Fragmented Land Ownership Research Articles

Policies and practices impacting the implementation of nature-based solutions: a comparative study of ponds and pondscapes in eight countries

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly suggested to address biodiversity decline and climate change. However, many ecosystems are hardly used as NBS, including ponds and pondscapes. We therefore examine how policies and practices affect their implementation as NBS. Using a content analysis of policy documents and stakeholder inputs, we assess the policy context in eight countries but also zoom in on policies and practices in seventeen pondscapes. We derive three key insights: first, a protective status for a pond or pondscape interlinks with other enabling factors for NBS implementation, and protection and conservation should therefore be considered more often as NBS. Second, there is a shortage of, especially long-term, financing. Third, local leadership should be nurtured to overcome a lack of institutional cooperation and stakeholder awareness as well as fragmented land ownership. Beyond that, we show that implementation barriers interlink and interventions should therefore address several barriers simultaneously.

Achieving sustainable development through agriculture-forestry-livestock nexus in Bangladesh: Synergies and trade-offs

CONTEXTIn the pursuit of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, integrating agriculture-forestry-livestock (AFL) systems has emerged as a potential tool in developing countries. Yet, the extent of synergies and trade-offs associated with each SDG and viable strategies to address these trade-offs and leverage the synergies lack clarity. OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study is to investigate the synergies and trade-offs associated with integrating AFL practices in Bangladesh toward achieving the 17 SDGs and suggest appropriate solutions to address the trade-offs. METHODSThis study employs an online survey based on the Delphi principles, ensuring unbiased opinions from a diverse set of experts with relevant expertise in the AFL nexus. The first survey round gathers insights on potential synergies and trade-offs, and the second round focuses on effective management strategies to address the challenges. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSFindings reveal that AFL integration holds potential for synergies across SDGs, especially for poverty eradication, zero hunger, life on land, and climate action. However, trade-offs develop due to a lack of technical expertise and managerial knowledge, limited access to financial resources, fragmented land ownership, insufficient market opportunities, existing gender inequities, child labor practices, and an overreliance on wood as a fuel source in Bangladesh. To address these challenges, this study recommends comprehensive strategies such as creating specialized agricultural credit facilities, introducing insurance schemes, promoting cooperative associations, resolving land ownership issues, improving market linkages, addressing child labor, promoting gender equality, and advocating for clean energy alternatives like biogas. These strategies are linked with several national agendas of Bangladesh and aim to minimize trade-offs and maximize the synergies of AFL integration for sustainable development. SIGNIFICANCEThis research contributes to the global discourse on sustainable development by shedding light on the potential of AFL systems in Bangladesh and offers insights for policymakers and stakeholders. The findings also provide guidance for other developing countries facing similar challenges while pursuing the SDGs.

A Stakeholder Network for Managing Multiple Forest Stressors and Roadside Forests

Roadside forests are susceptible to damage from storm events given their exposure and related vulnerability to impacts of multiple stressors. Challenges to management are further complicated in exurban landscapes, where roadside forests are interspersed among fragmented land ownership entities with diverse management objectives. Our objective was to evaluate forest management community information sharing about biophysical stressors affecting roadside vegetation for multiple forestland tract types in Connecticut. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (n = 39). Results from social network analysis illustrated network structure and interrelationship patterns among community members. Overall network cohesion was low. Core network positions were dominated by few stakeholders. Communication occurred among subgroups comprised of individuals representing several different stakeholder occupation groups. Low cohesion may be inherent of the fragmented exurban landscape with relations focused on shared objectives. Community longevity may depend upon maintaining core-position connections and a less-centralized network composed of individuals from various occupations.

Redeveloping the compact city: the challenges of strata collective sales

PurposeHigh-density development requires large land parcels, but fragmented land ownership can impede redevelopment. While earlier compact city development in Sydney occurred on large-scale brownfield sites, redeveloping and re-amalgamating older strata-titled properties is now integral to further densification. The purpose of this study is to examine collective sales activity in one Sydney suburb where multiple strata-titled redevelopments and re-amalgamations have been attempted. The authors explore how owners navigate the process of selling collectively, focusing on their experience of legislation introduced to facilitate this process, the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 [New South Wales (NSW)].Design/methodology/approachBy reviewing sales listings, development applications and media coverage, and interviewing owners, lawyers and estate agents, the authors map out collective sale activity in a case study area in Sydney’s northwest.FindingsStrata collective sales are slow and difficult to complete, even when planning and market drivers align. Owners find the Strata Scheme Development Act 2015 (NSW) difficult to navigate and it has not prevented strategic blocking attempts by competing developers. The long timelines required to organise collective sales can result in failure if the market shifts in the interim. Nonetheless, owners remain interested in selling collectively.Originality/valueThis case study is important for understanding the barriers to redevelopment to achieve a more compact city. It highlights lessons for other jurisdictions considering similar legislative changes. It also suggests that legislative change alone is insufficient to resolve the planning challenges created by hyper-fragmentation of land through strata-title development.

Closed-Loop Agricultural Production and Its Environmental Efficiency: A Case Study of Sheep Wool Production in Northwestern Kyrgyzstan

As a country with not only significant production potential but also fragmented land ownership, the Kyrgyz Republic struggles with environmental efficiency, which is a strategic element of environmental management in agricultural production. The objective of this study was to assess the environmental efficiency of sheep’s wool when used as a fertilizer in bean production in northern Kyrgyzstan. In this study, the efficiency indicator was taken to be GHG emissions per functional unit of product, using a proprietary methodology for calculating GHG emissions to determine the true value of this material as a source of soil nutrients and organic matter. Two experimental factors were used in the experiment: fertilizer type and fertilizer rate. Fertilization with sheep wool resulted in a 15% higher bean yield compared to when fertilized with mineral fertilizers at a comparable rate, converted to pure nitrogen. By using sheep wool as a source of mineral nutrients for the plants, the carbon footprint was reduced by almost 10% compared to a facility with mineral fertilization. Therefore, the use of sheep wool as a source of plant nutrients is environmentally justified.

Resolving land conflicts through Alternative Dispute Resolution: Exploring the motivations and challenges in Ghana

Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) is gaining increasing attention in scholarly and legal circles globally, due to the inherent weaknesses of the statutory court system. Recent studies have focused on ADR processes and their effectiveness over the formal court system. However, the motivations and challenges of using ADR systems by disputants seldom receive attention, particularly within the context of the rising incidences of land disputes in Africa. This study examines the motivations and challenges of using ADR by land litigants under the fragmented land ownership system in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Using a case study research design, the study found reluctance in the enforcement of resolved disputes, perceived discrimination against minority groups, biases in the process of appeal, and inadequate resources as challenges with ADR in the Region. Motivations for the use of ADR included relationship building, perception of fairness and justice, and relatively cheaper and quicker processes of adjudication. The study concludes that ADR committees have strong potential to deal with the rising incidence of land disputes, but their weaknesses must be addressed. ADR committees should work with Customary Land Secretariats (CLS) to educate the public on their functions and dispute resolution processes, in order to help reduce the perception of bias levelled against them.

Land consolidation through parcel exchange among landowners using a distributed Spark-based genetic algorithm

Land consolidation is an essential tool for public administrations to reduce the fragmentation of land ownership. In particular, parcel exchange shows promising potential for restructuring parcel holdings, even more when the number of parcels and owners involved is large. Unfortunately, the number of possible exchange combinations grows very quickly with the number of participating landowners and parcels, with the associated challenge of finding an acceptable solution. In this paper, we present a high-performance solution for parcel exchange based on genetic algorithms. Our proposal, using Apache Spark framework, is based on the exploiting of distributed-memory systems with effortless access in order to reduce the execution time. This also allows increasing the search width through multiple populations that share their advances. This can be achieved without compromising the search depth thanks to the higher amount of resources available from using distributed-memory systems. Our proposal is capable of achieving better solutions in lower amounts of time compared to previous works, showing that genetic algorithms on a high performance system can be used to propose fair parcel exchanges under strict time constraints, even in complex scenarios. The performance achieved allows for fast trial of several options, reducing the time usually needed to perform administrative procedures associated with land fragmentation problems. Specifically, our proposal is capable of combining the benefits of both depth-focused and width-focused multithreaded parallelization. It matches the speedup gains of depth-focused multithreaded parallelization. The width-focused parallelization provides local minimum resilience and fitness value reduction potential. In this paper, multithreading solutions and Spark-based solutions are tested.

Rural Land Concentration & Protected Areas: Recent Trends from Montana and Greater Yellowstone

Where agricultural land use and biodiversity conservation values overlap, conservation science has tended to focus on the challenges posed by land ownership fragmentation. However, the dynamics of land concentration also affect rural landscapes and economies upon which biodiversity conservation increasingly depends. In this study, we provide a methodological approach to measuring concentration using parcel-level data to generate a description of private landownership trends at the boundary of the Northern Rockies and the Northern Great Plains, two ecoregions of global conservation significance. Across our 25m-acre study region in Montana, USA concentration in large land ownership increased by 7 percent between 2005 and 2018. Growth of a county’s largest landholding through the agglomeration of properties into a single mega-estate emerges as a recurring trend. Other drivers contribute to concentration, suggesting a mix of conservation opportunities and challenges that merits further research and consideration by academic and resource management stakeholders.

Correcting market failure? Stalled regeneration and the state subsidy gap

This paper develops the neologism state subsidy gap to underscore the necessity of state intervention in the formation and potential closure of rent gaps. The state subsidy gap is the economic gap that must be bridged by the state to make a currently unviable urban investment scenario potentially profitable for private developers. The pertinence of this conception is particularly apparent in old industrial, relatively impoverished cities where global capital is less likely to dump its surpluses with secure expectation of profitable returns. The issue is exacerbated in economically risky neighbourhoods encompassing fragmented land ownership, poor infrastructure and large-scale areas of urban devalorisation. Such conditions necessitate substantial derisking public intervention if ‘market failure’ is to be addressed—yet success is never guaranteed and is far from universal. It is argued that much closer attention to the stalling, interruption or failure of urban regeneration projects is imperative given the extent of public expenditure and the limited social outcomes arising from attempts to correct market failure. Here, the concept of the state subsidy gap shows its value, shedding light on unjust social outcomes, exposing capitalism’s inherent vulnerabilities, and illustrating the dependence of private capital on public interventions for its reproduction.

Stakeholders’ interactions in managing water resources conflicts: a case of Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Abstract Recent years have seen unprecedented pressure from numerous water stakeholders with different interests in Lake Naivasha basin, the only freshwater lake in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya. The pressure on this water resource results in high competition over access to water source, unsustainable resources management practices, poor water quality, and emergence of conflicts between institutions and its users. Presently, there is a knowledge gap and paucity of information on water resources stakeholders’ interactions in Lake Naivasha basin. This study, therefore, analyses the ways resource stakeholders interact and play in the conflict dynamic, and ultimately propose a better water resource use and management approaches. Drawing on field assessments, individual interviews, focus group discussion, and secondary literature reviews, this paper illustrates how both local, national and multi-national stakeholders interact and contribute to water resources conflicts. Results suggest unclear county and national institutional structures, fragmented land use activities and ownership, a feeling of marginalization by the local population contributing to resource-based conflict within the lake basin. A comprehensive policy framework and enforcement of existing regulations will ensure there is sustainable water access, reduce conflicts and enhance sustainable water resource governance and use of the lake.

Are result-based schemes a superior approach to the conservation of High Nature Value grasslands? Evidence from Slovenia

In this study, we explored the potential of the payment-by-results approach in supporting the maintenance of High Nature Value (HNV) grasslands in a typical HNV farming system and Natura 2000 site in Slovenia (Europe) with a high share of small farms, fragmented land ownership and long-term process of land abandonment. We tested the applicability of a hypothetical result-based scheme (RBS) for the conservation of dry grasslands and a set of associated plant indicators, and identified key obstacles to its implementation. Based on a statistical analysis of a survey with 263 farmers and a thematic data analysis of 62 farmer interviews and 10 in-depth interviews and focus groups with researchers, public officials and agricultural advisors, we found that a majority of both farmers and experts support the introduction of RBSs. The selected plant indicators were well-known among the local farmers and monitoring of their presence was preferred over the current system, which demands keeping records on the implementation of farming practices. However, although the RBSs seem to be a superior alternative to the current management-based schemes, their introduction might not be enough to ensure HNV farming systems’ successful conservation. Our results indicate a lack of institutional capacity to implement RBSs on a larger scale, particularly in terms of data support and qualified staff in the advisory service and monitoring agencies. Furthermore, experience to date and mistrust among stakeholders indicate a questionable ability and motivation of authorities to develop locally-based, flexible and innovative agri-environmental measures. RBSs alone also do not adequately address some of the root causes for the disappearance of HNV grasslands, particularly: the lack of knowledge regarding the appropriate modern farming system(s) to ensure their sustainable management in line with conservation goals; specific needs of small farmers; and the need for a socially acceptable land policy reform to enable easier access to land. We argue that systematic investment in closing the existing data and research gaps as well as in increasing the capacity of key institutions at the national and local levels are needed, particularly in European regions of high conservation priority. Furthermore, better integration of nature conservation in different rural policies and a holistic developmental approach in (remote) rural areas are necessary to prevent further abandonment of HNV farming and enable the adoption of biodiversity-friendly farming models.

Reconnecting waterfronts and central neighbourhoods: the lessons to be learned from user behaviour for the redesign of public spaces

ABSTRACT Waterfront redevelopment is one of the main categories of urban project in major cities since the 1980s. However, waterfronts are faced with issues of fragmented land ownership and a lack of integration with other central neighbourhoods. Using Montreal’s waterfront as a case study, this paper shows how the governance framework of urban design may undermine their integration. The observation of user behaviour within public spaces offers a new perspective for the redesign of these links between neighbourhoods, and seeks to contribute to a vision of waterfront precincts beyond the limits imposed by administrative constraints.

Entrepreneurship the mediating role of finance and entrepreneurial education for small farmers in developing countries: evidence from India

PurposeThis paper investigates the mediating role of access to finance and entrepreneurial education for small and marginal farmers (SMFs) in the Indian northern state of Punjab. Furthermore, it examines the inter-mediatory role of entrepreneurs and the access to finance in the promotion of innovation, development and consequently poverty alleviation.Design/methodology/approachTo gain a deeper insight, we used a purposive sampling technique, involving in-depth, face-to-face interviews based on a semi-structured questionnaire amongst 185 farmers from the state of the Punjab in India. The combination of open ended and dichotomous questions amenable to the Likert scale, captured responses and the transcribed questionnaires were thematically analysed.FindingsUsing the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative responses, we explain the cause and consequences of the finance gap and the impact of poverty on household income and the debt levels of SMFs. The findings suggest that the expanding pool of SMFs is due to land ownership fragmentation that disenfranchises SMFs from accessing adequate finance thus limiting their ability to adapt to technological innovations, and therefore limiting their productivity and growth. This essentially limits their ability to transform their economic and social wellbeing. The findings from the data analysis suggest a lack of access to finance negatively impacts on SMFs' ability to use innovative practices, technologies and productivity. This adversely affects income level, access to education and social goods to propel them out of poverty. The findings advocate that government policy should focus on land reforms, which provide adequate access to finance to enable the adaption of technology and an access to markets to empower marginal farmers.Research limitations/implicationsLand fragmentation resulting with population growth in emerging economies continuously expands SMFs. To improve efficiency, productivity and entrepreneurial traits amongst SMFs, it is a pre-requisite to have an agile economy. However, in emerging economies such as India, the responses of 185 farmers suggest, a bespoke policy to promote the interest of SMFs through enabling them access to finance, technologies, training and education, continues to prove elusive. This novel empirical research provides evidence that demands that policymakers, commercial institutions and donors need to respond to the needs of SMFs to ensure food security and an optimal utilisation of farmland. The limitation of this research is that the sample is from one country, which limits its generalisation. The findings of this study could be enhanced by conducting comparative studies in other regions or economies.Originality/valueThis empirical study examined the barriers to enterprise for SMFs in the Indian Punjab; it examined the causes and consequences and the implications for food security for India. The findings of this study highlight the importance of developing the entrepreneurial capabilities of SMFs through effective education, training and above all through an adequate access to finance to enable them to adapt their technology. Furthermore, the findings make a case as to why SMFs are an integral part of the food chain and why it is necessary to enhance their efficiency, productivity and their access to finance.

Patchy landscapes support more plant diversity and ecosystem services than wood grasslands in Mediterranean silvopastoral agroforestry systems

Plant diversity and proxy indicators of ecosystem services were assessed for three structural components of Mediterranean silvopastoral agroforestry systems: WL = cork oak woodlands, WG = cork oak wood grasslands, and OG = open grasslands. Our study was conducted in a long-term observatory located in NE Sardinia, characterized by fragmented land ownership and land use, which generates a patchy landscape that is different from the extensively studied large scale Iberian dehesas and montados. Our research question was focused on assessing whether, a “patchy” land use scenario made of the combination of WL, WG and OG or a “specialized” scenario could provide more plant diversity and ecosystem services than a “dehesa type” scenario including only WG under the same overall tree cover. The results showed that γ and β diversity, species unique to a position, C stock, cork and acorn production, Hemicryptophytes cover, nectariferous species cover, decreased and pastoral value, excellent and good forage species and legume cover, increased along the WL➔WG➔OG land use gradient. Isolated trees in WG and clearings in WL highly contributed to achieving mainly high C stock and plant diversity respectively. The results also showed that the “specialized” scenario can support higher biodiversity and better ecosystem services than the “dehesa type” scenario, but the “patchy” scenario made of all three components proved to support the highest level of both biodiversity and ecosystem services in Mediterranean silvopastoral agroforestry systems.

Fragmentation of land ownership in Slovakia: Evolution, context, analysis and possible solutions

Land ownership fragmentation is currently a very topical issue in Slovakia. In particular, small farmers complain that even 30 years after the end of the previous (“real socialist”) regime, there has been no significant change in the structure of agricultural land use. The subject of the article is not the land fragmentation in terms of use. In Slovakia, the problem is rather the opposite. This contribution deals with fragmentation of ownership that is mostly invisible in the landscape. Usage still dominates over the ownership and the real landowner cannot get his or her own property in a simple way. The reason for this is huge fragmentation of land ownership, which makes it virtually impossible to actually claim it. Well known solution is the land consolidation that does not advance at a rate that would guarantee the rights (and obligations) of all owners in the foreseeable future in Slovakia. Neglecting the land fragmentation by authorities leads to tense situations between landowners and land tenants and also co-causes a stagnation of rural development and issues with landscape protection. The paper describes the specific state of land ownership in Slovakia and attempts to explain this complicated situation on a sample of 50 historical and modern ownership documents. This contribution has the ambition to specify the largely yet unresolved problems that arise from the current state of massive fragmentation of land ownership. The aim of the paper is also to fill in the information gap on the topic, not only in the national context.

Optimizing parcel exchange among landowners: A soft alternative to land consolidation

For decades, public policy has favored the use of land consolidation to reduce the fragmentation of land ownership. Private actors, on the other hand, have focused on the purchase, rental and exchange of land plots. Plot exchange can be very useful in the restructuring of holdings, particularly when a large number of owners participate; however, the number of possible exchange combinations grows very quickly with the number of participating landowners and parcels. Finding an acceptable exchange solution can easily become challenging. In this paper we evaluate the practical use of a support system for land exchange processes. The system is based on the use of genetic algorithms, a particular kind of heuristics that loosely replicate the rules of evolution and natural selection. We assess the influence of the geometric distribution of parcels in the quality of the solution, as well as usefulness and performance of the system, via parallelization techniques. The proposed algorithm (GA-PE, Genetic Algorithm for Parcel Exchange) is tested with regards to several parameters, from several alternatives for certain steps of the algorithm to the resource distribution for the parallelizations implemented. We tested the algorithm in 6 different real and representative test cases, and provide results with different metrics. With the positive results obtained, we argue that land exchange is a process worth considering for private actors, and that genetic algorithms can be used to propose fair exchanges, even in complex scenarios, shortening in a meaningful way the time usually required to perform administrative procedures associated to land fragmentation problems.

Parcel amalgamation as a mechanism for achieving urban consolidation through densification: The fixity of property boundaries over time

One of the key challenges to urban consolidation is the fixity of property boundaries, particularly in cities containing an abundance of small, individually owned parcels. In Australia, although all major cities have statutory planning instruments aimed at urban consolidation, to constrict development to the existing urban footprint, property amalgamation of small parcels is often the critical bulwark to higher density development. This study aims to understand land parcel amalgamation as part of a broader property boundary change process underpinned by policy interventions explicitly encouraging consolidation through densification. Findings indicate that although amalgamation of parcels is the most common form of property boundary change resulting in apartment buildings, most apartment buildings are constructed on brownfield land, and that land use rezoning to higher density does not guarantee redevelopment outcomes. This study demonstrates that most decisions about urban form are made by private developers, and while planning instruments may encourage individual developers to seek benefit by altering property boundaries for redevelopment, fragmented land ownership and difficulty of land acquisition are barriers to achieving the coordinated, diverse and high amenity redevelopments envisioned in statutory planning schemes. Direct state involvement, at a parcel-scale, is required to overcome the constraints of property boundaries and achieve the purported planning benefits of consolidation-oriented statutory policy.

Pathways to sustainable low-carbon transitions in an auto-dependent Canadian city

Can growth-oriented resource-intensive cities be redesigned as non-consumptive sustainable places in a climate constrained world? This research tests that proposition through a design exploration of the transformation of a 500-ha inner city industrial district in Calgary, Canada, to a sustainable low-carbon city district. The research is formulated with respect to three theoretical axis—theories of urbanism, complexity and transitions; three spatial moments of the production process—production, reproduction and consumption and three temporal moments of the production process—manufacture, use, and post-use. The spatial and temporal moments leverage models of, industrial ecology and circular economy, sustainable cities and derivatives including smart, post-carbon and eco-cities. We employ a participatory design and backcasting methodology informed by theories of path dependence/creation. We establish a set of performance criteria, conduct three rounds of participatory design explorations and follow a strategy of scale-up of existing technology, engineering and design precedents. We identify a set of eight barriers and associated mitigation strategies. These include the stigma of living adjacent to, and the cost to rehabilitate, industrial lands; spatial and cultural auto-dependence; fragmentation of land ownership; infrastructure financing; regional connectivity and path dependence of the planning process. We propose that in order to achieve socially, ecologically and economically sustainable low-carbon cities attention needs to be addressed to culturally transformative alternatives to automobility, new forms of cooperative and localized economy, provision of non-market modes of land development and democratic and regulatory reform. To conclude we reformulate our conceptual framework within three nested domains—socio-technical, econo-political and cultural–cosmological.

The Contemporary Agrarian Change in Rice Production Village in Klaten Regency, Central Java

Rural Java areas underwent significant changes during the last 20 years due to increasing education and health level and improving transportation and communication infrastructure, but researches on agricultural transformation, especially rice farming in Java, was limited. This study aimed at understanding the structure of land ownership and tenure, and the changing of land tenure institutional system in wetland farming, in its relation to the contemporary demographic change in the Javanese rural areas. The research was conducted in Kauman Village, Klaten Regency, Central Java. There were 307 farmer households in the village. The samples of 52 farmer households were taken randomly. Data collection used questionnaires and in-depth interviews with 52 respondents and 6 key informants. The analysis was carried out by comparing the data before the green revolution and 2016 data. The results of the study were as follows. Firstly, the number of landless farmers was very large (60 percent). Despite the green revolution, the proportion of this group had been already high before the green revolution program was intensified. Secondly, the level of land ownership disparity was moderate and tended toward equity due to the continuity of land ownership fragmentation through land inheritance processes, and no land ownership concentration occurred on the basis of agricultural land purchase. Thirdly, the level of inequality of land tenure was moderate and even close to low, and tended toward equity as the number of land tenants was much greater than the land owners. Fourthly, the bargaining position of the land tenants tended to be stronger than the land owners due to the declining attraction of agricultural work as a source of employment.

The positive impacts of farm land fragmentation in Rwanda

Land fragmentation and land consolidation are two interrelated concepts of land management. The dominant discourse is that fragmented land ownership and land use tend to be ineffective and unwanted, and land consolidation is then a solution to this quandary. Not surprisingly, in countries such as Rwanda, the majority of the governmental strategies highlight the negative effects of fragmentation. However, the effects of land fragmentation have been dual. Its positive side has often been overlooked by policy makers and the research community. Therefore, this study investigates to which degree one can benefit from farmland fragmentation, especially in the context of food security at the household level and of climate change vulnerability. The goal of this article is to expand the current land fragmentation discourse and describe in which context specific types of land fragmentation may be just as sustainable as opting for land consolidation. The guiding hypothesis hereby is that there is a high level of fragmented land ownership yet, that physical (location, use, internal, shape and value) fragmentation acts as a risk management strategy which positively impacts the nutritional balance for food quality and food sustainability as components of food security.Conceptually, land fragmentation can be seen from multiple lenses. It can be seen as a land use concept (emphasizing variation in manner of agricultural production, variety of crops, frequency of harvesting, etc.). It can also be seen as a geodetic concept (emphasizing variation in shape and size of parcels on the one hand, and variation in land ownership on the other hand). Additionally, it can be seen as a spatial planning and intervention concept (emphasizing the urgency and need for order, structure and alignment of space). In our article we look at fragmentation (and the variation thereof) in all three ways. If within an area, the utilization, ownership, leasehold, shape, size and location of parcels and spatial policies vary more than average (as compared to a similar area), then we consider it a fragmented landscape. Once we find a case of such a landscape, then we are able to investigate why and/or under which conditions (and by which drivers) this ‘fragmented’ landscape has emerged and what are the implications. This is the main question under investigation in this research.The research relies on a mixed methods research approach via household surveys with 98 random respondents in Gashora sector, Bugesera District, Eastern province of Rwanda. The data collection included further 7 key informants’ interviews, a focus group discussion, field observations of current plot sizes and land uses, and the review of the existing literature on the topic.The findings indicate that a high level of fragmentation exists, both in terms of land ownership (visible and hidden) and physical landscape. The dominant reasons are that land users perceive this as an effective risks management strategy which would positively affect food quality, food sustainability and food security. Multiple land holdings with different shapes in different locations allow farmers to grow multiple crops with different adaptation capacities in different growing conditions (soil type, slope, microclimate variations, etc.). Furthermore, fragmentation seems to help reduce land ownership and use related conflicts despite its negative impacts on agriculture production efficiency, especially the loss of land through boundaries and the increase in boundaries related conflicts.Unlike previous studies on land fragmentation, we posit that environmental and agricultural policies should take both negative and positive impacts of land fragmentation into account equally as sustainable and resilient solutions, given the right circumstances and contexts, especially for vulnerable and food insecure areas in Rwanda.