HOUSEHOLD DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH LAND EXPROPRIATION IN KIBEHO AND MUNINI SECTORS UWIRAGIYE Emmanuel A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Development Studies, College of Arts and Social Science (CASS), in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts in Development Studies of the University of Rwanda (UR). Supervisor: Dr UWIZEYE Dieudonné Huye, June 2021 DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Rwanda or any other institution. UWIRAGIYE Emmanuel REG No.219014043 Signature: ………… Date: ………………………………………………… Supervisor I certify that this work was done under my supervision, and I confirm that it is ready for examination. DR. UWIZEYE Dieudonné Signature : ………………………………… Date : …………………………………………… I DEDICATION I dedicate this work to all those who toil day and night without advanced education and manage to parry what poverty and limited capabilities hurl on them! II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to God and to the Jesuits who allowed and sponsored my studies. The completion of this study would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of several special people. I express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. UWIZEYE Dieudonné. He provided helpful feedbacks at a surprising pace. His guidance, both during the research and over the entire course of my time at UR was invaluable. I am deeply indebted to him. I humbly acknowledge that within the university I have also had the support of many lecturers, Dr. Buchanan I., Dr. Mulindahabi C., Dr. Ndahiriwe I., Dr Nkurayija J., Dr. Hahirwa J., Dr. Kagaba M., Dr Rwanyiziri G., Dr. Ndikumana C.; Prof. Katerega A., Prof. Masengesho K. Thank you for challenging me to go through a mental shift in my perception of the world. Additionally, I extend my gratitude to Mrs. TWIZEYE Chantal for her help, support and cooperation. I have had the good fortune to study with wonderful people who were always supportive and caring. You have all been sources of support and encouragement. In gratitude! III ABSTRACT Land expropriation rationalized through a development discourse keeps citizens from realizing that expropriation can as well abrogate private ownership of land. The law guiding expropriation proposes that expropriation be carried out against just compensation to indemnify costs incurred by affected citizens; but just compensation has minimal enforceability on the ground. The research has shown that compensation is not always on the same footing as the market prices. This study aimed to understand the household development benefits of land expropriation for commercial agriculture. Based on the review of literature on process of expropriation, how citizens appreciate such process and on effect of expropriation on socioeconomic development of citizens, document analysis, focus group discussion, interview and a survey were used to collect data. Respondents were purposively selected. Analysis of the responses demonstrated an interconnection among processes of expropriation and associated those processes to socioeconomic development of expropriated citizens. The results indicate that the benefits of expropriation outweigh damages incurred by the expropriated citizens. The results indicate as well that when citizens participate in expropriation process, it reduces conflicts related to valuation and compensation. The results show that improper valuation and compensation hinder socioeconomic development of the expropriated citizens. On this basis, it is recommended that expropriating agencies engage actively citizens subject to the expropriation and carry expropriation on agreed upon valuation methods in order to avoid grievances which result from unjust compensation. KEYWORDS: Land expropriation, Public interest, Socioeconomic development. IV TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................ I DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... III ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. IV LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ IX LIST OF MAPS ........................................................................................................................ X List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. XI CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 1 General Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background to the study ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the Research Problem .......................................................................... 3 1.3 Objectives of the study ................................................................................................ 4 1.3.1 General objectives ................................................................................................ 4 1.3.2 Specific objectives................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 5 1.6 Scope of the Study ....................................................................................................... 5 1.7 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................................. 6 1.8 Organization of the Study Report ............................................................................. 6 CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................... 8 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework .................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 8 2.2 The Process of Land Expropriation .......................................................................... 8 2.3 Citizen’s appreciation of land expropriation process ............................................ 11 2.4 Expropriation and socioeconomic development ..................................................... 13 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework ............................................................................ 15 2.5 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................ 15 2.5.1 The Public Interest Theory ............................................................................... 15 V 2.5.2 The Capability Approach Theory .................................................................... 16 2.5.3 Application of Theories to The Study .............................................................. 16 2.6 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................ 18 2.7. Summary of Literature Review and Knowledge Gap .......................................... 19 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 20 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 20 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Study Design .............................................................................................................. 20 3.3 Study area and study population ............................................................................. 20 3.4 Sample of the study ................................................................................................... 21 3.5 Process of data collection .......................................................................................... 22 3.6 Data Analysis and Reporting ................................................................................... 23 3.7 Ethical considerations ............................................................................................... 23 3.8 Summary of the Chapter .......................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................... 25 DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................................ 25 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 25 4.1.1 Demographic characteristics