OECD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE Working Paper No. 233 Land, Violent Conflict and Development by Nicolas Pons-Vignon and Henri-Bernard Solignac Lecomte Land, Violent Conflict and Development DEV/DOC(2004)02 DEVELOPMENT CENTRE WORKING PAPERS This series of working papers is intended to disseminate the Development Centre’s research findings rapidly among specialists in the field concerned. These papers are generally available in the original English or French, with a summary in the other language. Comments on this paper would be welcome and should be sent to the OECD Development Centre, Le Seine Saint-Germain, 12 boulevard des Îles, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED AND ARGUMENTS EMPLOYED IN THIS DOCUMENT ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF THE OECD OR OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF ITS MEMBER COUNTRIES CENTRE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT DOCUMENTS DE TRAVAIL Cette série de documents de travail a pour but de diffuser rapidement auprès des spécialistes dans les domaines concernés les résultats des travaux de recherche du Centre de Développement. Ces documents ne sont disponibles que dans leur langue originale, anglais ou français ; un résumé du document est rédigé dans l’autre langue. Tout commentaire relatif à ce document peut être adressé au Centre de Développement de l’OCDE, Le Seine Saint-Germain, 12 boulevard des Îles, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. LES IDÉES EXPRIMÉES ET LES ARGUMENTS AVANCÉS DANS CE DOCUMENT SONT CEUX DE L’AUTEUR ET NE REFLÈTENT PAS NÉCESSAIREMENT CEUX DE L’OCDE OU DES GOUVERNEMENTS DE SES PAYS MEMBRES Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this material should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16, France © OECD 2004 2 © OECD 2004 OECD Development Centre Working Paper No. 233 DEV/DOC(2004)02 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF BOXES.............................................................................................................................................4 LIST OF ACRONYMS..................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................................5 FOREWORD..................................................................................................................................................6 PREFACE.......................................................................................................................................................7 RÉSUMÉ ........................................................................................................................................................9 SUMMARY..................................................................................................................................................10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................11 I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................16 II. THE DETERMINANTS OF VIOLENT CONFLICT..........................................................................18 III. LAND DYNAMICS AND VIOLENT CONFLICT...........................................................................24 IV. LAND POLICY, CONFLICT AND DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................30 V. IMPLICATIONS FOR DONOR POLICIES ........................................................................................39 VI. CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................................52 PARTICIPANTS LIST / LISTE DES PARTICIPANTS ...........................................................................53 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................................................57 OTHER TITLES IN THE SERIES/ AUTRES TITRES DANS LA SÉRIE ..............................................62 © OECD 2004 3 Land, Violent Conflict and Development DEV/DOC(2004)02 LIST OF BOXES Box 1 What is “Violent Conflict”? p. 18 Box 2 Land-Related Tensions and the Rwandan Genocide p. 22 Box 3 Land Policy in a Nutshell p. 30 Box 4 The National Housing Policy in Rwanda p. 31 Box 5 Land Reforms in Zimbabwe and in South Africa p. 35 Box 6 Dealing with Land-Related Conflict through Dialogue in Mali p. 45 Box 7 Donor Co-ordination, Participatory Governance, and the Reform of Land p. 48 Institutions in Post-War Cambodia LIST OF ACRONYMS AsDB Asian Development Bank CERDI Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International CPDC Conflict, Peace and Development Co-operation network of the DAC DAC Development Assistance Committee of the OECD DCD Development Co-operation Directorate (the Secretariat of the OECD DAC) DFID Department for International Development of the United Kingdom GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (Germany) IIED International Institute for Environment and Development IDP Internally displaced persons IOM International Organisation for Migration MST Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Brazil) NALEDI National Labour and Economic Development Institute (South Africa) OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies (London) USAID United States Agency for International Development 4 © OECD 2004 OECD Development Centre Working Paper No. 233 DEV/DOC(2004)02 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was carried out under the OECD Development Centre’s 2003-2004 Policy Dialogue programme. We extend our deep appreciation to the United States Agency for International Development for its financial contribution to the organisation of the informal experts’ seminar on “Land, Conflict and Development” (Paris, 19-20 June 2002), from which it originated. We are also grateful to Mark Berman, Chair of the Conflict, Peace and Development Co- operation Network of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, for his support and involvement. Throughout its preparation, the authors received invaluable support and advice from Francesca Cook (OECD Development Co-operation Directorate), Jolyne Sanjak (USAID), Christopher Cramer (SOAS), Jean-Louis Arcand (CERDI), Julian Quan (DFID), and Nicholas Theotocatos (IOM). Discussions with, and comments from participants in the “Land, Conflict and Development” informal seminar provided fertile support. We are in particular grateful to Ian Bannon (World Bank), Karim Hussein (Sahel and West Africa Club of the OECD), Roger Zetter (Oxford Brookes University) and Graham Saunders (Sphere Project). The opinions expressed in this paper however remain the authors’, and any error should be attributed to them only. © OECD 2004 5 Land, Violent Conflict and Development DEV/DOC(2004)02 FOREWORD On 19-20 June 2003, responding to a proposal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the OECD Development Centre and the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate organised an informal experts’ seminar in Paris on “Land, Conflict and Development”, in order to: i) examine the links between land and conflict; ii) help formulate preliminary proposals on how donors can best incorporate land issues in their policy frameworks for the management and mitigation of conflict; and iii) propose next steps to advance this agenda further. On the occasion of the seminar, the OECD hosted the European launch of the World Bank’s 2003 Policy Research Report on Land Policy for Growth and Poverty Reduction, itself the result of wide consultation and dialogue. This, and the Guidelines of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on Helping Prevent Violent Conflict, provided the policy frameworks against which the debates took place. In addition, the seminar benefited from the participation of several members of the European Union Task Force on EU Guidelines on Land Tenure, which held its meeting on the previous day in Paris. In order to help focus the discussions, the Development Centre and USAID commissioned an issues paper, prepared by Professor Jean-Louis Arcand from the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International (CERDI) and Nicolas Pons-Vignon, a consultant for the OECD Development Centre. Leading remarks by Mark Berman, Chairman of the Conflict, Peace and Co-operation Development Network of the DAC, and comments by Klaus Deininger, co-ordinator of the World Bank Policy Research Report on Land Policy, provided background and orientation for the discussion. No other formal presentations were made. The group engaged in a structured roundtable discussion on the implications of the complex relationship between land and conflict for development assistance. Details about the workshop can be found at www.oecd.org/dev/land. This paper draws from the original issues document prepared ahead of the seminar, as well as from the very fruitful discussions which took place. It attempts to contribute to the ongoing reflection on how to better integrate land policy and conflict prevention and mitigation by proposing steps towards a unified policy framework. The paper also seeks to articulate preliminary recommendations for donor agencies, which will have to be further explored through research and dialogue. 6 © OECD 2004 OECD Development Centre