When Land Becomes a Burden: An Analysis of an Underperforming Zambian Land Deal

Tijo Salverda,Chewe Nkonde

doi:10.1017/asr.2021.65

Abstract

AbstractFrom 2011 onward, a European agribusiness progressively purchased about 38,000 hectares of land in Zambia. Although operations have commenced on the ground, only part of the land has been developed. Salverda and Nkonde look at the reasons for and implications of this partial development, focusing particularly on how, in such a context, Zambia’s slow-moving land administration, lack of financing, and the presence of rural residents on the purchased land have become self-reinforcing challenges. Their aim is to provide insights about why (very large) land deals often fail to achieve their projected capacity, leaving both investors and local residents in limbo.

Highlights

The last decade has spurred a renewed interest in agricultural land around the world, on the African continent (Baglioni & Gibbon 2013; Cotula et al 2014)
Projects implemented on the ground deserve further examination, because there is limited follow-up to determine the extent to which the developers put all of the land to use—and if they don’t, why not? The intended development of a European agricultural project in Zambia’s Central Province, the focus of this article, demonstrates that large land deals may come with many hurdles
In the agribusiness’ European country of origin, NGOs and politicians both raised concerns about the potentially negative impacts the investment might have on local residents

Summary

Introduction

The last decade has spurred a renewed interest in agricultural land around the world, on the African continent (Baglioni & Gibbon 2013; Cotula et al 2014). With rural residents often facing negative consequences of this global land rush, civil society, academics, and multilateral organizations have increasingly raised concerns about investors’ appetite for land (Cotula 2013a; McKeon 2013; Borras 2016) This interest has created a vast body of knowledge about land deals and their impacts around the world (Borras et al 2011; Dwyer 2013; Scoones et al 2013; Zoomers et al 2016). As the case of the European agribusiness in Zambia illustrates, companies implementing large land deals appear to find it difficult to render all of the land investible. A detailed analysis of the causes and consequences of failing to render the land fully investible, we believe, provides insights about the limitations of large-scale land deals, in particular vis-à-vis residents who are searching for land. Rather than functioning as an asset, the large surface area of undeveloped land appears to have become a handicap to the success of the investment

Methodology and structure of the article

Conclusion