Land Tenure System Research Articles

Monitoring land governance: Understanding roots and shoots

Despite a growing interest among land use policymakers to identify the indicators that measure changes in land tenure systems, little consensus exists about what framework can functionally analyze land tenure systems, and how it should be developed. The existing indicators have mainly focused on measuring the “effects” of land tenure (in)security and often neglected the “causes”. Hence, comprehensive monitoring of land tenure systems has been poorly understood and practiced. Given their multifaceted meanings, land and its related concepts have been a challenging issue for policymakers. Accordingly, the overall objective of this paper was to propose a functional and analytical framework on how to study monitoring land governance from roots to shoots through five main studies: i) understanding the historical trajectories of land, ii) recognizing institutional arrangements on land, iii) identifying land governance grammar, iv) defining land governance typology, and v) assessing land use changes. In line with this objective, the general research question of this study is how and by whom a monitoring system should be developed. Overall, this study can be considered as a conceptual framework that has been designed to conceptualize, develop, build, and apply a functional and analytical framework for formulating land governance grammar to explain how access to land is governed. Unlike previous studies, this study focuses on both causes and effects of strong land governance (SLG) and weak land governance (WLG). The paper discusses that land governance allows various stakeholders to participate in government decisions and ensures the security of their livelihoods. However, land governance could be either poor or strong depending on the government decision-making process. The paper also concluded that SLG is a precondition for economic growth and poverty alleviation in rural areas of developing countries.

An assessment of the implications of alternative scales of communal land tenure formalization in pastoral systems

Pastoralism faces diverse challenges, that include, among others, land tenure insecurity, that has necessitated the need to formalize land rights. Some governments have started regularizing rights for privately owned land, but this is complex to implement in pastoral areas where resources are used and managed collectively. Our aim was to assess how the scale of communal land tenure recognition in pastoralist systems may affect tradeoffs among objectives such as tenure security, flexibility, mobility, and reduction of conflicts. We used a participatory scenario-building approach to investigate alternative scenarios of land tenure recognition in southern Ethiopia where a new communal land tenure system is in the early stages of implementation. Through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and a workshop, respondents analyzed the likely outcomes of communal land tenure recognition at different scales. Our findings suggest that there is a good chance of success when the tenure policy is embedded onto customary structures. All scales have some shortcomings, but Reera seems best, yet pastoralists preferred the Dheeda which despite its challenges, is the best for maintaining flexible mobility. There are multiple uncertainties and complexities, which suggest the for multi-pronged approaches and various support mechanisms when implementing a formal land tenure system in these areas.

Decolonising Conservation Policy: How Colonial Land and Conservation Ideologies Persist and Perpetuate Indigenous Injustices at the Expense of the Environment

The livelihoods of indigenous peoples, custodians of the world’s forests since time immemorial, were eroded as colonial powers claimed de jure control over their ancestral lands. The continuation of European land regimes in Africa and Asia meant that the withdrawal of colonial powers did not bring about a return to customary land tenure. Further, the growth in environmentalism has been interpreted by some as entailing conservation ahead of people. While this may be justifiable in view of devastating anthropocentric breaching of planetary boundaries, continued support for “fortress” style conservation inflicts real harm on indigenous communities and overlooks sustainable solutions to deepening climate crises. In reflecting on this issue from the perspective of colonial land tenure systems, this article highlights how ideas—the importance of individualised land ownership, cultivation, and fortress conservation—are intellectually flawed. Prevailing conservation policies, made possible by global non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and statutory donors, continue to harm indigenous peoples and their traditional territories. Drawing from the authors’ experience representing the Batwa (DRC), the Ogiek and Endorois (Kenya) and Adivasis (India) in international litigation, this paper examines the human and environmental costs associated with modern conservation approaches through this colonial lens. This article concludes by reflecting on approaches that respect environmental and human rights.

Growth-Ring Analysis of Diploknema butyracea Is a Potential Tool for Revealing Indigenous Land Use History in the Lower Himalayan Foothills of Nepal

Slash-and-burn is a farming practice of the indigenous communities in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal. The traditional land-tenure system is based on a customary oral tradition. However, the government’s persistent denial of land rights has fueled the indigenous conflicts in the last few decades. Deliverance of scientific evidence-based arguments may underpin the ongoing conflict-resolution dialogues between the authorities and the indigenous communities. Dating growth rings of trees in a slash-and-burn system might help the indigenous people to find evidence of their historic land uses in the mountainous landscape. In this pilot study, we examined the potential of Diploknema butyracea (Roxb.) H. J. Lam growth rings for documenting land use history of Nepalese indigenous farming practices, as this species is being preserved during the slash-and-burn practices. The species is an economically important and ecologically interesting (as it flushes leaves when everything is dry, and sheds leaves while everything is green) deciduous tree species belonging to Sapotaceae family and widely distributed in Sub-Himalayan tracts. Five stem discs were studied which were originated from the Kandrang valley of the Chitwan district, Nepal. For the first time, we revealed distinct growth rings in this species which are marked by fibers with thicker cell walls. Growth-ring anomalies, i.e., wedging and partially missing rings, were also found. Four out of five samples could be crossdated at a marginal level (GLK ≥ 60 and t ≥ 2.0) which is a confirmation of the annual nature of growth rings. One of the samples showed black spots of oxidized wood which are traces of fire, suggesting evidence of slash-and-burn practices in the study area since 1933. This study suggests a strong potential of D. butyracea for growth-ring analysis to reconstruct indigenous land use history in Nepal.

Who Owns the Lunger Building? Disease, Property, and the Limits of Accountability in Tenement Reform in St. Louis, 1832-1917

This article traces the rise and fall of an urban land tenure system in an industrializing American city, St. Louis, alongside efforts to regulate it in the name of health. Historians of tenement reform have placed the question of accountability at the center of reformist critiques of housing conditions in 19th- and early-twentieth-century America. Few, however, have incorporated informal and temporary housing into their analyses. This article argues that these spaces were both common and vital to the rise of St. Louis’ cyclical and often transient market in unskilled labor. Reformers, operating from an antebellum-era conception of property, sought to create a system of accountability that placed the burden of healthfulness on landlords. Yet, St. Louis’ emerging labor market undermined the accountability they sought. Confronted with a crisis of housing affordability, reformers failed to question the market or look beyond property regulation alone as a means to protect health.

Container housing: Formal informality and deterritorialised home-making amid bulldozer urbanism in Shanghai

Bulldozer urbanism, fraught with violent demolition and forced relocation, exemplifies China’s urban transformation. Rural-to-urban migrant workers are particularly vulnerable during the process because of their in-between position in the socialist, territorialised hukou (residential registration) and land tenure systems. This paper presents in ethnographic details the practice of turning shipping containers into rental units for migrants seeking cheap housing alternatives to continue to live on Shanghai’s urban fringe. It reveals the nature and constraints of container housing that emerge out of the interplay between China’s socialist land tenure system, real estate marketisation, top-down population control and urban governance. Despite the neglected appearance of container housing, its existence and operation entail the acquiescence and surveillance of local state agents as well as entrepreneurs’ tactics of conformation, which results in formal informality and sustains structural inequality in state-led development. Container housing also contributes to the deterritorialisation of homemaking among migrant workers, who are channelled by hukou-related policies to invest and retire in their registered home places and feel removed from their urban dwelling in both time and space. The decreased significance of urban residence to migrant workers’ everyday life, as exemplified by container housing, facilitates bulldozer urbanism and perpetuates urban exclusion.

Pastoralists’ use of income diversification as a strategy for adapting to social-ecological change in Samburu, Kenya

Pastoralists in the Samburu region of Kenya, like many pastoralists around the world, have endured significant effects of social-ecological change. Improvements in infrastructure, access to education, roads, and cellular networks, combined with changing land tenure systems and impacts from more frequent extreme weather events place Samburu herders squarely in the middle of substantial change. In our study, we interviewed 100 pastoralists to determine how income sources changed over the past 20 years, following an extreme drought in 1998, as a measure of adapting to change. Questions about livestock holdings, income sources, and household demographics were used to conduct a cluster analysis and group comparisons that indicated Samburu pastoralists have chosen one of three primary paths in the past 20 years: increased herd size and retained pastoralism as a primary income source; reduced herd size but retained livestock herding as the primary income source, while adding other modest sources of income; and substantially reduced herd size and pursued non-herding options as a primary income source. Our results show a number of differences among Samburu pastoralists, and the extent to which paths were chosen primarily to alleviate adverse impacts from social-ecological change is unclear, as community members provided numerous explanations for changing herd size.

Effect of Agricultural Credit Access on Rice Productivity: Evidence from the Irrigated Area of Anambe Basin, Senegal

Rice is an important staple food in many developing countries, especially in Senegal. However, rice production in Senegal only meet 20% of the domestic demand largely due to the poor performance of rice farmers and low productivity. Access to agricultural credit has strong impacts on the technical efficiency of farmers and would promote inputs and new technology adoption. But that is not clear enough in previous studies. This study investigates the impact of agricultural credit access on rice productivity and technical efficiency with 260 random sampled rice farmers from Anambe basin in Senegal. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) was adopted to estimate the technical efficiency. The results indicate that the inputs of rice production, including labor, pesticide, herbicides and fertilizer, have significant impacts on rice productivity. Furthermore, the results present that the average efficiency is of 0.813 and the inefficiency estimation model reveals that the influences of agricultural credit access, gender, education, ethnicity, use of improved seed and land tenure system on technical inefficiency of rice production are significant. Particularly, for the access to agricultural credit, rice farmers without agricultural credit would get 3.8% higher production inefficiency. The farmers with access to credit yield 37.32% higher rice production than their counterparts. Therefore, our study provides strong empirical evidence to promote agricultural credit in rice production.

Some Aspects of Social Organization and Indigenous Resource Management Practices in Awi Zone, Amhara National Regional State (ANRS), Northwest Ethiopia

The people of Awi have succeeded in preserving their age-old traditions that are handed down from generation to generation. Traditional social organizations and labor exchanging forms, aimed at mutual aid and close cooperation either in pleasure or grief are among the many traditions. In Awi farm land and soil fertility management systems employ three major types of strategies in order to manage the organic matter and chemical fertility of the cultivated soils: Mixed cropping rotational cropping and indigenous organic practices. Irrigation is the artificial application of water to soil for the purpose of crop production. The major purpose of this paper is, therefore, to bring out the traditional social organizations and labor exchanging forms that have been practiced in Awi. It also attempts to assess and analyze the indigenous soil fertility management systems as well as the indigenous managements of river waters for irrigation. In the course of the study, I have depended mainly on primary and secondary sources, as well as oral informants, and archival materials. For archives, I have used Debre Markos University Archive Center, Addis Ababa National Archives and Library Agency, Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University and Awi Zone Agriculture Office. Indeed, gathering oral information from knowledgeable individuals through interviews was another important source data for the research. The interview was effectively addressed by qualitative approach through purposive sampling method. In the interview semi structured interview questions were designed for acquiring valuable information about the study. The age and the ability to remember the past events and the level of participation in the local affairs were given emphasis for the selection of informants. The data which I collected from oral sources were crosschecked with archival and secondary sources before interpretation. Thus, the consideration of the land tenure system and the social structure as well as taxation system in Agaw Meder (presently Awi Zone) helps to study and investigate not only the study area but also to comprehend other areas regarding the issue. Keywords : Indigenous Resource Management, Wubiri, Wonfel, Soil-fertility, Irrigation DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/56-04 Publication date: February 29 th 2020

Greater tree community structure complexity in sacred forest compared to reserve forest land tenure systems in eastern India

SummarySacred forests are small patches of forest that are preserved and protected from human exploitation. Although they are identified primarily for spiritual or religious purposes, their contribution to biodiversity conservation has been widely debated. Sacred sites are known to harbour greater biodiversity compared to exploited forests, but the patterns are not well known. We studied tree diversity in a remote forested location in eastern India where sacred forests and reserve forests used by people are present. Tree data from eight sacred forest sites and nine reserve forest sites showed that species richness was significantly greater in sacred forests; species diversity and evenness tended to be greater, but these were not statistically significant. Basal area (a measure of aboveground biomass) was significantly greater, mainly due to the greater density of large trees. There were significant departures from the theoretical expectation of stem size density distributions under pure asymmetric competition for both land tenures, which indicated that extraneous mortality increased death rates of large trees under both regimes, but sacred forests had a greater range of stem sizes. Our results suggest that sacred forests can contribute to biodiversity conservation by preserving greater tree diversity than forests subject to human use.

Hybrid Water Rights Systems for Pro-Poor Water Governance in Africa

Water-permit systems are widely used across Africa as a blanket requirement for small and micro irrigation enterprises, as well as large enterprises. The present study aimed to, first, further understand the implications of permit systems for both the most vulnerable and the state, and, second, based on the findings, identify options for pro-poor water legislation that also meet the water governance requirements of the state. The growing recognition of the importance of farmer-led irrigation development for food security across the continent underlines the importance of these questions. Focusing on Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and other African countries, we found that permit systems criminalized instead of protected the water rights of small-scale farmers. Moreover, little if any attention is paid to the logistical burdens and costs to the state of implementing such systems relative to the intended revenue generation. As many small-scale farmers in Africa were found to operate under customary land and water tenure systems, the study proposes a hybrid system of water rights that formally recognizes such practices, along with the use of permits, including enforcement of conditions for large users, to serve the interests of both the state and small-scale farmers.

The Evolution of the Marshallese Vernacular House

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the vernacular architecture of the Marshall Islands through a deep-time perspective and demonstrates the Indigenous knowledge present in the production of the Marshallese vernacular house. The focus is on the socio-spatial patterns that represent generations of cultural knowledge and create culturally supportive built-environments, representative of living vernacular architecture. This article investigates the transformations of the Marshallese vernacular house through a diachronic study of habitation on the weto, which is the traditional system of land tenure through matrilineal inheritance. This study presents findings of extensive field work in the Marshall Islands investigating the dialectic relationship of Marshallese culture and its built-environment. To understand fundamental processes to the Marshallese production of space, a multi-sited case study design utilized theoretical replication to establish consistencies across rural, urban, and peri-urban communities. The study found that while manifestations of the Marshallese vernacular house evolve, the core processes remain consistent. The Marshallese vernacular house is a manifestation of generative processes, components of Indigenous knowledge. The Marshallese vernacular house is central to the Indigenous architecture of the Marshall Islands.

Faraizi Movement and Zamindars of Nineteenth Century Bengal: The Story of a Peasant Movement

The British colonial rule in Bengal had a very ominous impact on the people of the region as a whole. The introduction of a new land tenure system, known as the Permanent Settlement, and the creation of an all-powerful zamindar class particularly affected the interests of the peasants of Bengal. Under the new system, the government demand on the zamindars was fixed in perpetuity, but there was no legal restriction on the zamindars to enhance their share from the peasants. The peasants, consequently, became vulnerable to irregular rent increases and oppressions by the zamindars. The Faraizi movement, organized initially in the nineteenth century to reform the Muslim society, soon assumed the character of agrarian movement. In order to protect the poor peasants, the Faraizis soon became radical and challenged the zamindars. As majority of the peasants of the region, where this movement was launched, were Muslims and their zamindars mostly Hindus, the Faraizis used Islamic symbols to mobilize the Muslim masses. Thus, religion and economy intertwined in shaping such a protest movement in pre-industrial Bengal.

Внутриквартальная застройка как уникальная составляющая городской среды исторического центра Санкт-Петербурга

The living environment, which constitutes a significant part of the historical center development in St. Petersburg, is assumed to be a unique object of urban planning activity, since its potential is exceptional, but the strategy for further use has not yet been determined. The active usage of huge residential areas in the city center is hindered due to the uncertainty of property relations, some missteps in the area of the cultural heritage conservation system, defects in the system of land use and land tenure. Taking into consideration that the intra-quarter environment has been hardly ever studied, the authors propose using the stagnation period to «stock-take» the quarters of the St. Petersburg center. In connection with the envisaged orientation of the city transport system to increasing the role of pedestrian flows in the city center, the role of the unique system of passage yards is emphasized and it is proposed to take it into account as an integral component of the city center as UNESCO historical heritage object. The decisive role of intra-quarter communications for the formation of urban development characteristic types is substantiated. It is pointed out that in order to assess the mass development potential in the center of St. Petersburg, it is necessary to provide each historical quarter with a corresponding certificate and organize a monitoring of possible evolutions.

The Role of Land Tenure, Taxation, and Monetary Systems in Achieving and Enjoying Free Trade

AbstractCivilizations rise and fall based on the effectiveness of their socio‐political arrangements and institutions. The institutions that matter most are the laws and customs that govern 1) production and exchange of goods (trade), 2) land tenure and the distribution of the surplus associated with it, 3) the levying of taxes to provide public goods and services, and 4) the monetary systems adopted to facilitate such activities. If those institutions distribute the benefits of civilization equitably to all members of society, the result is likely to be peace and prosperity. However, if the rules of a society are designed to protect the interests of an elite, conflict is likely to ensue. Unrestricted trade across national borders (“free trade”) has the potential to produce socially beneficial outcomes, but it is not sufficient to overcome systemic injustices associated with flawed systems of land tenure, taxation, and monetary management. This article makes use of historical examples to examine trade in relation to the other institutions to show why just social arrangements must be considered an essential part of trade policy.

How Property Formalization Schemes Affect Land Tenure Security? A Game Theoretical Perspective

Game theory modeling of the evolution of property rights has paid little attention to the issues of formalization of property rights in land. In developing economies where customary legal arrangements are pervasive, formalization of these rights can play a crucial step in unlocking the growth potential of the local economy. However, there is evidence that the interaction between the newly introduced formalization mechanism and the existing customary system can instead, create further land tenure insecurity. I develop the hawk-dove model to include the choice of formalization of property rights. The model shows that a newly introduced formalization mechanism can lead to a secure system of land tenure if (1) it is effective enough for the parties that register unilaterally to fully capture the original value of the plot and (2) sufficiently harshly punishes those that take an aggressive stance towards the registering party (3) and signals that possession will be decisive if multiple parties attempt to register the same plot. Furthermore, depending on the height of the fees of adjudication when both parties attempt to register the same plot, the English Rule (i.e. shifting the court fee to the loosing party) can incentivize parties to engage in registration selectively. Finally, the attractiveness of registration will rarely diminish even if the cooperation within a customary system is highly beneficial, thus sometimes leading to suboptimal outcomes.

A Mosaic of Land Tenure and Ownership Creates Challenges and Opportunities for Transboundary Conservation in the US-Mexico Borderlands

In the Madrean Sky Islands of western North America, a mixture of public and private land ownership and tenure creates a complex situation for collaborative efforts in conservation. In this case study, we describe the current ownership and management structures in the US-Mexico borderlands where social, political, and economic conditions create extreme pressures on the environment and challenges for conservation. On the United States side of the border, sky island mountain ranges are almost entirely publicly owned and managed by federal, state, and tribal organizations that manage and monitor species, habitats, and disturbances including fire. In contrast, public lands are scarce in the adjacent mountain ranges of Mexico, rather, a unique system of private parcels and communal lands makes up most of Mexico’s Natural Protected Areas. Several of the Protected Area reserves in Mexico form a matrix that serves to connect scattered habitats for jaguars dispersing northward toward public and private reserves in the United States from their northernmost breeding areas in Mexico. Despite the administrative or jurisdictional boundaries superimposed upon the landscape, we identify two unifying management themes that encourage collaborative management of transboundary landscape processes and habitat connectivity: jaguar conservation and wildfire management. This case study promotes understanding of conservation challenges as they are perceived and managed in a diversity of settings across the US-Mexico borderlands. Ultimately, recognizing the unique and important contributions of people living and working under different systems of land ownership and tenure will open doors for partnerships in achieving common goals. Una versión en español de este artículo está disponible como descarga.

Perfecting Rural Land Title for Wealth Creation and Sustainable Development

AbstractPerfecting land title refers to the process of securing tenure on land. It refers to the assurance that the land one holds for an agreed period of time and purpose is certain. It requires a level of legitimacy. It is on record that agriculture, forestry and mining sectors constitute about 70% of Ghana’s gross domestic product. However, the lack of several large-scale plantations in Ghana can be partly attributed to the land tenure system. Land rights in rural communities are not secured in that the lands are not themselves well defined and rights are not documented. The study used modern survey methods to clearly map out farms in a systematic manner for farmers under a cooperative for rubber plantation development. The rights of tenant farmers and landholders are clearly and legally documented and registered into the formal land administration system. The spatial and attribute data are incorporated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) that serves as tool for data management on the farmers. The pilot study was successful in improving not only tenure security and data access, but also access to funding by participating farmers. Keywords: Land Tenure Security, Registration, Spatial Data, Attribute Data

Gendered constraints for adopting climate-smart agriculture amongst smallholder Ethiopian women farmers

Although Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can offer economic and food security opportunities for women farmers, success in the uptake of these technologies is contested by gendered constraints. Previous studies that use the household head as a unit of analysis to explain adoption patterns do not adequately demonstrate the extent to which women smallholders are restricted by gendered constraints. This study uses 344 women and men survey respondents involved in conservation agriculture (CA) and small-scale irrigation schemes (SSIS) as data sources for examining the effect of gendered constraints for adopting climate-smart agriculture amongst women in three areas in Ethiopia. Qualitative and quantitative data collections were applied using survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square test and binary logistic regression using statistical software for the social sciences (SPSS) version 24. Thematic and narrative analysis methods were used to analyze qualitative data. The findings show that women smallholders uptake is affected by limited access to credit, extension, restricted membership in cooperatives and water user associations, lack of access or user rights to land, skill training, information, and restricted mobility. Agricultural development interventions should be implemented by accepting and considering individual farmer's entitlement to development. Expanding off-farm diversification and rural employment opportunities through changing the land tenure system, which is currently state-owned, are essential to enhance women smallholders’ access to land and other agricultural inputs.

Land tenure system innovation and agricultural technology adoption in Burkina Faso: Comparing empirical evidence to the worsening situation of both rural people vulnerability and vulnerable groups’ access to land

The crucial need for land ownership security to structurally transform the agricultural sector motivated Burkina Faso authorities to run a land reform programme in 2009, allowing producers to acquire formal land property rights. Our study aims to highlight how this institutional innovation may affect rural people’s livelihoods. In a first step, the paper uses an econometric approach to identify the effects of land property rights on producers’ decision to adopt soil fertility management technologies. In a second step, it shows how the new law is affecting both vulnerable groups’ access to land and the vulnerability of rural people by undertaking investigations on issues surrounding the implementation of the new law. The results show in the first step that unlike customary land rights, formal land rights lead to more technology adoption, implying that the new law may improve rural people’s livelihoods. However, this evidence mismatches the results in the second step which show a negative effect of the new land law implementation on rural people’s livelihoods. The paper concludes that whether or not formal land rights are needed in enhancing technology adoption, the new land law is likely to worsen rural people’s situation. Additional measures have to be undertaken to improve rural people’s livelihoods.