Research Report Large-scale land acquisitions in Zambia: Evidence to inform policy Jessica Chu and Dimuna Phiri PLAAS Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies School of Government • EMS Faculty Research Report Research Report Large-scale land acquisitions in Zambia: Evidence to inform policy Jessica Chu and Dimuna Phiri June 2015 PLAAS Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies School of Government • EMS Faculty iii Research Report 50 Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Zambia: Evidence to inform policy Published by the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa Tel: +27 21 959 3733 Fax: +27 21 959 3732 Email: [email protected] Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies Research Report no. 50 June 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher or the authors. Copy Editor: Glynne Newlands Proof reader: Jennifer Leak Series Editor: Rebecca Pointer Photographs: Darlene Miller Design & Layout: Design for development Typeset in Frutiger Thanks to the Austrian Development Cooperation for supporting this project. Research Report Contents Acronyms v Executive summary 1 1 Introduction 7 2 Methodology 9 3 Background 10 4 Case studies 12 5 Findings and discussion 19 6 Lessons learned 27 7 Conclusion 35 8 Bibliography and sources 37 Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Zambia: Evidence to Inform Policy Acronyms AfDB African Development Bank CRS Catholic Relief Services CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DMMU Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit SULTS Enhancing Sustainable Livelihoods Through Land Tenure Security EIS Environmental Impact Statement EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EITA Extractive Industry Transparency Alliance FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FIAN Food First Information and Action Network FQM First Quantum Minerals FDI Foreign Direct Investment GDP Gross Domestic Product GRZ Government of the Republic of Zambia KML Kalumbila Minerals Limited MP Member of Parliament MEWD Ministry of Environment and Water Development MNTF Musele Nkisu Task Force NAP National Agriculture Policy NAIP National Agriculture Investment Plan NIP National Irrigation Policy PRAI Principles on Responsible Agricultural Investment RAP Resettlement Action Plan SNDP Sixth National Development Plan TA Traditional Authority ZDA Zambia Development Agency ZEMA Zambia Environmental Management Agency ZLA Zambia Land Alliance v Research Report Executive summary Land in Zambia plays a vital role in sustaining and the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), work- livelihoods, ensuring food security and reduc- ing in conjunction with Caritas Zambia. The ing poverty. If people are not able to access organisations have been active in mobilising land (including communal interests, such as local communities in the Musele area; in par- lands for grazing or access to water resourc- ticular, EITA has been active in the KML case es), they will be unable to secure rights over through working with the Musele Nkisu Task their land, participate in decisions over land Force (MNTF) and supporting Chief Musele in that they occupy or use, or undertake diverse building claims against KML. activities that improve their livelihoods, such as farming and fishing. This can contribute to This study is based on three main research- increased poverty levels and may lead to food methods: comprehensive literature analysis, insecurity. Promoting good land governance key stakeholder interviews and community in the process of allocating land for develop- meetings. These methods are employed to ment and managing the different interests complement each other through the trian- and competing claims to land is essential in gulation of key facts and to consider the per- protecting the livelihoods of many Zambians spectives of each group. The key details and who depend on land. findings from both case studies are summa- rised below. Recently, Zambia has seen a rise in large-scale land acquisitions that have led to several com- munities around the country being displaced. Case study evidence These displacements pose risks to the food In this investigation of two case studies of security, tenure security and sustainable liveli- large-scale land acquisition, the cases of hoods ofthe poor communities. The Zambia Mumbwa and Solwezi presented two differ- Land Alliance(ZLA)has undertaken this study ent scenarios: one of agricultural investment with the aim of assessing the processes and in an area of statutory land, and one of a min- procedures that guide large-scale land acqui- ing investment in an area of customary land. sitions, as well as understanding the social and Both investors involved are large foreign com- economic impacts on the affected communi- panies, and both have attempted to incorpo- ties. In this research, a key factor in determin- rate corporate social responsibility (CSR) pro- ing socio-economicimpact has been to assess grammes into their operations. Investments the role of participation by the affected com- such as these have been promoted and facili- munities in the processes of displacement.The tated by Zambian government policies to con- research identified two case studies: The Big tribute to economic development. Concession farm block in Mumbwa District, Central Province, and the investment made by In the Amatheon Project, Amatheon has German-based Amatheon Agri Ltd,1 and the acquired 14,237ha of statutory land in the his- other of a Canadian mining company, First torical Big Concession farm block in Mumbwa Quantum Minerals (FQM) with its subsidiary District for a brownfield2 agricultural project. Kalumbila Minerals Limited (KML) in Solwezi In the Mumbwa case, communities expressed District. This research reveals that displace- confusion over the land tenure status of those 1 Amatheon Agril will be ments remain the greatest fear for local com- affected. Even with cases concerning statuto- shortened to ‘Amatheon’ for simplification in this report. It munities. If the challenges and existing gaps ry land, the land rights of local communities was also known originally in are not addressed in the land administration are not straightforwardly defined, and often Zambia as the ‘Big Concession Agriculture Ltd’. work to the disadvantage of rural households. system, it is anticipated that large-scale land 2 ‘Brownfield’ refers to acquisitions will continue. As the pressure on developments that take place FQM, through its subsidiary Kalumbila Miner- where there were previously land rises, more incidences of displacement commercial investments, and so als Limited (KML), has acquired the mineral will occur. dispossession took place further rights for 60,000ha of land in Solwezi District in the past. 3 3 ‘Greenfield’ refers to devel- Other research in Solwezi District has been for a greenfield mining investment. Contro- opments where there were conducted by organisations such as the Extrac- versy remains over the manner in which it none before, and so are more likely to lead to dispossession of tive Industries Transparency Alliance (EITA) negotiated the land holdings from the local local people. 1 Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Zambia: Evidence to Inform Policy Chief, and there is uncertainty as to who pres- wa) versus investments that involve the acqui- ently holds the rights to the land. sition and eventual conversion of customary land (as in the FQM, KML case in Solwezi). Both cases saw communities displaced and However, that is not to say that the conversion resettled. In Mumbwa, those resettled of land from customary to statutory ensures amounted tothree households, while in Sol- the greatest protection for smallholder farm- wezi up to 570 households are to be reset- ers against investors, but rather the ways in tled. Amatheon has employed a principle which the current land administration system of preventative displacement in an effort to favours or grants more protections to statuto- minimise displacements but has still found it ry land. Customary land must be equally rec- necessary to initiate resettlements. ognised with tenure security under Zambian In both cases, both investors have attempted land policy in order to address this imbalance. to work closely with local district government Both cases also demonstrate the limitations of bodies and traditional leaders in order to current resettlement frameworks, calling for create resettlement action plans (RAPs) and the formulation of a wider National Resettle- compensation packages. Both investors also ment Policy. Often, the diversity of livelihoods looked towards international guidelines, such is not easily captured in resettlement packag- as those from the World Bank (see Operation- es, nor are the diverse viewpoints held by the al Policy 4.12). However, in Mumbwa, those affected communities. However, the process affected were consulted over resettlement of conducting a RAP appeared to be most suc- plans and therefore had a greater input into cessful when it became a collaborative effort. the design of the RAPs and compensation packages. Controversy remains over the reset- From these findings, there are two themes tlement process in Solwezi. that emerge. In neither case did the investors or govern- ment authorities refer to the provisions of the Spaces for participation Food and Agriculture Organization’s