Fair Land Research Articles

Forging Pathways to Equity: The Nexus between Land Redistribution, Health, and Healthcare Access

This article explores the nexus between land redistribution policies and healthcare accessibility to mitigate social and economic disparities arising from inequitable land distribution. Historically, concentrated land ownership has marginalised rural communities, limiting their access to healthcare services. Land reform initiatives focusing on redistribution and secure tenure have the potential to empower marginalised groups economically and enhance their health outcomes through improved access to healthcare facilities. The study fills Gaps in existing research by investigating the interconnectedness of land tenure security, health outcomes and healthcare access, drawing insights from global contexts, including successful cases in Denmark, New Zealand, and South Korea, alongside challenges in Russia, India, and South Africa. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of data from the Global Health Security Index, the study highlights the critical role of equitable land distribution in fostering health equity and sustainable development. Findings suggest that countries with inclusive land policies demonstrate improved public health indicators, highlighting the importance of integrating land reform into broader health and development agendas. In conclusion, land redistribution holds promise for enhancing healthcare access and achieving health equity. Ultimately, this research advocates for strategic interventions that prioritise fair land distribution as a cornerstone for achieving universal health coverage and addressing persistent health disparities worldwide.

Implementation of Land Dispute Resolution with Justice

The purpose, as with various other arrangements, is to ensure legal certainty, provide legal protection for the people in the context of supporting sustainable development without ignoring the principle of environmental sustainability. The purpose of this research is to analyze the application of equitable land dispute resolution because so far the regulation of land dispute resolution has not been equitable, giving rise to various disputes in the process of resolving land cases. The research method used in this research is the normative juridical method. In addition, it is necessary to establish a special court that handles land issues, namely the Agrarian Court, a special court for land dispute resolution under the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia. Novelty in this research with the establishment of institutions and laws and regulations that specifically deal with the issue of fair land dispute resolution is expected that the Agrarian Court can fulfill a sense of justice for the parties in the settlement of land disputes that have occurred so far in the community.

A CA–Markov-Based Simulation and Prediction of LULC Changes over the Nyabarongo River Basin, Rwanda

Over the past few decades, the growth of population and the development of the economy have had a significant impact on the way land is used and covered (LULC) in the Nile Nyabarongo River basin. However, there is limited knowledge about the patterns of land use and the mechanisms that drive changes in these patterns because of human activities. Therefore, it is crucial to examine how land use and cover are shifting in this area, identify the factors responsible for these changes, and forecast future patterns. This study sought (1) to evaluate the changes in LULC from 1990 to 2020 and (2) to predict future fluctuations until 2060. By analyzing the LULC data for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, this study simulated the future LULC patterns of the area for the next 30 years using the LULC transition matrix and the Markov chain model. The study classified the LULC into five categories: forestland, grassland, cropland, settlement, and water. The results revealed that there will be significant changes in the LULC of the study area from 2030 to 2060. The forest area is projected to decrease by 801.7 km, 771.6 km, and 508.2 km, while the cropland area will expand by 6307.2 km, 6249.2 km, and 6420.6 km during this period. The grassland area will experience a small increase of 761.1 km, 802.4 km, and 859.1 km, and the settlement area will also grow by 355.2 km, 407.4 km, and 453.2 km. In contrast, the water area will decrease by 55.9 km, 50.5 km, and 40 km. The ongoing pattern of LULCC is expected to persist over the next three decades, with an increase in cropland area and grassland. This study’s findings can provide valuable insights for land use planners and water resource managers in developing fair land use and water resource management policies for the entire region, enabling them to make well-informed decisions.

Impact of Farmer's Socioeconomic Characteristics and Technology Adoption on Agriculture Income: Evidence from Central Punjab, Pakistan

The research examines the adoption of modern agricultural technologies, essential for policymakers and technology providers to evaluate existing initiatives and enhance dissemination strategies. The primary emphasis on the impact of socioeconomic characteristics and technology adoption on agriculture income is crucial for assessing economic outcomes, guiding efforts to improve farmers' well-being. Objective of the current study was to estimate the impact of socioeconomic characteristics of farmers and adoption of technology on their income and suggest policy measures. For estimation purposes, central Punjab was chosen, and data was collected. A well-organized questionnaire was distributed to 401 farmers in central Punjab. OLS technique was used for analysis to estimate the impact of independent variables on farmers' income. According to the results, adoption of advanced technology, awareness of technology, land holding, family size, and farmer education have a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable in the model. It is recommended to launch extensive awareness programs in collaboration with agricultural extension services to educate farmers on the advantages of advanced technologies, advocate for policies ensuring fair land access, recognize the role of family size in agriculture, and improve customized educational programs to empower farmers with ongoing learning and skill development, fostering a culture of innovation.

Implications of the imago Dei (Gn 1:26) on gender equality and agrarian land reform in Zimbabwe

The creation of humanity (Gn 1:26–2:25) marks the climatic point of the creation process because after it, God is said to have rested. A clear marker that humans are the epitome of creation is the fact that they were created in God’s image (Gn 1:26). Unlike animals, humans have the capacity to think, act with free will, exert self-control and also have a conscience. These distinctive characteristics earn humanity not only dominion over creation (Gn 1:28), but also the care towards the created order. The fact of having been created in God’s image, imago Dei, or to be godlike, is therefore associated with certain rights and responsibilities over creation. Further, being created in God’s image implies that human life itself is sacred and thus should not be terminated in any way, either by the individual themself or by any other person(s) (Gn 9:6). Given that human life is so sacred, such a rationale is invoked in the absolute prohibition on murder. Above all, being created in God’s image connotes gender equality – ‘male and female he created them’ (Gn 1:27b). In view of the land reform exercise in Zimbabwe, so much has happened, but the big question which remains is whether women have received a fair share in the land redistribution exercise. Making a womanist contextual reading of Genesis 1:26, this article seeks to reflect on the Zimbabwean land reform exercise, challenging the lack of gender inclusion in the redistribution exercise.Contribution: Given that women theology is that of liberation, empowerment and affirmation, this research makes a unique contribution to women theologies as it pushes for women’s empowerment through fair land redistribution. By tapping into the implications of having been created in God’s image, the research has successfully argued that the current situation, whereby gender gaps in land ownership are still quite large, needs to be addressed as stewardship over creation was given to both men and women.

Improving Farmer Willingness to Participate in the Transfer of Land Rights in Rural China: A Preference-Based Income Distribution Scheme

Promoting the transfer of rural land is an important way for many developing countries to improve the efficiency of rural land use and develop the rural economy. A reasonable income distribution scheme (IDS) is the key to enhancing farmer willingness to participate in the transfer of rural construction land use rights. However, little attention has been paid to farmers’ preference for the IDS of the transfer of rural collective construction land use rights. This research aims to detect the farmers’ preference for IDS in the process of rural collective land rights transfer. Based on the survey data of 489 farmers in Liuyang City, Hunan Province and Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, China, a random parameter Logit model is used to explore their preference for the IDS of the transfer of rural collective construction land use rights. The results show that, in general, the farmers focus on the income distribution ratio and pension in the IDS, which will significantly improve their utility. There are obvious regional differences in their preference for IDSs. For example, farmers in Liuyang prefer payment in shares, while those in Deqing prefer cash. Thus, the IDS for the transfer of rural collective construction land use rights should be based on the basic principle of ensuring fair land value-added income for the farmers, increased payment forms with social security functions, and reasonable IDSs in accord with the preferences of farmers in different regions, so as to enhance farmer willingness to participate.

Methodological foundations of land asset identification in the context of sustainable development of functional types of territories

The article addresses the problems of land asset identification in the context of sustainable development of functional types of territories. Efficient regulation of land and property relations appears to be an essential condition for the comprehensive development of a territorial community based on reliable and systematic information on land resources within its territory. The article substantiates that in conditions of transition to territory-oriented development policy based on the capacity stimulation in the territories of various functional types, the conceptual foundations of the territorial community’s land asset identification include the methodological unity of legal regulation in land valuation and systemic comprehensiveness of the data in the State Land Cadaster. The retrospective analysis of the nature of legal settlement of the assets concept shows various options of modern interpretation of the category in Ukrainian legal documents and the bottlenecks in the regulation of land asset definition as an economic-legal standard. The article proves the lack of administrative and/or statistical information on the quantitative and qualitative land accounting at the level of territorial communities as the main entities of comprehensive development of territories of various functional types. The land asset nature and types are determined. The article offers the recording of the following definitions in national legislation: “land assets”, “tangible land asset”, and “intangible land asset”. The methodological approach to comprehensive actualization of normative and export monetary assessment of land assets in the course of the introduction of online services in the State Land Cadaster based on Blockchain technology is substantiated. The automatic formation of the monetary valuation of land assets on the current date by the software of the State Land Cadaster without the development and approval of the respective technical documents must secure the accessibility of land asset identification in monetary terms at the level of a territorial community or fair land asset cost in accounting, financial, and other records.

Remote Sensing for Property Valuation: A Data Source Comparison in Support of Fair Land Taxation in Rwanda

Remotely sensed data is increasingly applied across many domains, including fit-for-purpose land administration (FFPLA), where the focus is on fast, affordable, and accurate property information collection. Property valuation, as one of the main functions of land administration systems, is influenced by locational, physical, legal, and economic factors. Despite the importance of property valuation to economic development, there are often no standardized rules or strict data requirements for property valuation for taxation in developing contexts, such as Rwanda. This study aims at assessing different remote sensing data in support of developing a new approach for property valuation for taxation in Rwanda; one that aligns with the FFPLA philosophy. Three different remote sensing technologies, (i) aerial images acquired with a digital camera, (ii) WorldView2 satellite images, and (iii) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images obtained with a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus quadcopter, are compared and analyzed in terms of their fitness to fulfil the requirements for valuation for taxation purposes. Quantitative and qualitative methods are applied for the comparative analysis. Prior to the field visit, the fundamental concepts of property valuation for taxation and remote sensing were reviewed. In the field, reference data using high precision GNSS (Leica) was collected and used for quantitative assessment. Primary data was further collected via semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The results show that UAVs have the highest potential for collecting data to support property valuation for taxation. The main reasons are the prime need for accurate-enough and up-to-date information. The comparison of the different remote sensing techniques and the provided new approach can support land valuers and professionals in the field in bottom-up activities following the FFPLA principles and maintaining the temporal quality of data needed for fair taxation.

Italy, the fair land there where the Sì doth sound: when the places take revenge

ABSTRACT This article provides empirical evidence on the determinants of the vote in favour of reducing the number of the Members of Parliament, the issue covered by Italy’s referendum held on 20–21 September 2020. Consistent with the literature on the geography of discontent, the social factors – age, education and income – play a significant role. Among the determinants, however, the political factor stands out, namely the vote for the Five Star Movement in the 2018 elections. This study applies a place-based approach, in which the unit of analysis is the Local Labour System, a socio-economic territorial unit that embeds the vote in the places where people’s lives actually occur. Therefore, local communities become protagonists of the vote, which in this occurrence, is an anti-political-establishment vote because they feel left behind by policy and politics.

Оцінювання земельних активів України банками Російської імперії на початку ХХ століття

The start of the land market in Ukraine began on July 1, 2021, which opened new opportunities for the development of the national economy. At the same time, the issue of assessment of formation of land assets remained insufficiently provided with appropriate mechanisms for the transparency of this market and the establishment of fair land prices. An important component of the formation of a fair valuation of land assets are the previous databases on their sales prices for previous time periods. We do not have such data due to the lack of a land market in Ukraine during the administrative-command system of economic management, being part of the USSR. Therefore, the only systematized databases for the assessment of land assets are studies conducted by the Ministry of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. This article aims to study the level and dynamics of land asset prices using the historical experience of valuation of Ukrainian land assets by banks of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century. The article separates and groups data on the valuation of land assets in the Ukrainian provinces, which were part of the Russian Empire. A retrospective analysis of the valuation of land assets in terms of individual regions of Ukraine that were part of the Russian Empire was performed on the basis of selected data. The necessity and importance of today's use of historical experience of valuations of land asset in Ukraine are substantiated in connection with the introduction of the land market. Using the index of change in the value of gold, comparative prices transfer of land assets from the early twentieth century at today's comparable prices. The obtained level of prices for land assets has the prospect of being used as a base during the organization of land auctions to form a fair price for land in Ukraine.

Envy-Free Division of Land

Classic cake-cutting algorithms enable people with different preferences to divide among them a heterogeneous resource (“cake”) such that the resulting division is fair according to each agent’s individual preferences. However, these algorithms either ignore the geometry of the resource altogether or assume it is one-dimensional. In practice, it is often required to divide multidimensional resources, such as land estates or advertisement spaces in print or electronic media. In such cases, the geometric shape of the allotted piece is of crucial importance. For example, when building houses or designing advertisements, in order to be useful, the allotments should be squares or rectangles with bounded aspect ratio. We, thus, introduce the problem of fair land division—fair division of a multidimensional resource wherein the allocated piece must have a prespecified geometric shape. We present constructive division algorithms that satisfy the two most prominent fairness criteria, namely envy-freeness and proportionality. In settings in which proportionality cannot be achieved because of the geometric constraints, our algorithms provide a partially proportional division, guaranteeing that the fraction allocated to each agent be at least a certain positive constant. We prove that, in many natural settings, the envy-freeness requirement is compatible with the best attainable partial-proportionality.

Pengaturan Zona Nilai Tanah sebagai Dasar Penilaian Tanah oleh Badan Pertanahan Nasional

This study discussed the arrangement of the land value zone as the basis for a fair land valuation by the National Land Agency. The National Land Agency as an extension of the non-departmental government had the authority to regulate and carry out the allotment of land. This study used a normative juridical approach to address the legal problems encountered. The method used legislation and conceptual approaches. The results showed that the land value zone could be used as a basis for a fair land valuation by the National Land Agency. However, at present, there were no specific legal regulations governing land value zones which result in a vacuum and legal uncertainty so that regulations were needed that govern the operation of Land Value Zones. Legislation that was considered ideal was a ministerial regulation made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency.

My land is my food: Exploring social function of large land deals using food security–land deals relation in five Eastern European countries

Food security provides a major topic for this study and the recurring point is food security–agricultural land relation. The analysis is grounded on the assumption that control over agricultural land means control over food. Effective control over land is one of the riskiest issues of large land deals. Permanent supply and sustainable access to quality food is influenced by structural socio-economic and political arrangements targeting agricultural land which often prevent individuals and entire communities from acquiring basic competencies and rights for their autonomy. The objective of the study is two folded: to investigate five Eastern European countries characteristics which are valued as determinants of food security–large land deals relation and to highlight the social utility of agricultural land property. Thus, the substantive theme of this study grows out of several observed streams of large land deals. In the first part, historical and economic influential factors connected to large land deals in Eastern Europe are approached, within the context of transition from centrally planned state economy to free market economy. The second part takes up the challenge to analyze the correlation between country characteristics that can impact on food security–land transaction relationship. Then, the paper goes on to introduce and explain, following Léon Duguit’s theory of social utility, aspects about the social function of agricultural land ownership. Based on non-parametric tests, which included a set of 14 socio-economic variables, the results show, for example, a strong positive correlation between the size of closed land deals and both the size of country land area and of land under cereal production. The paper concludes with several proposals targeting fair land arrangements and practices that have the potential to transform themselves in building blocks for future policies dedicated to sustainable land management and food security.

Poland in the Irish Nationalist Imagination, 1772–1922: Anti-Colonialism within Europe, by Róisín Healy

In his November 1798 speech from the dock, Theobald Wolfe Tone linked his revolutionary endeavours to two famous predecessors: ‘I have attempted to follow the same line in which Washington succeeded and Kościuszko failed.’ Michael Balfe’s 1843 aria, ‘When the Fair Land of Poland’, remained a favourite in Ireland throughout the nineteenth century, while Lady Wilde (mother of Oscar) was one of many Irish poets who published pro-Poland verse. In the early twentieth century, Constance Markiewicz found inspiration in the sacrifices of Polish women. From the period of Poland’s three partitions in the eighteenth century to its re-emergence after the First World War, many Irish sympathised with the fate of the Poles, finding historical or religious links between their two lands. Róisín Healy’s monograph examines 150 years of Irish–Polish relations and discovers a sustained imaginative encounter, as Irish nationalists looked to their European neighbour for support and inspiration. Healy builds on the work of (among others) Brian Earls, Katarzyna Gmerek and John Merchant to produce a volume that is marked by thorough scholarship and nuanced argument. Though she alludes to the profound changes in Europe since Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004, her focus is on the period from the first partition of Poland in 1772 to a partitioned Ireland’s independence in 1922. She is careful to avoid any monolithic pronouncements on the motives behind Irish representations of Poland or on their capacity to effect change. Similarly, she is careful to note at the onset that Poland was itself a bundle of potential national causes, with its Ruthenian and Ukrainian minorities as interested in self-rule from Poland as the Poles were from Russia, Prussia and Austria. What becomes clear is that most nineteenth-century Irish commentators overlooked such national complexities, shaping their idea of Poland to fit their own immediate needs.

Four Celtic Poems

Four Celtic Poems Translated by Tony Hoagland (bio) and Martin Shaw (bio) Midhir’s Invitation to the Fair Land Fair woman, will you go with me to the high landwhere sweet music is? One’s hair is like the primrosethere and the folk have bodies white as snow. In the high land, there is neither thine nor mine.The women’s teeth are white; the men’s eyes are black and clear. Every cheek is the pink of fox glove. The meadows of Ireland are fair to see—but they are like a desert when you have seen the high land; Irish ale is fine to drink—but in the high landthe wine they serve will turn your head into a cloud. In the place I tell of, the young do not die before their time;they serve the old ones, who are wiseand shield the young in turn. Sweet streams flow always through the fair landand the minds of the people are clear as skin with no blemish,as a child’s face in the virgin morning. When we walk together there, you will seethese men and ladies, you will see them on all sides, tall and fair and kind.But they will not see us. For the dark of Adam’s trespass is around us like a cloakand it means we cannot be seen, or counted one of them. Irish, ninth century, author unknown [End Page 160] Lament for Reilly As I walked by the strand one fine evening,whom did I see but my fair-haired Reilly? His cheeks were flushed and his brown hair all curlyand I felt that his death was rushing right through me. My God, Reilly, were you not the king’s son-in-law,meant to be dressed in the finest gold cloth? with bright white curtains around where you lay,and a beautiful lady combing your hair? The shipwright who made the boat for your journey,may his two hands crumble like old brown cork. May the faulty plank in the hull of that boatbe burnt alive in a fire. May the cold sea that entered through the hole in the plankbe jailed, found guilty, and hanged. May the priest who prayed on the deck, and failed,go to no heaven. If I had been out that night with my nets all ready,by God, Reilly, I would have saved you. You looked good on your slender white horse that summer before,blowing your horn, with your hounds all around. God made me alone so young; I hear themrepeating that Reilly is dead, my Reilly is dead again. You should have heard their voices that night;excited to know there would be not a wedding, but a wake;and a brand new widow. Irish, traditional folk song [End Page 161] The Girls ofLlanbadorn Since I was young I have been mad for girls.One dozen times a day I fall in love. No Sunday has passed but that I am in the pews at Mass,in my feathered hat, my eyes turned keen across the congregation.But in this parish a curse from God has ruined me. Neither gentle lass, nor lonely wife, nor cankered hagwill sport with me. Among themselves, the women say, “View his face;He has the look of one who knows sin well.” There never was a spell so persistent as this. My neck has grown cricked from looking left and right,and still no mate. I am no more close to winning one of themthan if I was their enemy. And I must give up these fantasiesand become a hermit, or even worse, a saint. Welsh, fourteenth century, Dafydd ap Gwillym [End Page 162] Senility Wooden staff, it is autumn, the bracken is red;the stubble of fields is pale yellow. Wooden staff, it is winter; men are boisterousover their drink. Wooden staff, it is spring; the cuckoos are brown;there is light at the evening meal. Wooden staff, it is summer, the furrow is red; the young corn is...

The Three Muses of Bluefield

The Three Muses of Bluefield* Jennifer Bartell (bio) I Before the houses were built here,there was nothing but woods. Wehunted huckleberries. Hauled bucketsof the dark fruit for tarts and jars. I can lookat that spot of lawn where my vegetablegarden was. It was a time whenwe planted veggies here: corn, butterbeans,tomatoes. That time is gone, I got a crook in my back,and those seeds are on a shelf.Recorded in their hulls are stepsof my life. But there is somebodywho will find those seeds,who will listen to what they have to say,who will put the seeds in hermind, and grow it and pick it up, and show it, shove itinto the mouths of the world:taste this fruit you have seen for yearsbut never tasted. Feel the grit of iton your tongue, the bitter [End Page 250] juice of this nourishmentthat comes from scraping by justfor scraps. Swallow it,do not gag: we have eatenthis for decades. My name is Golden.Golden Graham.I love my name.Folks call me Goldie. II.I was named after a auntie, my nameis Blanche but most folks call me Blanche, the e silent. Before we moved here, we livedin a house where it rained on the inside. We could see the hogs under the house,that was when we lived on the white folks’ land, before we came here. When we got this housewe thought we was rich. We had an outhouse: my Ma would go in there and it sounded like shewas crying, but she was praying. I can imagine the things you can tell God with peein your nostrils. Some Saturday evenings there’d be a picnic in the church yard,our legs carried us there, but our legs can’t carry us that far no more. We sangon Sundays. Sometimes our shoes had holes in ‘em, shoes the buckra done wornout and gave to us. Now we all ‘bout worn out. We fight so hard for this place.My name may be on it, but this place dons’t belongst to me. And I got one moreplace to go. [End Page 251] III She took in other folks’ laundry up in Connect-a-cut.Her and her husband, they left in search of fair wagesin a fair land. And after a time they came back. Backto this country living, to the life they were born toand wanted to die to. Back where the icehouse is underneath earth: A holein the ground, a block of ice wrapped in a sheet,sprinkled with fine sawdust and placed there on summerevenings. They would make tea in a water bucketchip a block offa the ice. Now that was iced tea! That tea would be so cold … so cold it would hurtyour teeth. As the eldest, she tried to pick upher words with a butterfly net but nothing came.Even when she came back from up North: She gotstories to tell but she won’t tell them. She will take them with her when she leaves. She plays possum, silencecomforts her, and it strokes the fine contours of her throat.The grave licks its lips and opens its mouth wide,she pauses, kicks its tongue, steps inside. It wasn’t warmlike those summer evenings, it was cold like the iced tea, but it didn’t hurt her teeth, no it didn’t hurt her teeth.When she took that step, she saw her sisters,and the whole expanse of their lives, what it all addedup to in the end. She knew what it meant, but she stillwouldn’t say. Their three housesform a triangle atthe entrance of Bluefield the lines now broken. [End Page 252] Jennifer Bartell JENNIFER BARTELL received the MFA in poetry from the University of South Carolina in 2014. Her poetry has been published in Callaloo, PLUCK!, Blackberry: a magazine, decomP, Fall Lines, and the museum americana, among others. She also has work forthcoming in The Raleigh Review and Kakalak...

The Political Will and Its Effect Upon the Deterioration of the Land Compensation Value

The Political will is the vital element in any National growth across the world. It shows the commitment of the government to achieve its goals and objective as well to achieve the national development goals. If political Will, is being used effectively it may create a strong government, which will be able to foster the growth of nation in economical, politically as well as the social aspect. It may have an impact upon all sectors when the ruling political party leader shows the commitment to undertake actions to achieve a set of objectives which bring the national development. Most of the African problem has been contributed by the lack of political will of African leader to solve the problem of the country. Corruption, land dispute, is among the problem which affects the economy of African countries. This happens due to the fact Low commitment of the African government in removing this problem. Each political party over the word has formed for the sake of having government control. Upon the wining of the general election, the winning political party obtains a prospect to carry out its manifesto.Obvious; the ruling political party uses various tools of laws, regulations and policy to incorporate its manifesto. However, some nations have its some national manifesto which has to be implemented or considered by any political part upon becoming the political ruling party. Still Political ruling party has a chance to implement it manifesto, policy and its objectives by incorporating it in the law and regulations and into various policies.With regard to this political will aspect, my paper mainstay is to look towards the political will of the government in relation to the deterioration of fair Land compensation. The aim of my paper to see whether the land compensation laws as an indicator of political will of the government it give rise to the fair compensation. My paper will contain a concept of political will. The Second part will cover the compensation law and the political will. The Third part will cover the background of compensation on the land law. Finals will cover conclusion and recommendations. Welcome and see my paper.

BECOMING ‘COSMO’: DISPLACEMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND DISGUISE IN ONGATA RONGAI

ABSTRACTOngata Rongai, a rapidly growing, ethnically heterogeneous community on Nairobi's urban periphery, has remained remarkably convivial in a country so frequently defined by conflicts over land and belonging. Bolstered by a distinct set of political logics and social practices, many of the site's multi-ethnic residents overtly reject the validity of ethnic violence and politics with reference to an explicitly articulated universalist inclusivity rarely seen in Kenya. Locally described as ‘being cosmo’, this distinct political rhetoric and emerging subjectivity has its roots in the mixed ethnic origins of its leaders, the history of land acquisition, and xenophobic persecution and displacements elsewhere in the country. More specifically, the evolution of this conviviality in the shadow of conflict has been driven by the interests of ‘half-caste’ political elites and increasingly established Kikuyu landowners. Together they draw on and reinforce a foundation myth of fair land transfers to promote peace and their own economic and electoral ambitions. The result is a vernacular and spatialized cosmopolitanism that fosters localized ethnic blindness. Its success depends on demonizing discourses of indigeneity while embracing ideas of ethnic homelands beyond the city. By acting as a foil to a growing literature on theethnicizationof land and space in Africa, this article demonstrates the need to understand spatially constructed subjectivities as responses to supra-local social and political practice.

Taking the longer view: Timescales, fairness and a forgotten story of irrigation in Australia

Summary This paper explores timescales, changing worldviews and the impact of water reform on irrigation communities in Australia whose water sharing arrangements have roots in an earlier era. Through the story of Australian irrigation it describes some subtle shifts and changes in worldviews that have influenced land and water governance reform over time. It shows how reforms can result in tangible adverse effects on communities if they overturn critical features of earlier resource sharing arrangements without consideration of unintended consequences. Where changing worldviews, reforms and the ability of communities to adapt are out of synchronisation then friction ensues, as was seen in the Murray–Darling Basin when proposed reforms have resulted in widespread disputes between reformers and irrigation communities. Failure to understand how perspectives over time have changed leads to a failure to deliver fairness in water governance reforms. If policymakers lose understanding of the rationale for earlier arrangements in land and water governance and introduce reforms that do not take these into account then adaptation to the reform and social acceptance is impeded. Seen in this way, time can be considered a competing element in fair land and water governance. Maintaining an understanding of how and why change takes place over time, and the rationale for key elements of governance developed in an earlier era, is critical for those wishing to overcome the challenges of implementation, deliver fairness, and gain community acceptance of reform.

Consultation in Large-Scale Land Acquisitions: An Evaluation of Three Cases in Mali

Summary Consultation is widely recognized as an important aspect of fair land deals; however, in terms of tangible instructions, this aspect remains unspecific. We develop a framework for consultation in the case of land acquisitions and analyze proposals for consultation contained in voluntary guidelines and private governance instruments as well as de jure and—by way of three case studies—de facto consultative processes in Mali. We acknowledge that consultations take place in complicated settings of power relations that determine the aims of consultation. In countries with serious background injustice, regulatory changes that alleviate these inequities are necessary before implementing land acquisitions.