IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/natres/v29y2005i3p190-198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Migrant land rights reception and ‘clearing to claim’ in sub‐Saharan Africa: A deforestation example from southern Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Jon Unruh
  • Lisa Cligget
  • Rod Hay

Abstract

The relationship between migration and deforestation in the developing world continues to receive significant attention. However beyond direct population increase, the precise mechanisms that operate within the intersection of migrant/host land rights remain largely unexamined. Where migrants are provided with land and rights by the State and/or local communities, how such rights are perceived by the migrants is of primary importance in their interaction with land resources, and in aggregate it impacts the development opportunities and environmental repercussions of migration. The authors analyze the operative aspects of land rights reception (as opposed to provision) by migrant populations, and the relationship between this reception and deforestation. The article examines a case in Zambia to analyze how tenurial constructs, emerging from the way rights are perceived by migrants, lead to the continued clearing of areas much larger than needed for cultivation, even when the arrangement appears counter‐productive in terms of land rights provision and labour allocation. While valuable policy efforts have focused on providing resource rights to migrants, how such rights are received and the relationship of this reception to resource management needs greater policy attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Unruh & Lisa Cligget & Rod Hay, 2005. "Migrant land rights reception and ‘clearing to claim’ in sub‐Saharan Africa: A deforestation example from southern Zambia," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 29(3), pages 190-198, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:29:y:2005:i:3:p:190-198
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-8947.2005.00129.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2005.00129.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2005.00129.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thayer Scudder & Jonathan Habarad, 1991. "Local Responses to Involuntary Relocation and Development in the Zambian portion of the Middle Zambezi Valley," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: J. A. Mollett (ed.), Migrants in Agricultural Development, chapter 12, pages 178-205, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Francis, Paul & James, Robert, 2003. "Balancing Rural Poverty Reduction and Citizen Participation: The Contradictions of Uganda's Decentralization Program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 325-337, February.
    3. Christian A. Kull, 2002. "Empowering Pyromaniacs in Madagascar: Ideology and Legitimacy in Community‐Based Natural Resource Management," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 33(1), pages 57-78, January.
    4. Lucas, Robert E B & Stark, Oded, 1985. "Motivations to Remit: Evidence from Botswana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(5), pages 901-918, October.
    5. Walker, Robert & Moran, Emilio & Anselin, Luc, 2000. "Deforestation and Cattle Ranching in the Brazilian Amazon: External Capital and Household Processes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 683-699, April.
    6. McGregor, JoAnn, 1994. "Climate change and involuntary migration: implications for food security," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 120-132, April.
    7. Nicholas Townsend, 1997. "Men, migration, and households in Botswana: an exploration of connections over time and space," Journal of Southern African Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 405-420.
    8. Johnson, Craig & Forsyth, Timothy, 2002. "In the Eyes of the State: Negotiating a "Rights-Based Approach" to Forest Conservation in Thailand," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1591-1605, September.
    9. Gregory S. Amacher & Wilfrido Cruz & Donald Grebner & William F. Hyde, 1998. "Environmental Motivations for Migration: Population Pressure, Poverty, and Deforestation in the Philippines," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 74(1), pages 92-101.
    10. Arun Agrawal & Elinor Ostrom, 2001. "Collective Action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in Resource Use in India and Nepal," Politics & Society, , vol. 29(4), pages 485-514, December.
    11. Douglas Southgate, 1990. "The Causes of Land Degradation along "Spontaneously" Expanding Agricultural Frontiers in the Third World," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 66(1), pages 93-101.
    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. Nansikombi, Hellen & Fischer, Richard & Ferrer Velasco, Rubén & Lippe, Melvin & Kalaba, Felix Kanungwe & Kabwe, Gillian & Günter, Sven, 2020. "Can de facto governance influence deforestation drivers in the Zambian Miombo?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

    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. Sikor, Thomas & Nguyen, Tan Quang, 2007. "Why May Forest Devolution Not Benefit the Rural Poor? Forest Entitlements in Vietnam's Central Highlands," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2010-2025, November.
    2. Sikor, Thomas, 2006. "Analyzing community-based forestry: Local, political and agrarian perspectives," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 339-349, June.
    3. Herrera, Veronica, 2014. "Does Commercialization Undermine the Benefits of Decentralization for Local Services Provision? Evidence from Mexico’s Urban Water and Sanitation Sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 16-31.
    4. Caviglia-Harris, Jill L., 2005. "Cattle Accumulation and Land Use Intensification by Households in the Brazilian Amazon," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 34(2), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Nkonya, Ephraim & Markelova, Helen, 2009. "Looking beyond the obvious: Uncovering the features of natural resource conflicts in Uganda," CAPRi working papers 95, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Araujo, Claudio & Bonjean, Catherine Araujo & Combes, Jean-Louis & Combes Motel, Pascale & Reis, Eustaquio J., 2009. "Property rights and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2461-2468, June.
    7. Hrushikesh Mallick, 2008. "Do remittances impact the economy? Some empirical evidences from a developing economy," Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum Working Papers 407, Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum, India.
    8. Nikolov, Plamen & Adelman, Alan, 2019. "Do private household transfers to the elderly respond to public pension benefits? Evidence from rural China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    9. Dean Yang, 2008. "International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants' Exchange Rate Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 591-630, April.
    10. B Kelsey Jack, "undated". "Market Inefficiencies and the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Developing Countries," CID Working Papers 50, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    11. Pfau, Wade Donald, 2008. "Determinants and Impacts of International Remittances on Household Welfare in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 19038, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Mr. Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe, 2004. "A Theory of Workers' Remittances with An Application to Morocco," IMF Working Papers 2004/194, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Faruk Balli & Thi Thu Ha Nguyen & Hatice Ozer Balli, 2023. "Emigrants’ visit home and remittance inflows nexus," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(5), pages 1405-1411, August.
    14. Tineke Fokkema & Eralba Cela & Elena Ambrosetti, 2013. "Giving from the Heart or from the Ego? Motives behind Remittances of the Second Generation in Europe," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 539-572, September.
    15. Pandit, Ram & Bevilacqua, Eddie, 2011. "Forest users and environmental impacts of community forestry in the hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 345-352, June.
    16. Fafchamps, Marcel & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2005. "Assets at marriage in rural Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 1-25, June.
    17. Robert E.B. Lucas, 2007. "Migration and rural development," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 4(1), pages 99-122.
    18. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay & Elliott Green, 2016. "Precolonial Political Centralization and Contemporary Development in Uganda," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(3), pages 471-508.
    19. Akinwumi Sharimakin & Rasheed O. Alao & Oluseyi Omosuyi, 2024. "Foreign remittances, deprivation and patriotism," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 753-780, February.
    20. Mariapia Mendola, 2004. "Migration and Technological Change in Rural Households: Complements or Substitutes?," Development Working Papers 195, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:natres:v:29:y:2005:i:3:p:190-198. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1477-8947 .

    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.