Changes in “customary” land tenure systems in Africa Edited by Lorenzo Cotula Changes in “customary” land tenure systems in Africa Edited by Lorenzo Cotula Contributing authors Jean-Pierre Chauveau, Salmana Cissé, Jean-Philippe Colin, Lorenzo Cotula, Philippe Lavigne Delville, Bernardete Neves, Julian Quan, Camilla Toulmin CHANGES IN “CUSTOMARY” LAND TENURE SYSTEMS IN AFRICA Lorenzo Cotula March 2007 Copies of this publication can be obtained from: SMI (Distribution Services) Ltd, P.O. Box 119, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 4TP Tel: +44 1438 748 111, Fax: +44 1438 748 844, [email protected] IIED order code: 12537IIED Citation: Cotula L. (ed). CHANGES IN “CUSTOMARY” LAND TENURE SYSTEMS IN AFRICA ISBN: 978-1-84369-657-5 Cover photos (clockwise from top): Herders with zebu cattle, Uganda © Mike Powles / Still Pictures; Farmer in his barley field, Ethiopian Highlands © Crispin Hughes / Still Pictures; Rice harvest, Ferekessedougou, Ivory Coast © Mark Edwards / Still Pictures Design: Smith+Bell Printing: Russell Press Printed on: Greencoat Velvet 200 gsm and Greencoat Velvet 100 gsm ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was funded by the Livelihood Support Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). It builds on key findings from earlier IIED- coordinated research projects, including “Changes in Land Access, Institutions and Markets in West Africa” (CLAIMS, 2002-2005) – a four-year research project funded by the European Union, coordinated by IIED and implemented by eight African and European partners (GRET and IRD, based in France; UCL, based in Belgium; UMB in Mali; GIDIS in Ivory Coast; LARES in Benin; and UERD, now ISSP, in Burkina Faso); and “Pastoral Land Tenure and Decentralisation in Mali” (1999-2003), funded by NORAD and implemented by IIED and by a Malian NGO, GRAD. The publication of the report was funded by DFID. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Jean-Pierre Chauveau is research director at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), and associate researcher at the Joint Research Laboratory on “Markets, Organisations, Institutions and Operators' Strategies”, based in France. His work focuses on the socio-anthropology of social change and of development interventions, particularly in Ivory Coast. Salmana Cissé is a researcher at the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER), based in Mali. A sociologist by training, he has carried out research on natural resource management in the Inner Niger Delta since the 1970s, and has published extensively on pastoralism and on customary chieftaincies in the Delta. Jean-Philippe Colin is director of the land tenure research unit at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), based in France. His work is at the interface between institutional economics and economic anthropology, and focuses on property rights and agrarian contracts. He has carried out research for many years in Mexico and Ivory Coast. Lorenzo Cotula is researcher in law and sustainable development at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), based in the UK. His work focuses on the role of law in sustainable development – particularly in the areas of land/natural resource rights, foreign investment, governance and human rights. Philippe Lavigne Delville is an anthropologist and Scientific Director at the Groupe de Recherche et d’Echanges Technologiques (GRET), based in France. He has worked on land tenure for the past ten years, undertaking research and providing support to policy debates. He is also an associate fellow at the land tenure research unit of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD). Bernardete Neves is a researcher working on market-based mechanisms for natural resource management. She is currently working with FAO on a project to assess the potential of payments for ecosystem services from agricultural landscapes. At the time of writing, she collaborated with IIED on payments for watershed services, on water governance and on land tenure issues. Julian Quan is a social and political scientist with 25 years of development experience internationally in Africa, Latin America, and in the UK. He has a specialist expertise in land tenure, rural development, and natural resource and environment management. From 1998-2003 he was seconded to DFID as a land tenure/policy adviser. Camilla Toulmin is director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). An economist by training, she has worked extensively on land tenure, pastoralism and agricultural development in Africa, particularly West Africa, undertaking research and contributing to policy debates at national, regional and international levels. ABBREVIATIONS CLAIMS Changes in Land Access, Institutions and Markets in West Africa FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GIDIS Groupement Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Sciences Sociales GRAD Groupe de Recherche Actions pour le Développement GRET Groupe de Recherche et d’Echanges Technologiques IER Institut d’Economie Rurale IIED International Institute for Environment and Development IRD Institut de Recherche pour le Développement ISSP Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (Université de Ouagadougou) LAJP Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Juridique de Paris LARES Laboratoire d'Analyse Régionale et d'Expertise Sociale DFID Department for International Development, UK NGO Non-governmental organisation NORAD Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation UCL Université Catholique de Louvain UERD Unité d’Enseignement et de Recherche en Démographie (Université de Ouagadougou) UMB Université Mande Bukari, Mali “It is important to note that indigenous law is not a fixed body of formally classified and easily ascertainable rules. By its very nature it evolves as the people who live by its norms change their patterns of life.” Constitutional Court of South Africa, Alexor Ltd v. The Richtersveld Community, 14 October 2003, CCT 19/03. “Everything must change if we want things to stay the same.” 19th century Sicilian noble, explaining why he supported the unification of Italy against his sovereign, the King of the Two Sicilies. Tomasi di Lampedusa, “Il Gattopardo”. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..........................................................................1 1. INTRODUCTION Lorenzo Cotula ........................................................................5 1.1. BACKGROUND ................................................................................5 1.2. OBJECT, SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY ............................................8 1.3. WHAT IS “CUSTOMARY” LAND TENURE? ......................................10 2. THE DRIVERS OF CHANGE Lorenzo Cotula with Bernardete Neves ....................................15 2.1. SETTING THE SCENE......................................................................15 2.2. DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE ..............................................................16 2.3. URBANISATION ............................................................................20 2.4. INTEGRATION IN THE WORLD ECONOMY ....................................21 2.5. SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CHANGE ................................25 2.6. HIV/AIDS ......................................................................................27 2.7. CONFLICT ......................................................................................28 2.8. PUBLIC POLICY AND LEGISLATION ..............................................31 3. CHANGES IN “CUSTOMARY” LAND MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM WEST AFRICA Philippe Lavigne Delville ........................................................35 3.1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................35 3.2. POWER OVER PEOPLE, POWER OVER RESOURCES: THE SOCIO-POLITICAL NATURE OF “CUSTOMARY” MANAGEMENT......36 3.2. LEGAL PLURALISM AND COMPETITION/COOPERATION BETWEEN INSTITUTIONS ....................................................................38 3.4. CHANGES IN THE LOCAL LAND REGULATION FRAMEWORK ........40 3.5. SOME OF THE FACTORS DRIVING CHANGE ..............................................................45 3.6. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................49 4. CHANGES IN INTRA-FAMILY LAND RELATIONS Julian Quan ....................................................................................................51 4.1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................51 4.2. INTRA-FAMILY DIMENSIONS AND TENURE CHANGE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA......53 4.3. GENDER AND INTRA-FAMILY LAND RELATIONS ......................................................54 4.4. YOUTH AND INTER-GENERATIONAL LAND ISSUES ..................................................57 4.5. CONCLUSIONS: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN KINSHIP-BASED LAND MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................62 5. CHANGES IN LAND TRANSFER MECHANISMS: EVIDENCE FROM WEST AFRICA Jean-Pierre Chauveau and Jean-Philippe Colin..................................................65 5.1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................65 5.2. CHANGES IN TUTORAT RELATIONS ..........................................................................67 5.3.THE EMERGENCE OF LAND “SALES” ..........................................................................73 5.4. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................77