LAND, AGRICULTURAL CHANGE AND CONFLICT IN WEST AFRICA: REGIONAL ISSUES FROM SIERRA LEONE, LIBERIA AND CÔTE D’IVOIRE: H istorical Overview SAH/D(2007)568 February 2007 1 Transformation du monde rural et Développement durable en Afrique de l’Ouest Rural Transformation and Sustainable Development in West Africa 2 LAND, AGRICULTURAL CHANGE AND CONFLICT IN WEST AFRICA: REGIONAL ISSUES FROM SIERRA LEONE, LIBERIA AND CÔTE D’IVOIRE HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 3 This Study has been drafted by: - Paul Richards, Head of the Technology and Agrarian Development Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands - Jean Pierre Chauveau, Research Director, IRD Montpellier, France With contributions from: - Karim Hussein, IFAD - Paul Mathieu, FAO - Hubert Ouedraogo, Land West Africa. Coordinated by: - Donata Gnisci ([email protected]), Former Administrator and Conflict Specialist, Sahel and West Africa Club / OECD. - Léonidas Hitimana ([email protected]), Agricultural economist, Sahel and West Africa Club / OECD - Jean Sibiri Zoundi ([email protected]), Head of Unit Rural Transformation and Sustainable Development, Sahel and West Africa Club / OECD 4 Contents Summary .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 I. Land, agricultural change and conflict: an analytical framework ......................................................................................... 12 II. Regional and historical framework: transformations of the frontier political economy in the UGF .......................... 14 2.1. Pioneer farming ........................................................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2. The rise of forest mercantilism .................................................................................................................................................. 14 2.2.1. Western UGF forest mercantilism: a trade-based warfare ............................................................................ 14 2.2.2. Eastern UGF forest mercantilism: trade, slaves and economic expansion ................................................ 15 2.2.3. Western Côte d’Ivoire: an internal frontier of the UGF ............................................................................... 15 2.2.4. The precolonial legacy of colonial and postcolonial forest mercantilism ................................................... 16 2.3 International extraction (plantation crops, timber, minerals) ..................................................................................................... 17 2.3.1. Sierra Leone and Liberia: mercantile, trade-brokerage and mining interests ............................................. 17 2.3.2. Côte d’Ivoire: the forest internal frontier as a specific stake ........................................................................ 17 2.4 Modelling the political economy of a forest frontier ..................................................................................................................... 18 III. Country case studies ................................................................................................................................................................. 21 3.1 Liberia ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.1. Rights of access and ownership ......................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.2. Land for livelihoods and risk mitigation ........................................................................................................... 22 3.1.3. Security of land access ......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.4. Governance and the rule of (land) law ............................................................................................................. 23 3.1.5. Land and non-agrarian opportunities (mining, forestry) ............................................................................... 24 3.1.6. Land and agrarian opportunities ........................................................................................................................ 25 3.1.7. Urbanisation (urban land issues) ........................................................................................................................ 25 3.1.8. Land and labour mobility in Liberia .................................................................................................................. 26 3.1.9. The capitalisation of land .................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.10. Agricultural innovation ...................................................................................................................................... 26 3.2 Sierra Leone ............................................................................................................................................................................. 27 3.2.1. Rights of land access and ownership ................................................................................................................. 27 3.2.2. Land for livelihoods and risk mitigation ........................................................................................................... 29 3.2.3. Security of land access ......................................................................................................................................... 29 3.2.4. Governance and the rule of (land) law ............................................................................................................. 30 3.2.5. Land and non-agrarian opportunities (mining, forestry) ............................................................................... 31 3.2.6. Land and agrarian opportunities ........................................................................................................................ 32 3.2.7. Urbanisation (urban migration, urban land issues) ......................................................................................... 32 3.2.8. Land and labour mobility .................................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.9. The capitalisation of land .................................................................................................................................... 33 3.2.10. Agricultural innovation ...................................................................................................................................... 34 3.3 Côte d’Ivoire ............................................................................................................................................................................. 35 3.3.1. Rights of access and ownership ......................................................................................................................... 35 3.3.2. Land for livelihoods and risk mitigation ........................................................................................................... 37 3.3.3 Security of land access .......................................................................................................................................... 38 3.3.4. Governance and the rule of (land) law ............................................................................................................. 39 3.3.5. Land and non-agrarian opportunities (mining, forestry) ............................................................................... 40 3.3.6. Land and agrarian opportunities ........................................................................................................................ 41 3.3.7. Urbanisation .......................................................................................................................................................... 42 3.3.8. Land and labour mobility in Côte d’Ivoire ....................................................................................................... 43 3.3.9. The capitalisation of land .................................................................................................................................... 44 3.3.10. Agricultural innovation ...................................................................................................................................... 44 IV. Regional synthesis and policy issues ...................................................................................................................................... 45 4.1. Hyper-mobile youth and land in the UGF .............................................................................................................................