IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v5y2016i2p8-d66698.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Land Sector Reforms in Ghana, Kenya and Vietnam: A Comparative Analysis of Their Effectiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Narh

    (Farafina Institute, Kanzleistraße 14, 95511 Mistelbach, Germany)

  • Cosmas Kombat Lambini

    (Bayreuth Center for Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Universitaetstr. 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
    Bayreuth Graduate School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (BayNAT), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany)

  • Matthew Sabbi

    (Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS), University of Bayreuth, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 3, 95445 Bayreuth, Germany)

  • Van Dien Pham

    (Department of Silviculture, Forestry University, Hanoi, Vietnam)

  • Trung Thanh Nguyen

    (Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Leibniz University of Hannover, Königsworther Platz 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany)

Abstract

The notion that the formal titling and individualization of land rights in developing countries lead to higher investments in land and agricultural productivity holds sway in academic and development circles. In this paper, this notion is analyzed based on a comparative study of land reform programs and their implications for access to land, credit, and agricultural investments in Ghana, Kenya, and Vietnam. It focuses on how different access routes to land influence access to credit, and the transaction costs of land reform programs for agricultural investments. The paper concludes that in developing countries, the transaction costs of land reforms for investments can significantly increase if the influence of power is not addressed in order to reduce unequal access to land. The practical implementation of land reform is influenced by many factors, including the control on political power. Thus, measures must accompany implementation to check the use of power to derail land reform objectives. Moreover, the paper supports the argument that land reforms should be implemented in their local contexts so as to have positive effects on agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Narh & Cosmas Kombat Lambini & Matthew Sabbi & Van Dien Pham & Trung Thanh Nguyen, 2016. "Land Sector Reforms in Ghana, Kenya and Vietnam: A Comparative Analysis of Their Effectiveness," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:5:y:2016:i:2:p:8-:d:66698
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/5/2/8/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/5/2/8/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kemper, Niels & Ha, Luu Viet & Klump, Rainer, 2015. "Property Rights and Consumption Volatility: Evidence from a Land Reform in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 107-130.
    2. Daniel Domeher & Raymond Abdulai, 2012. "Land registration, credit and agricultural investment in Africa," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 72(1), pages 87-103, May.
    3. Migot-Adholla, Shem, et al, 1991. "Indigenous Land Rights Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Constraint on Productivity?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 5(1), pages 155-175, January.
    4. Steven Lawry & Cyrus Samii & Ruth Hall & Aaron Leopold & Donna Hornby & Farai Mtero, 2014. "The Impact of Land Property Rights Interventions on Investment and Agricultural Productivity in Developing Countries: a Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 1-104.
    5. Trung Thanh Nguyen, 2012. "Land Reform and Farm Production in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 43-61, March.
    6. Van Hung, Pham & MacAulay, T. Gordon & Marsh, Sally P., 2007. "The economics of land fragmentation in the north of Vietnam," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 51(2), pages 1-17.
    7. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    8. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Bauer, Siegfried & Uibrig, Holm, 2010. "Land privatization and afforestation incentive of rural farms in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(7), pages 518-526, September.
    9. Deininger, Klaus & Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Holden, Stein & Zevenbergen, Jaap, 2008. "Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Process, Initial Impact, and Implications for Other African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1786-1812, October.
    10. Martin Ravallion & Dominique van de Walle, 2008. "Land in Transition : Reform and Poverty in Rural Vietnam," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6433.
    11. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    12. Gershon Feder & Tongroj Onchan, 1987. "Land Ownership Security and Farm Investment in Thailand," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 69(2), pages 311-320.
    13. Quy-Toan Do & Lakshmi Iyer, 2008. "Land Titling and Rural Transition in Vietnam," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 531-579, April.
    14. Xinqi Zheng & Tian Xia & Xin Yang & Tao Yuan & Yecui Hu, 2013. "The Land Gini Coefficient and Its Application for Land Use Structure Analysis in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-10, October.
    15. Daniel Domeher & Raymond Abdulai, 2012. "Land registration, credit and agricultural investment in Africa," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 72(1), pages 87-103, March.
    16. Trung Thanh Nguyen & Siegfried Bauer & Ulrike Grote, 2016. "Does Land Tenure Security Promote Manure Use by Farm Households in Vietnam?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, February.
    17. Steven Lawry & Cyrus Samii & Ruth Hall & Aaron Leopold & Donna Hornby & Farai Mtero, 2017. "The impact of land property rights interventions on investment and agricultural productivity in developing countries: a systematic review," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 61-81, January.
    18. Klaus Deininger & Songqing Jin, 2008. "Land Sales and Rental Markets in Transition: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(1), pages 67-101, February.
    19. Nguyen TRUNG THANH, 2008. "Land Reform and Rural Households in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 1, pages 75-78.
    20. Scott Rozelle & Johan F.M. Swinnen, 2004. "Success and Failure of Reform: Insights from the Transition of Agriculture," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(2), pages 404-456, June.
    21. Pham Van Hung & T. Gordon MacAulay & Sally P. Marsh, 2007. "The economics of land fragmentation in the north of Vietnam ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 51(2), pages 195-211, June.
    22. World Bank, 2012. "Revising the Land Law to Enable Sustainable Development in Vietnam," World Bank Publications - Reports 26777, The World Bank Group.
    23. Besley, Timothy, 1995. "Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 903-937, October.
    24. Place, Frank, 2009. "Land Tenure and Agricultural Productivity in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the Economics Literature and Recent Policy Strategies and Reforms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1326-1336, August.
    25. Carol Newman & Finn Tarp & Katleen van den Broeck, 2015. "Property Rights and Productivity: The Case of Joint Land Titling in Vietnam," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 91(1), pages 91-105.
    26. Lambini, Cosmas Kombat & Nguyen, Trung Thanh, 2014. "A comparative analysis of the effects of institutional property rights on forest livelihoods and forest conditions: Evidence from Ghana and Vietnam," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 178-190.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang Yiwen & Shashi Kant & Hexing Long, 2020. "Collective Action Dilemma after China’s Forest Tenure Reform: Operationalizing Forest Devolution in a Rapidly Changing Society," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Bishawjit Mallick & Zakia Sultana, 2017. "Livelihood after Relocation—Evidences of Guchchagram Project in Bangladesh," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-19, July.
    3. Díaz Baca, Manuel Francisco & Moreno Lerma, Leonardo & Triana Ángel, Natalia & Burkart, Stefan, 2024. "The relationships between land tenure, cattle production, and climate change – A systematic literature review," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Nguyen, Loc Duc & Lippe, Rattiya Suddeephong & Grote, Ulrike, 2017. "Determinants of Farmers’ Land Use Decision-Making: Comparative Evidence From Thailand and Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 199-213.
    5. David Asante Edwin & Evam Kofi Glover & Edinam K. Glover, 2020. "When Tradition Meets Modernity in Land Registration: Evidence from Dagbon, Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-28, October.
    6. Yiwen, Zhang & Kant, Shashi, 2022. "Secure tenure or equal access? Farmers’ preferences for reallocating the property rights of collective farmland and forestland in Southeast China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    7. James Natia Adam & Timothy Adams & Jean-David Gerber, 2021. "The Politics of Decentralization: Competition in Land Administration and Management in Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, September.
    8. Dinh, Hoang Huu & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Hoang, Viet-Ngu & Wilson, Clevo, 2017. "Economic incentive and factors affecting tree planting of rural households: Evidence from the Central Highlands of Vietnam," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(PA), pages 14-24.
    9. Suchá, Lenka & Dušková, Lenka, 2022. "Land access mechanisms of Soweto farmers: Moving beyond legal land tenure for urban agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    10. Amir Kutliyarov & Ivan Stafiychuk & Damir Kutliyarov & Rail Khisamov & Alfiya Lukmanova, 2024. "Russian experience of land reforms," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 613-629, June.
    11. Ateka, Josiah & Onono-Okelo, Perez Ayieko & Etyang, Martin, 2021. "Does the inverse farm size productivity hypothesis hold for perennial monocrop systems in developing countries? Evidence from Kenya," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(3), September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huy, Hoang Trieu & Nguyen, Trung Thanh, 2019. "Cropland rental market and farm technical efficiency in rural Vietnam," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 408-423.
    2. Trung Thanh Nguyen & Siegfried Bauer & Ulrike Grote, 2016. "Does Land Tenure Security Promote Manure Use by Farm Households in Vietnam?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, February.
    3. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
    4. Vu, Ha Thu & Goto, Daisaku, 2020. "Does awareness about land tenure security (LTS) increase investments in agriculture? Evidence from rural households in Vietnam," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl R. & Theis, Sophie, 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Goldstein, Markus, 2014. "Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: Pilot evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 262-275.
    7. Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Nghiem, Nhung, 2016. "Optimal forest rotation for carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation by farm income levels," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 185-194.
    8. Anthony Harris & Anthony D'Agostino & Sara Litke-Farzaneh & Beryl Seiler & Matt Sloan, "undated". "Morocco Land Productivity Project: Evaluation Design Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports f3fc788501b64608b17e1cb23, Mathematica Policy Research.
    9. Dinh, Hoang Huu & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Hoang, Viet-Ngu & Wilson, Clevo, 2017. "Economic incentive and factors affecting tree planting of rural households: Evidence from the Central Highlands of Vietnam," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(PA), pages 14-24.
    10. Ayalew, Hailemariam & Admasu, Yeshwas & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2021. "Is land certification pro-poor? Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    11. Abman, Ryan & Carney, Conor, 2020. "Land rights, agricultural productivity, and deforestation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Thomas Markussen, 2015. "Land issues in Vietnam 2006-14: Markets, property rights, and investment," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Xu Guangdong, 2013. "Property Rights, Law, and Economic Development," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 117-142, July.
    14. Kemper, Niels & Ha, Luu Viet & Klump, Rainer, 2015. "Property Rights and Consumption Volatility: Evidence from a Land Reform in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 107-130.
    15. Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw, 2023. "Analysis of the Contribution of Land Registration to Sustainable Land Management in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, May.
    16. Thomas Markussen, 2015. "Land issues in Vietnam 2006-14: Markets, property rights, and investment," WIDER Working Paper Series 088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Akhmadiyeva, Zarema & Herzfeld, Thomas, 2021. "How does practice matches land laws in Central Asia?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    18. Sebastian Galiani & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2011. "Land Property Rights and Resource Allocation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 329-345.
    19. Ho, Hoang-Anh, 2021. "Land tenure and economic development: Evidence from Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    20. Adamie, Birhanu Addisu, 2021. "Land property rights and household take-up of development programs: Evidence from land certification program in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:5:y:2016:i:2:p:8-:d:66698. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.