Farmers' Perceptions of Smallholding Co-Ownership Problems

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of some of the land ownership consolidation programmes that have been attempted in a number of countries, and examines in more detail the present situation in Turkey. Much of the rural land in Turkey is fragmented, and the structural problems created by co-ownership of small properties will probably influence the viability of future farming in the country. This paper identifies the attitudes of co-owner farmers to the disposal of their own share to one of their heirs when that share's value is paid at the current market value of the land. Ninety farmers who owned their landholdings were interviewed. Answers to the survey questions were analysed with a logit model, and the maximum likelihood method was employed to estimate the model. The results indicate that a farmer's level of education and acceptance of the trend towards the disposal of an owned shared parcel to a third person are positively related to the likelihood that the farmer will choose to pass on the shared parcel of land to an heir. This is true provided that the share value the farmer is likely to recover is the current market value of the land.