contribute and learn from others. “I believe that I can contribute by advocating for programmes that are comprehensive to all gender, friendly to community and do not attract negative reaction from any gender that may feel attacked or discriminated,” she concludes.
