The Role of property rights to arable land resources in smallholder development in kat river valley

The paper has attempted to determine how the situation of property rights arable land affects the development of smallholders in the Kat River Valley. To capture data, a questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews. Institutional analysis and ANOVA were used for descriptive analysis to describe the property rights situation, security of property rights and the impact of property rights on the development of smallholder farming. The results show that individual land rights holders have secure rights to land resources while communal small holders and farmers on the invaded state land have insecure rights to land resources. The results from institutional analysis show that the situation of property rights negatively affects development of all smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley. There are various institutional factors that negatively affect development of smallholder farmers in the Kat River Valley. Based on the research findings, some policy recommendations are made. These include consideration of the local context and strengthening of the protection of property rights.