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Land Grabbing, Local Contestation, and the Struggle for Economic Gain

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  • Frankline Anum Ndi

Abstract

This article examines why peasant communities in South West Cameroon have contested a U.S.-based company’s intentions to establish an agro-industrial palm oil plantation in their region. Land investments in the form of agro plantations, if not properly conceived, negotiated, and implemented, pose a series of threats to the ecological, cultural, and economic stability among peasant farming communities, who depend on land and forest resources for their livelihood. Using Nguti as a case study, this article argues that local communities do not oppose investment in land but they contest projects that attempt to alienate them from their sources of livelihood without providing alternatives. The study also demonstrates how local communities, despite being critical of the project, struggle with the company through their relations with government, to demand new social contracts and/or memoranda that could offer them greater opportunities as economic partners. The article concludes that for palm oil plantations to be economically equitable, local communities’ incorporation is necessary to safeguard rural livelihoods and to ensure that provisions are made for adequate compensation and alternative sources of livelihood.

Suggested Citation

  • Frankline Anum Ndi, 2017. "Land Grabbing, Local Contestation, and the Struggle for Economic Gain," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(1), pages 21582440166, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:7:y:2017:i:1:p:2158244016682997
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244016682997
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    1. Lorenzo Cotula & Carlos Oya & Emmanuel A. Codjoe & Abdurehman Eid & Mark Kakraba-Ampeh & James Keeley & Admasu Lokaley Kidewa & Melissa Makwarimba & Wondwosen Michago Seide & William Ole Nasha & Richa, 2014. "Testing Claims about Large Land Deals in Africa: Findings from a Multi-Country Study," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 903-925, July.
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    3. Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White & Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White, 2013. "Governing Global Land Deals: The Role of the State in the Rush for Land," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 189-210, March.
    4. Klaus Deininger & Derek Byerlee & Jonathan Lindsay & Andrew Norton & Harris Selod & Mercedes Stickler, 2011. "Rising Global Interest in Farmland : Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2263.
    5. Saturnino M Borras & Jennifer C Franco, 2013. "Global Land Grabbing and Political Reactions ‘From Below’," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 1723-1747, October.
    6. Cheryl Doss & Gale Summerfield & Dzodzi Tsikata, 2014. "Land, Gender, and Food Security," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wenzhang Zhou & Haijun Bao, 2021. "What Limits the Benefits of Land-Lost Farmers in Chinese Courts? An Investigation of Chinese Land Acquisition and Resettlement Cases in the Yangtze River Delta," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    2. Saifullahi Sani Ibrahim & Huseyin Ozdeser & Behiye Cavusoglu & Aminu Abdullahi Shagali, 2021. "Rural Migration and Relative Deprivation in Agro-Pastoral Communities Under the Threat of Cattle Rustling in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    3. Frankline Anum Ndi & James Emmanuel Wanki & Joost Dessein, 2022. "Protectors or enablers? Untangling the roles of traditional authorities and local elites in foreign land grabs in Cameroon," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(3), May.
    4. Sändig, Jan, 2021. "Contesting large-scale land acquisitions in the Global South," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

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