Land Settlement Schemes Research Articles

The Future of Oil Palm Smallholders Toward Greater Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) has been widely used in various products, namely, food, fuel, feed, and pharmaceuticals (4Fs), ultimately cementing the significant roles of the palm oil sector in Malaysia’s economic growth, extensive rural development, political stability, and now directly in sustainable development agenda. In the context of the palm oil sector, smallholders significantly contribute to almost 30% of the total oil palm planted areas in Malaysia. However, the participation of oil palm independent smallholders (OPISH) has remained limited and far behind compared to private business entities in achieving greater sustainability. Due to the unforeseeable global trends and rising public concern over this sector’s sustainability issues, smallholders are now urged to produce certified sustainable palm oil. These issues have motivated this systematic literature review to be undertaken by critically analysing existing studies on sustainability efforts implemented by the smallholders according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. As per the findings of this systematic review, four main themes emerged: land settlement schemes, agricultural policy and strategies, heterogeneity of the smallholders, and sustainability certifications. The theoretical implication of this study is that these crucial themes are highly relevant in providing a foundation for a conceptual framework that portrays a complete picture of holistic sustainability practices amongst OPISH. Concerning practical implication, these identified themes provide significant insights in designing effective strategies and specific incentives as the palatable solutions for OPISH to implement sustainability practices that will transform the palm oil sector towards a sustainable future.

Envisioning Greek Refugees as ‘Farmers for Australia’: Christy Freeleagus, Land Settlement and Immigration Restriction in White Australia

In the early 1920s the Greek Consul General in Queensland, Christy Freeleagus, attempted to persuade Australian politicians, diplomats and immigration officials to grant assisted passage and allotments of land to Greek refugees. Making representations in the United Kingdom and Australia, Freeleagus claimed that Greek refugees, who were displaced due to an imposed transfer of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923, would make ideal agricultural settlers. While Freeleagus’ representations for a Greek land settlement scheme were ultimately unsuccessful, his advocacy reveals how Australia’s preference for British immigration overshadowed any likelihood that displaced Greeks could be humanitarianly assisted to immigrate and resettle in Australia as farmers. By focusing on Freeleagus’ advocacy and the refusal of Australian immigration officials to assist displaced Greeks, this article ties Australian history to studies on Greek-Turkish population exchange. It also reveals how the interwar dynamics of land settlement and immigration restriction in White Australia were interlinked.

Highland Agency and Land Settlement Schemes

Highland Agency and Land Settlement Schemes

The Social Consequences of Legal Principles: Investigating the Origins of Squatting in Sri Lanka’s Land Settlement Schemes

This research tries to understand the reasons for the continuing presence of squatters in Sri Lanka’s state-sponsored land settlement schemes. A preliminary review of the literature pertaining to this area suggests that the legal and regulatory framework in these settlements may be the cause that trigger the necessary social preconditions required for squatter settlements to come into existence. In trying to test this hypothesis found in the literature, the present paper undertakes a qualitative historical analysis into a sample village where squatter settlements are most profoundly observed. Data is collected from three main sources: interviews conducted with key informants in the sample village, focus group discussions conducted with a mixed group of stakeholders as identified through key informants and, an exhaustive analysis of legal documents concerning land ownership and distribution as well as population-related statistics, land utilization patterns and village infrastructure. The analysis of the data proves the hypothesis as accurate by revealing that the central reason for the existence of squatters in the sample village is the legal restriction pertaining to minimum subdivisions by virtue of the Land Development Ordinance (1935) among other statutory provisions. This restriction prohibits owners from apportioning title to their land; they may only transfer title subject to the condition that such a transfer will not divide or otherwise fraction the property. Such restrictions serve to create a ‘social space’ where a number of second and third generation settlers are effectively left without a lawful claim to land, with encroaching on their siblings’ property or government property becoming the only available recourse.

An attempt at implementing a holistic inclusive development model: Insights from Malaysia's land settlement scheme

AbstractThis paper examines the influences of Malaysia's Federation Land Development Authority (FELDA) scheme in fostering inclusive rural development. Based on the model of holistic inclusive development, the paper investigates the performance of FELDA from four perspectives: social development, industrialisation, modernisation and basic needs. The main findings of the study indicate that, to a large extent, the scheme has successfully stimulated both the social and economic development of the community. Nonetheless, establishing a strong trust, social cohesion and rapport between the public authorities and community remain the main challenges in determining the success of this state‐led agenda. Moreover, keeping traditional values in the modern system will be the key principle for the sustainability of the programme if plans are made to adopt the scheme in other regions.

Have tropical deforestation's changing dynamics created conservation opportunities? A historical analysis

SUMMARYDuring the past century, humans converted extensive areas of tropical forest into cultivated lands. Three distinct processes, each predominant during a different historical period, have driven the destruction of the forests. This review describes each of these deforestation dynamics: natural resource degrading poverty traps that predominated during the colonial era, new land settlement schemes that prevailed for two decades after decolonization, and finally, financialized, large enterprise dynamics that have predominated during the past quarter century. Each dynamic has, over time, given rise to different opportunities for conservation. Peasants emigrated from the sites of the poverty traps, and regrowth began to cover these degraded landscapes. Smallholders in the new land settlement areas became better acquainted with tropical tree species and allowed some trees to recolonize their fields, creating silvopastoral and agroforested landscapes. The heads of large enterprises relied on credit to clear land, so government regulators found that they could curb corporate-led deforestation by restricting access to credit when landowners failed to comply with laws against forest clearing. These links between deforestation's dynamics during past eras and conservation policies during the present era illustrate how a historical understanding of tropical deforestation can provide the basis for effective conservation policies.

The Settler Enclaves of Southern Africa and the African Peripheral Areas (Reserves): The Case of the Ghanzi and Tati White Farming Districts of Botswana, 1898–1970

This paper examines the origins and consolidation of agricultural enterprise in the white farming areas of Ghanzi and the Tati in Botswana. It argues that similarly to the white settler colonies in Africa, namely Kenya, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the success of white settler agriculture depended on state support at the expense and neglect of African farming in peripheral areas and the country in general. The paper shows how through credit, favourable and racially biased land sales, collusion with white farmers, and the provision of infrastructural developments and extension services, the state propped up white farmers' agriculture in the two areas. This paper also demonstrates the plight of Africans in the African reserves adjacent to the farms and African tenants and the so-called ‘squatters’ in the farms because of the numerous dues imposed on them by farm-owners. The article reveals that the Ghanzi Land Settlement Scheme, whose aim was to assist emergent white farmers, had many features similar to the assistance provided to early white settler farmers in Southern Rhodesia. This, together with other similar aspects in the settler enclaves of the two countries necessitated the adoption of a comparative approach.

The national determinants of deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa

For decades, the dynamics of tropical deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have defied easy explanation. The rates of deforestation have been lower than elsewhere in the tropics, and the driving forces evident in other places, government new land settlement schemes and industrialized agriculture, have largely been absent in SSA. The context and causes for African deforestation become clearer through an analysis of new, national-level data on forest cover change for SSA countries for the 2000–2005 period. The recent dynamic in SSA varies from dry to wet biomes. Deforestation occurred at faster rates in nations with predominantly dry forests. The wetter Congo basin countries had lower rates of deforestation, in part because tax receipts from oil and mineral industries in this region spurred rural to urban migration, declines in agriculture and increased imports of cereals from abroad. In this respect, the Congo basin countries may be experiencing an oil and mineral fuelled forest transition. Small farmers play a more important role in African deforestation than they do in southeast Asia and Latin America, in part because small-scale agriculture remains one of the few livelihoods open to rural peoples.

Relational Economies, Social Embeddedness and Valuing Labour in Agrarian Change: An Example from the Developing World

AbstractA relatively neglected area of research on agrarian and economic change is the role of indigenous concepts of labour value in the transition from subsistence to market production. In West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, the presence of a migrant population on an oil palm land settlement scheme (LSS) in close proximity to village‐based oil palm growers, provided an opportunity to examine changing notions of labour value through the lens of smallholder productivity. Voluntary settlers on the LSS are experiencing population pressure and are highly dependent on oil palm for their livelihoods. In contrast, customary landowners in village settings produce oil palm in a situation of relative land abundance. By examining differences in how these two groups practise and value commodity production, the paper makes four key points. First, concepts of labour value are not static and involve struggles over how labour value is defined. Second, the transition to market‐based notions of labour value can undermine labour's social value with a consequent weakening of social relationships within and between families. Third, Theories of Value developed in western contexts and used to frame development policies and projects in the developing world are often inappropriate and even harmful to the welfare of communities that have different registers of value. Fourth, in response to Point 3, and following Rigg (2007), there is a need for ‘theorising upwards’ using empirical data from the developing world to inform theory rather than applying to the developing world models of sociality and economy developed in western contexts.

Integration of mid-infrared spectroscopy and geostatistics in the assessment of soil spatial variability at landscape level

Knowledge of soil spatial variability is important in natural resource management, interpolation and soil sampling design, but requires a considerable amount of geo-referenced data. In this study, mid-infrared spectroscopy in combination with spatial analyses tools is being proposed to facilitate landscape evaluation and monitoring. Mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) and geostatistics were integrated for evaluating soil spatial structures of three land settlement schemes in Zimbabwe (i.e. communal area, old resettlement and new resettlement; on loamy-sand, sandy-loam and clay soils, respectively). A nested non-aligned design with hierarchical grids of 750, 150 and 30 m resulted in 432 sampling points across all three villages (730–1360 ha). At each point, a composite topsoil sample was taken and analyzed by MIRS. Conventional laboratory analyses on 25–38% of the samples were used for the prediction of concentration values on the remaining samples through the application of MIRS–partial least squares regression models. These models were successful ( R 2 ≥ 0.89) for sand, clay, pH, total C and N, exchangeable Ca, Mg and effective CEC; but not for silt, available P and exchangeable K and Al ( R 2 ≤ 0.82). Minimum sample sizes required to accurately estimate the mean of each soil property in each village were calculated. With regard to locations, fewer samples were needed in the new resettlement area than in the other two areas (e.g. 66 versus 133–473 samples for estimating soil C at 10% error, respectively); regarding parameters, less samples were needed for estimating pH and sand (i.e. 3–52 versus 27–504 samples for the remaining properties, at same error margin). Spatial analyses of soil properties in each village were assessed by constructing standardized isotropic semivariograms, which were usually well described by spherical models. Spatial autocorrelation of most variables was displayed over ranges of 250–695 m. Nugget-to-sill ratios showed that, in general, spatial dependence of soil properties was: new resettlement > old resettlement > communal area; which was potentially attributed to both intrinsic (e.g. texture) and extrinsic (e.g. management) factors. As a new approach, geostatistical analysis was performed using MIRS data directly, after principal component analyses, where the first three components explained 70% of the overall variability. Semivariograms based on these components showed that spatial dependence per village was similar to overall dependence identified from individual soil properties in each area. In fact, the first component (explaining 49% of variation) related well with all soil properties of reference samples (absolute correlation values of 0.55–0.96). This showed that MIRS data could be directly linked to geostatistics for a broad and quick evaluation of soil spatial variability. It is concluded that integrating MIRS with geostatistical analyses is a cost-effective promising approach, i.e. for soil fertility and carbon sequestration assessments, mapping and monitoring at landscape level.

Land Tenure and Productivity: Farm-Level Evidence from Papua New Guinea

Does land tenure form affect farm-level productivity? The answer, from farm-level data for an oil palm project in Papua New Guinea, is in the affirmative. Analysis of farm-level output, controlling for all measured inputs, shows systematic differences in productivity across three land tenure types, namely, farms under customary purchase agreements, those under the land settlement scheme, and those under village-owned land schemes. The empirics suggest that the higher productivity is due to benefits from economies of scale and absence of income sharing enjoyed by farms with improved tenure security.

Comparação de indicadores de desempenho de produtores de leite localizados dentro e fora de assentamentos de reforma agrária no Triângulo Mineiro

Na discussão sobre uma reforma agrária no Brasil, um ponto central é a competitividade dos assentamentos. Por isso, este estudo comparativo entre produtores leiteiros localizados dentro e fora dos assentamentos de reforma agrária busca ampliar a compreensão do potencial econômico e técnico dos assentados. A pesquisa perfaz 81 entrevistas: com 39 produtores de leite do assentamento "Rio das Pedras", no Triângulo Mineiro, com 42 produtores de leite fora do assentamento - nos municípios limítrofes de Uberlândia e Monte Alegre (MG). A pesquisa de campo foi feita entre abril e o início de junho de 2006, mas os dados se referem à produção, aos custos e à renda obtida no mês de março do mesmo ano. Foi recorrido a vários indicadores de desempenho econômico e técnico na produção de leite, como a margem bruta que corresponde à diferença entre receita e custo operacional. Os dados revelaram que a diferença entre as margens brutas médias por litro de leite dos produtores fora e dentro do assentamento é significativa, e a margem bruta média por litro de leite é maior para os produtores de fora do assentamento. A diferença nas margens brutas médias por litro de leite entre os produtores fora e dentro do assentamento resulta do preço por litro leite mais elevado obtido pelos grandes produtores de fora do assentamento. As maiores margens brutas totais foram encontradas entre produtores que produziram de 500 a 999 litros. As maiores margens brutas por litro de leite foram obtidas por médios ou pequenos produtores, inclusive assentados. Em ambos os grupos pesquisados, houve uma grande variação no desempenho. O conjunto dos indicadores de desempenho utilizados não aponta uma superioridade absoluta dos produtores de leite do entorno sobre os assentados. Produtores com desempenho fraco foram encontrados entre grandes e pequenos, independentemente de localização. Com esses resultados, recomenda-se a identificação e a implementação de ações para elevar o preço do litro de leite para os pequenos produtores da região. Este estudo revelou, também, a necessidade de reavaliar a intensidade ótima no uso de insumos adquiridos e de difundir as melhores práticas de produção entre produtores com dotações de recursos similares.

On the Overland Trail: Sheet Music, Masculinity and Travelling ‘Country’

On the Overland Trail: Sheet Music, Masculinity and Travelling ‘Country’

Making a living: Land pressures and changing livelihood strategies among oil palm settlers in Papua New Guinea

Since the establishment of oil palm land settlement schemes (LSSs) in West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, the settler population has increased significantly as second-generation settlers marry and raise families on their parents’ blocks. We explore how settlers are responding to demographic and socio-economic change in an environment in which opportunities for land-use change are limited. In the context of rising population pressure, LSS smallholders are developing innovative livelihood strategies by pursuing non-farm income sources, increasing food production, acquiring additional land and migration. The type of migration or land accumulation strategy depends on household access to various resources, especially social and kinship networks, and capital. Agricultural extension and rural development policies have not yet responded to this socio-agronomic transformation. We conclude that economic diversification amongst smallholders creates new opportunities for the oil palm industry to formulate more innovative and sustainable policies that strengthen the oil palm industry in PNG while facilitating broad-based rural development.

The Welsh Patagonian Connection: A Neglected Chapter in Australian Immigration History

This article is an account of the history of Welsh migrants to Patagonia from 1865 to 1914, their motivations for emigrating, their experiences in Argentina, and the subsequent relocation of several hundred to the British dominions in the early twentieth century.The focus in the first part of the article is on the nature of those who went from Patagonia to Australia between 1910 and 1915 and the migration of a group of Australians to Paraguay in the 1890s. The second half of the article examines the experiences of the Welsh Patagonians in Australia, their relationships with federal and state governments in the light of the intense rivalry to procure them as settlers, and their involvement in two New South Wales Royal Commissions concerning the operations of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.The article concludes with a discussion on the degree to which a Welsh cultural heritage and identity has been preserved by these settlers in an assimilationist post‐Federation Australia. Not only is this a unique double migration experience, but it calls into question immigration encouragement policies and official advertising material during this period, a history which parallels other land settlement schemes of both the pre‐ and post‐war eras in Australia.

From Soldier to Peasant? The Land Settlement Scheme in East Sussex, 1919—1939

The English rural myth suggested that being close to the rhythms of nature, as opposed to being immersed in the irritations and pollution of city life, would create a settled, healthy, content, and loyal population. By the inter-war period the rural myth depicted an appealing image of self-sufficient, independent peasants living an uncomplicated lifestyle based on agricultural pursuits. In the aftermath of the First World War this picture of a golden countryside was popular and admired by social reformers, members of the government, and the general public. The coalition government incorporated this myth into its post-war social legislation and created in 1919 a land settlement scheme for newly demobilized soldiers aimed at establishing a new base of smallholding agricultural workers to populate the countryside. The myth may have been appealing, but it turned out to be economically not self-sustaining and politically it got little more than lip service. A myth cannot be attained through mere legislation. This article examines the land settlement scheme in East Sussex during the inter-war period and argues that even in an area seemingly well-suited to such a program, the scheme was neither practical nor successful in its attempt to put the myth into practice.

From Soldier to Peasant? The Land Settlement Scheme in East Sussex, 1919—1939

The English rural myth suggested that being close to the rhythms of nature, as opposed to being immersed in the irritations and pollution of city life, would create a settled, healthy, content, and loyal population. By the inter-war period the rural myth depicted an appealing image of self-sufficient, independent peasants living an uncomplicated lifestyle based on agricultural pursuits. In the aftermath of the First World War this picture of a golden countryside was popular and admired by social reformers, members of the government, and the general public. The coalition government incorporated this myth into its post-war social legislation and created in 1919 a land settlement scheme for newly demobilized soldiers aimed at establishing a new base of smallholding agricultural workers to populate the countryside. The myth may have been appealing, but it turned out to be economically not self-sustaining and politically it got little more than lip service. A myth cannot be attained through mere legislation. This article examines the land settlement scheme in East Sussex during the inter-war period and argues that even in an area seemingly well-suited to such a program, the scheme was neither practical nor successful in its attempt to put the myth into practice.

Zimbabwe's maize-based Green Revolution: Preconditions for replication

The Green Revolution was launched in 1960 in Zimbabwe, five years before it got underway in India. Since Zimbabwe's Green Revolution was spearheaded by white commercial farmers, however, it was ignored by Africa's new leaders in the 1960s as they experimented with state farms from Moscow, communal farms from China and land settlement schemes from Israel. At Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, the new majority-ruled government introduced a number of programs to help smallholders increase food and cash crop production. Drawing on a backlog of hybrid maize varieties, expanded access to credit, higher guaranteed government maize prices, and marketing subsidies, smallholders doubled maize production during 1980–1986. Zimbabwe's maize-based Green Revolution challenges those who allege that hybrid maize cannot compete with sorghum in low rainfall areas and that it is unsuitable for resource-poor farmers because of the need to purchase new seed each year. Today virtually 100% of Zimbabwe's maize area is under hybrids and short-season hybrids are outcompeting other foodgrains in many low rainfall areas. Zimbabwe's biggest challenge is to develop cost-effective marketing policies and institutions to sustain its maize-based Green Revolution. Countries trying to replicate Zimbabwe's success story should focus on fulfilling four interrelated preconditions: political, technological, economic and institutional.

Interregional migration of labor in Ghana, West Africa: determinants, consequences and policy intervention.

This article examines the determinants, consequences and policy intervention measures of the movement of labor within Ghana's administrative regions. The study concludes that the economic inequalities brought about by the uneven distribution of development projects in favor of urban areas causes depressed rural economic conditions, thus spurring rural to urban migration. Migration to the urban places of Ghana is therefore caused by individuals and families seeking better economic opportunities to improve the quality of their lives. Secondary determinants are varied, ranging from family obligations to the quest for adventure. The benefits of migration for the rural areas lie mainly in returned migrants’ contributions to the economic development of those areas. Migrants also contribute to the urban areas’ economic development, but their presence in large numbers has caused problems in the housing and in the delivery of social services. Rural development policies and land settlement schemes have been unsuccessful, due mainly to the lack of a comprehensive national development effort.

Homesteading and Property Rights; Or, "How the West Was Really Won"

Homesteading and Property Rights; Or, "How the West Was Really Won"