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Who owns the land? Social relations and conflict over resources in Africa

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  • Berry, Sara S.

Abstract

Using case studies drawn from the authors' own and others' research, this working paper describes and compares some of the ways land conflicts reflected, intensified or reshaped struggles over authority within and between families, local communities, institutions and states in post-colonial Africa. In the past, many Africans gained access to land through membership in a social group, rather than freehold ownership. In recent decades, with rising demand for land, urgent questions arose about land tenure and debates over land transactions often turned on issues of authority. Who was entitled to sell, lease, mortgage or bequeath land or land use rights to others, and who could decide? Coinciding with Africans' struggles to work out the conditions of their own self-government following the end of colonial rule, rising competition over land intersected with conflicts over authority and obligation at all levels of social interaction. This essay will focus on processes of 'privatisation from below', asking how smaller-scale commercial acquisitions figure as sources of wealth and/or threats to livelihood in different economic and political contexts

Suggested Citation

  • Berry, Sara S., 2018. "Who owns the land? Social relations and conflict over resources in Africa," GLOCON Working Paper Series 7, Freie Universität Berlin, Junior Research Group "Global Change – Local Conflicts?" (GLOCON).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glocon:7
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    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/199100/1/GLOCON-WP-07.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. P.-Y. Le-Meur & J.-P. Chauveau & J.-P. Colin & J.-P. Jacob & P. Lavigne-Delville, 2006. "Changes in land access and governance in West Africa: markets, social mediations and public policies. Results of the CLAIMS research project. London: IIED/DFID," Post-Print hal-03314162, HAL.
    2. Festus Boamah, 2014. "How and why chiefs formalise land use in recent times: the politics of land dispossession through biofuels investments in Ghana," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(141), pages 406-423, September.
    3. Frank Place & Peter Hazell, 1993. "Productivity Effects of Indigenous Land Tenure Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(1), pages 10-19.
    4. Feder, Gershon & Feeny, David, 1991. "Land Tenure and Property Rights: Theory and Implications for Development Policy," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 5(1), pages 135-153, January.
    5. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kimura, Yuichi, 2021. "Shackles of Kinship Bonds: Land Tenure Institutions and Smallholders' Farm Investments in Ghana," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315049, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Kumeh, Eric Mensah & Kyereh, Boateng & Birkenberg, Athena & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Customary power, farmer strategies and the dynamics of access to protected forestlands for farming: Implications for Ghana's forest bioeconomy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Kumeh, Eric Mensah & Omulo, Godfrey, 2019. "Youth’s access to agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa: A missing link in the global land grabbing discourse," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Ibrahim, Abdul-Salam & Abubakari, Mohammed & Akanbang, Bernard A.A. & Kepe, Thembela, 2022. "Resolving land conflicts through Alternative Dispute Resolution: Exploring the motivations and challenges in Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Olofsson, Malin, 2021. "Expanding commodity frontiers and the emergence of customary land markets: A case study of tree-crop farming in Venda, South Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    6. Kumeh, Eric Mensah & Bieling, Claudia & Birner, Regina, 2022. "Food-security corridors: A crucial but missing link in tackling deforestation in Southwestern Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    land ownership; land rights; social relations; authority; Landbesitz; Landrechte; soziale Beziehungen; Autorität;
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