Land rights in Africa - West Africa
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West Africa: General
Collaboration on formal land policies: the missing link for West African land tenure systems? NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Hubert Ouedraogo and Vincent Basserie)
Summary: Most francophone African states nationalised the colonial land tenure systems they inherited at Independence and then periodically adjusted them according to the situation in each country. Their citizens have yet to enjoy secure land rights, and there is still a yawning gap between the law and actual practice at both the lowest and highest levels. Argues that the challenge of securing tenure can only be met successfully by adopting clear and consensual land policies; and that the policy frameworks guiding public action on land need to be negotiated with the various stakeholders concerned and written into official land policy documents.
Date: June 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 198KB) from the Agter website
Women and Land NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Mariatou Kone)
Summary: Analysis of women’s access to land in West Africa shows that they are central to agricultural development as land users, but rarely have the same access as men. They mainly have limited and temporary rights, although situations do vary. Increasing efforts are being made to remedy this through legislative texts and various bodies and NGOs, but it is particularly difficult in a context of social change and when other social categories, including men, may be in precarious land situations. How can we hope to secure women’s rights if those of men are not secure?
Date: March 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 259KB) from the Agter website
Land tax NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Joseph Comby)
Summary: Land tax has long been neglected in West Africa and is regarded as a taboo subject. Yet contrary to received wisdom it is possible to introduce a basic annual land tax without a land register or a computerized system. While certain precautions need to be taken, it not only generates revenue for the locality but also discourages the unproductive retention of unused land, and in the long term helps secure the land rights of producers or residents by proving written proof of their occupancy.
Date: February 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 164KB) from the Agter website
Securing and regulating land tenure: putting the issues before the tools. Some of the obstacles to coherent policies NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Vincent Basserie and Patrick D’Aquino)
Summary: Most West African countries are in the process of reforming their land policies. Discussions tend to focus on the tools and mechanisms for securing and regulating land tenure. While tools are certainly a vital part of the process, it is important to understand that the same tool can serve very different interests depending on how it is conceived and used. Are we sufficiently aware of the diversity of issues that may be associated with a land policy? And what do we know about the real effects that tools have on all these different issues?
Date: January 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 263KB) from the Agter website
Aspects and characteristics of State-owned Land in West Africa NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Gerard Chouquer)
Summary: Includes public lands, land monopolies, examples of total and partial state monopolies on land, ideas implicit in the state monopoly on land. Aims to clarify different conceptions of state-owned land so we can better assess their implications for land policies.
Date: January 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 321KB) from the Agter website
Examples of the diversity of rights holders and rights to land and natural resources in West Africa NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Michel Merlet and Kouadio Andre Yabouet)
Summary: Looks at nomadic pastoralists’ rights to resources, rights to land and resources in Winye country in Burkina Faso, and land rights in forested areas and plantation economies. These suggest that we should always think of land as both a private and communal resource, consider the nature of different individual and collective actors, and see them as possible rights holders who may be recognized or ignored.
Date: January 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 239KB) from the Agter website
Rights to land and natural resources NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Michel Merlet)
Summary: Proposes a clear, simple method for characterising rights to land and natural resources and holders of land rights that can easily be applied in different cultures and legal systems all over the world.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 254KB) from the Agter website
Land tenure and migration NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Mahamadou Zongo)
Summary: Analyzes land tenure dimensions of migrations in rural areas, especially accommodation and integration mechanisms, as well as emerging strategies. Highlights the local changes of which both natives and migrants are the main stakeholders.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 271KB) from the Agter website
Local authorities and local territories in rural West Africa NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Eric Idelman)
Summary: Why does the delimitation of local authorities’ area of influence cause so many problems in most West African countries? Does decentralization not usually result in the artificial and top-down creation of local administrative units whose entire legitimacy in the area of land management is yet to establish, while village or inter-village authorities have strong anchorage? Does one of the major rural land management challenges not consist in striking balance between the capacities devolved to the newly established municipal authorities and the historical roles of already established village institutions?
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 222KB) from the Agter website
Are local conventions effective tools for the joint management of natural resources? NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Laurent Granier)
Summary: During the last two decades, local conventions have increased in the field, and are now considered as promising alternative solutions for a participatory management of natural resources and land. But what does the concept ‘local conventions’ mean? What is the contribution of these conventions to the improvement of natural resource and land management? Are they recognized by the law? What are their limitations?
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 258KB) from the Agter website
Myths, deadlocks of land registration and the need for alternative approaches NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Hubert Ouedraogo)
Summary: Includes land registration: the favourite instrument of the colonial land reclamation policy; land registration in real contexts; need for alternative land tenure securing approaches.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 261KB) from the Agter website
Alternative land tenure conflict management mechanisms: analytical tools NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Laurent Granier)
Summary: Covers multiplicity and diversity of land conflicts; the formal conflict settlement and its limitations; definitions of alternative conflict management methods; key alternative conflict management methods; limitations of alternative conflict management mechanisms.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 202KB) from the Agter website
Limitations of the concept of vulnerable groups in the area of land tenure security NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Oussouby Touré)
Summary: Covers acknowledgement of an abusive use of the concept of vulnerability; linkages between the concept of vulnerable groups, land legislations and land tenure securing instruments.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 272KB) from the Agter website
Are local conventions effective tools for the joint management of natural resources?
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Laurent Granier)
Summary: Covers what do local conventions consist of?; how useful are local conventions for natural resource management?; legal status of local conventions: from legitimacy to legality; constraints to and prospects for the development of local conventions to ensure secure, democratic sand sustainable access to land.
Date:20-22 September 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 258KB) from the Agter website
Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment for the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and Other Natural Resources
FAO Voluntary Guidelines meeting, Addis Ababa
Summary: Key issues identified include linkages to regional and national initiatives; land tenure, customary land tenure and land administration; natural resources tenure; land governance and issues on gender, IDPs and refugees; land use planning, urban development and land conversion; impact of investment on land rights; need for capacity building for land institutions and civil society.
Date:20-22 September 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 126KB) from the FAO website
Evaluation of the regional consultation of Francophone Africa: Voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources
Source: FAO Voluntary Guidelines meeting, Ouagadougou
Summary: Topics addressed were land administration, taxation and markets, diversity of tools, role of land-related professions; management and rights concerning common natural resources, access and rights of herders, fishers and users of forest products; access of specific social groups to land and natural resources - women, young people and indigenous groups; urban and peri-urban land - urban planning and development and related land policy; agricultural investment, medium- and large-scale land acquisition and land policy.
Date: 23-25 June 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 135KB) from the FAO website
Land deals in West Africa
Source: West African Observer, 3-4, 4-12
Summary: A series of short articles on land deals in West Africa: plenty of information, yet reliable data is scarce; abundant land?; complexity of land tenure systems; local perceptions; are win-win partnerships possible?; a call for international guidelines; regional responses.
Date: December 2009
Download the full paper (PDF 4.62MB) from the OECD website
Changes in 'Customary' Land Tenure Systems in Africa
Source: IIED (Lorenzo Cotula Ed)
Summary: Includes the drivers of change; changes in ‘customary’ land management institutions – evidence from West Africa; changes in intra-family relations; changes in land transfer mechanisms – evidence from West Africa; case study of changes in ‘customary’ resource tenure systems in the inner Niger Delta, Mali. Concludes with implications for policy and practice.
Date: March 2007
Download the full paper (PDF 981KB) from the IIED website
Rural Land Tenure and Sustainable Development
in the Sahel and West Africa, Regional Summary Report
Source: CILSS (Le Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre
la Sécheresse dans le Sahel) Regional Forum Praia+9, Bamako,
Mali
Summary: Contains introduction; background; the principle orientations
of Praia; status of implementation of the Praia orientation in CILSS
member states (Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,
Senegal, Chad); land tenure situation of the underprivileged groups;
management of land conflicts; implementation difficulties and lessons
learned; overview of the land tenure situation in some coastal West
African countries (Benin, Ghana, Togo); emerging land issues; towards
regional charter on rural land in the Sahel and West Africa; appendices
with summary table of the policies, legislations and regulations
on land and natural resource management in West Africa; glossary;
bibliography.
Date: 17-21 November 2003
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paper (PDF 844KB)
Making Land Rights More Secure: Conclusions
of a Seminar held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 19-21 March 2002
Source: IIED, GRET, GRAF
Summary: Ensuring security for farmers is a fundamental economic,
social and citizenship issue, raising institutional questions. There
needs to be a break with inherited colonial legal dualism. Local
management of land and resources is needed. There is no automatic
link between land title and security of tenure. Looks at the main
approaches adopted in West Africa in the recent past. Fully confirm
the role, dynamism and adaptability of family farms. Positive recognition
needs to be given to local land arrangements and informal contracts.
Decentralisation offers valuable opportunities.
Date: 19-21 March 2002
Download the full paper (44K.rtf
file)
Land Tenure Dynamics and State Intervention:
Challenges, Ongoing Experience and Current Debates on Land Tenure
in West Africa
Source: Philippe Lavigne Delville (GRET), Hubert Ouedraogo (GRAF)
and Camilla Toulmin (IIED)
Summary: Presentation to an international workshop on Making Land
Rights More Secure held in Ouagadougou, available in the original
PowerPoint and in Word. Its main headings are: why discuss making
land rights more secure?; legislation from Independence onwards;
in the 1980s growing legal recognition of private property rights;
emerging findings cast doubt on assumptions; in the 1990s innovative
new approaches; in West Africa, five new approaches; a range of
legal and institutional innovations; decentralisation - opportunities
and risks; processes underway; securing land rights a new
look; improve understanding of local institutions for managing land;
exchanging experience and debating the options; new findings to
share; key issues to examine.
Date: 19-21 March 2002
Download the full paper (69K.
rtf file)
The original PowerPoint presentation is also available for those
able to access it
Download the full presentation
(65K.ppt file)
LandNet West Africa: Progress, Achievements and Visions for the
Future
Source: LandNet West Africa
Summary: Contains introduction, progress and impacts since Addis
Ababa, vision of LandNet West Africa, principles of operation, expected
impacts, activities at sub-regional level.
Date: 2 May 2001
Download the full paper (22K.rtf
file)
Access to Resources: Land Tenure and Governance
in Africa
Source: Simon Batterbury (LSE)
Summary: Report of a Conference at the University of Manchester.
Summarises papers by Phil Woodhouse on African Enclosures
- the Default Mode of Development and Camilla Toulmin on Identifying
a Research Agenda for the Reform of Land Tenure and the discussions
on them. Argued that we cannot assume that poverty reduction or
equity will emerge from vesting power over land with local communities
and their leaders. Conflicts over resources will be exacerbated
by decentralisation. Conflicts between indigenous and outsider communities
are now widespread. Land access conditions have tightened for people
in West Africa. Individualisation and commercialisation are increasing,
posing problems for social differentiation and policies based on
equity. These are downplayed in populist writing on African land
tenure systems and in sustainable livelihoods thinking.
Date: 5 March 2001
Download the full paper (30K.rtf
file)
Also
see the paper at the LSE website
Final Report of the Workshop for launching of LandNet West Africa
Source: LandNet West Africa
Summary: Report of a workshop in Ouagadougou to launch LandNet West
Africa. Contains context and objectives of the workshop; stakes
of land policies and legislation in West Africa (including decentralisation
and transboundary issues); success and sustainability of the activities
of a network; role of international and sub-regional organisations;
major conclusions; structure of the network; funding; list and contact
addresses of participants.
Date: 12-13 February 2001
Download the full paper
(158K.rtf file)
Livelihood Transformations in semi-arid
Africa 1960-2000: Proceedings of a Workshop
Source: IIED (Drylands Research Programme)
Summary: Examines research in 4 semi-arid areas: Diourbel Region
(Seneegal), Maradi Department (Niger), the Kano hinterland (northern
Nigeria) and Makueni District (Kenya). Presentation of main results
of the research, presentation by country coordinators on farmer
investments, plenary discussions, reports of working groups, concluding
plenary. The foci include livelihood transformations, the impact
of population growth, access to land and markets, how to initiate
and sustain participatory debates on national policy formulation.
Date: 17 January 2001
Download the full paper (208K.rtf
file)
Also
see the paper at the LSE website
Report on the LandNet West Africa Core Group Meeting
Source: LandNet West Africa
Summary: Report on meeting of core group of LandNet West Africa
with representatives from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nigeria,
Togo. Includes details of networking activities in these countries,
lessons, successes and good practice, constraints and risks, funding,
preparation for a regional workshop in February.
Date: 12-13 January 2001
Download the full paper (64K.rtf
file)
Progress Report on West Africa LandNet Activities December
2000
Source: Hubert Ouedraogo (GRAF) and Judy Longbottom (IIED)
Summary: Contains objectives of West Africa LandNet and its activities
since the Addis Ababa meeting in January 2000. Lists activities
in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nigeria, Togo, Mali and Guinea. Discusses
communication problems and main lessons from the interim phase.
Date: December 2000
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file)
Tenure Rights and Sustainable Development
in West Africa: A Regional Overview
Source: Hubert Ouedraogo and Camilla Toulmin, Paper given at
the DFID Workshop on Land Tenure, Poverty and Sustainable Development
in sub-Saharan Africa, at Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Summary: Oxfam GB was closely involved in the planning of this workshop
which brought together 75 practitioners from all over Africa. The
authors are an international consultant jurist and the Director
of the Drylands Programme of IIED (International Institute for Environment
and Development). Their regional survey covers tenure problems in
West Africa, state policy and the problem of tenure security, pilot
land use management schemes, and future issues and prospects.
Date: 16-19 February 1999
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.rtf file)
Information on land: a common asset and strategic resource. The case of Benin
Source: IIED Drylands Issue Paper 147 (Pierre-Yves Le Meur)
Summary: This paper presents the legal framework and methods of producing information about land in Benin, and looks at the complex modalities of determining, recognising and ‘translating’ rights in rural and urban areas (the Rural Land Plan and Urban Land Registry). It provides observations on several current issues, particularly the political and administrative decentralisation that is fundamentally changing the country’s institutional landscape.
Date: May 2008
Download the full paper (223K.pdf file) from the IIED website
Land Rights and Land Conflicts in Africa: The Benin Case
Source: Danish Institute for International Studies (Pierre-Yves Le Mur)
Summary: The report discusses the approach and methods underlying the study and offers conceptual clarifications. It presents the legal framework and historical context in relation to political economy and identity politics. The bulk of the report is devoted to the analysis of significant case studies: on boundary conflicts linked to decentralisation and development programmes, the conservation issue, autochthons/migrants relations, the ‘youth factor’. A final section outlines policy orientations.
Date: October 2006
Download the full paper (576K.pdf file) from the DIIS website
Land Policy Development in an African Context: Lessons Learned from Selected African Experiences
Source: FAO Land Tenure Working Paper 14 (Paul De Wit, Christopher Tanner and Simon Norfolk) (Pierre-Yves Le Meur)
Summary: Includes Sudan - complex and hesitant land policy reforms in a dynamic post conflict environment; Burkina Faso - inclusive decision making and consensus building on land policy; Mozambique - participatory policy and legislative development, difficult implementation and follow through; lessons learned for land policy development - diversity of policy objectives, land policy and peace, securing land rights, the rights of women, state land and land for public purposes, conflict management, conclusions.
Date: October 2009
Download the full paper (635KB PDF) from the FAO website
Whose Land is it? The status of customary land tenure in Cameroon NEW
Source: Liz Alden Wily (for Centre for Environment and Development, Yaoundé, FERN and The Rainforest Foundation)
Summary: Includes what is the problem and what can be done?; the law and customary land rights; how does Forest Law treat customary land rights?; lessons from other African states; the way forward. Argues that the current de jure reality is that most rural Cameroonians are little more than squatters on their own land with regard to forests and other land assets.
Date: February 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 1.9MB) from the FERN website
Improving Tenure Security for the Rural Poor Ghana Country Case Study
Source: FAO LEP Working Paper 2 (George A. Sarpong)
Summary: Sub-title is Towards the Improvement of Tenure Security for the Poor in Ghana: Some Thoughts and Observations. Has 3 main chapters: the regime of land tenure in Ghana – an overview; insecurity of tenure in Ghana – a gender perspective (also includes pastoralists); insecurity of tenure in rural mining communities – a case study.
Date: October 2006
Download the full paper (905K.pdf file) from the FAO website
Land Security and the Poor in Ghana: Is there
a Way Forward? A Land Sector Scoping Study
Source: DFID Ghanas Rural Livelihoods Programme (Liz Alden
Wily and Daniel Hammond)
Summary: A summary of a larger study commissioned by DFID Ghana.
Covers findings of the study and suggestions for moving forward.
The conclusions include that tenure insecurity is more widespread
than generally recognised, its sources are complex, current strategies
are inadequate, promising conditions exist, reform rather than improvement
is needed, a community based approach is the way forward. The National
Land Policy is not pro-poor, nor are classic titling approaches
serving the poor.
Date: October 2001
Download the full paper (620K.
rtf file)
Whose Land is it? Commons and Conflict States. Why the Ownership of the Commons Matters in Making and Keeping Peace
Source: Rights and Resources Initiative (Liz Alden Wily)
Summary: Addresses the tenure fate of three commons: the 30 million hectares of pasture lands of Afghanistan which represent 45 percent of the total land area and are key to livelihood and water catchment in that exceedingly dry country; the 5.7 million hectares of timber-rich tropical forests in Liberia, 59 percent of the total land area; and the 125 million hectares of savannah in Sudan, half the area of that largest state of Africa. All three resources have a long history as customary properties of local communities and also share a 20th century history as the property of the state.
Date: July 2008
Download the full paper (307K.pdf file)
So Who Owns the Forest? An Investigation into Forest Ownership and Customary Land Rights in Liberia
Source: Liz Alden Wily (for Sustainable Development Institute, Liberia / FERN)
Summary: State/people forest relations are at a turning point in Liberia. The crux of the issue is property relations and how the rights of rural Liberians to forests are treated in law and in practice. Central to the problem and the solution is the status of customary land rights. The paper tracks what happened to the natural rights indigenous Liberians have to their lands and the valuable forests that grow on them. It looks back at the treatment of customary land tenure over the century-long process of forming the modern Liberian state. Through fieldwork, the study identifies customary property norms as operating today. It finds that colonial policy with regard to indigenous land interests was uncharacteristically benign, as was the imposition of indirect rule. Together these have created a foundation on which democratic land relations may be rebuilt. There is also genuine vibrancy in collective norms of customary tenure closely linked to the role of forestland in the rural economy. Interference in customary property rights is severe but mainly recent. Favourable conditions for remedying the situation exist. Remedial rather than radical action is required. Practical steps towards achieving a solution are suggested. Much rests on the proposed Community Rights Law.
Date: November 2007
Download the full paper (3,766K.pdf file) from the FERN website.
Decentralization in Mali: a constrained “responsibility transfer” process NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Cheibane Coulibaly)
Summary: I683 new ‘communes’ have been created in Mali’s audacious decentralization policy. This has made central the issue of authority, responsibility and resource transfer from the central government. What are the privileges of the so-called traditional institutions created by the local people at the village level and between villages? What kind of cooperation should exist between these institutions and the government units? Highlights the achievements and constrains of the decentralization policy and outlines some possible solutions.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 253KB) from the Agter website
Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa. Country Report: Mali NEW
Source: The Oakland Institute
Summary: Includes Mali – a welcoming climate for investors, the regulatory framework – bending it to suit investors?, the Office du Niger, case studies of four investments, large land deals in Mali. Found more than 40% of land deals involve crops for agrofuels, violent and flagrant abuses of human rights in the agricultural zones of the Office du Niger, a serious lack of public disclosure and transparency from government, an alarming lack of environmental protection.
Date: 24 May 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 1.4MB) from the Oakland Institute website
Improving Tenure Security for the Rural Poor Mali Country Case Study
Source: FAO LEP Working Paper 4 (Moussa Djir)
Summary: Has three main chapters: modes of access to land and natural resources and the tenure situation of the poor and marginalized groups (customary rules, statutory law, development of commercial transactions); some ways of securing land rights for the poor and other vulnerable groups (local resource management agreements, formalization of collective rights and of land transactions, access to justice); can the necessary reforms be carried out?
Date: October 2006 (updated February 2007)
Download the full paper (624K.pdf file) from the FAO website
Decentralized vs. local management of land tenure: the Niger case history NEW
Source: Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee (Adam Kandine)
Summary: Covers achievements and weaknesses of local land tenure management system; the local land tenure management system in the context of decentralization.
Date: December 2010
Download the full paper (PDF 254KB) from the Agter website
Land and decentralisation in Senegal
Source: IIED Drylands Issue Paper 149 (Jacques Faye)
Summary: Land and decentralisation policies in Senegal have been closely linked since independence in 1960. Public lands are currently managed by the local governments of municipalities and rural communities, with the latter responsible for the land and natural resources in unprotected parts of their territory, and the former empowered to issue building permits. The law also provides opportunities for rural communities, municipalities and regions to be involved in managing special areas such as classified forests, national parks and protected spaces, thereby recognising that land and natural resources cannot be managed effectively unless the communities concerned are engaged in the process through their local governments. Popular participation depends on several factors: how far the central government and administration are prepared to go in involving local people and local governments, and therefore what rights they grant them; the competences and resources available to communities; and the human and financial resources that local governments can call upon in order to fulfil their roles. This paper explores these issues and discusses their effect on decentralisation and land management in Senegal.
Date: May 2008
Download the full paper (172K.pdf file) from the IIED website
Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa. Country Report: Sierra Leone NEW
Source: The Oakland Institute
Summary: Includes Sierra Leone: open for business, land use and land tenure in Sierra Leone, land deal in Sierra Leone: four case studies, responsible agro-investment? Found a lack of transparency and public disclosure in all aspects of the four land deals, an extremely weak regulatory framework, confusion around ‘availability’ of land, lack of environmental protection, conditions ripe for exploitation and conflict.
Date: 24 May 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 1.6MB) from the Oakland Institute website
Commercial Biofuel Land Deals & Environment and Social Impact Assessments in Africa: Three case studies in Mozambique and Sierra Leone NEW
Source: Land Deal Politics Initiative Working Paper 1 (Maura Andrew & Hilde Van Vlaenderen)
Summary: Examines 3 case studies of proposed biofuel developments in Mozambique and Sierra Leone in terms of social displacement. More mitigation measures could provide livelihood restitution and avoid negative food security impacts.
Date: April 2011
Download the full paper (PDF 2.1MB) from the PLAAS website
Land and Pro-Poor Change in Sierra Leone
Source: Shaun Williams (for EU-DFID Country Assistance Plan)
Summary: Contains situational analysis, policy context, tentative conclusions and options for intervention. Addresses the question of how to increase security of land rights for the urban and rural poor. Examines the existing multiple land tenure system. Argues that land reform in Sierra Leone is both necessary and possible though there are many constraints. The costs of doing nothing will likely include further civil unrest and environmental degradation.
Date: July 2006
Download the full paper (270K.doc file)
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