Betterment Planning in a Rural Village in Keiskammahoek, Ciskei

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Periodical article

Title:	Betterment Planning in a Rural Village in Keiskammahoek, Ciskei
Author:	De Wet, Chris J.
Year:	1989
Periodical:	Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:	15
Issue:	2
Period:	January
Pages:	326-345
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ciskei South Africa
Subjects:	rural development agricultural policy Development and Technology Politics and Government Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/2636806
Abstract:	Betterment planning officially refers to attempts to combat erosion, conserve the environment and develop agriculture in the South African homelands. This paper provides a case study of the planning and implementation of a betterment scheme in a rural Ciskei village, Chatha, in the magisterial district of Keiskammahoek. It assesses some of the agricultural, demographic and ecological consequences of that process; and it argues that both the people who experienced betterment planning, as well as the government officials at the local level who were responsible for the planning and the implementation of the scheme, were caught up in a political and bureaucratic process which was beyond their control. The paper also portrays and contrasts the people's and the officials' differing perceptions of the implementation of betterment, and suggests reasons as to why there was relatively little resistance to betterment in this particular community. Notes, ref.