Tracing Back Land Policies in Africa: Resource Management and Territorial Control

Shinichi Takeuchi（ IDE-JETRO)

Objective of this paper

• This paper illustrates trajectories of land policy in Africa.

• The analysis– contributes to the understanding of current land

policies.– explores implications about the land governance.

Two basic motivations of land policy

• Resource management– policies are designed to regulate the use,

allocation, conservation… of land.– Policies are mainly related to economic

development. • Territorial control– motivations of a policy are related to the

establishment of political order and/or domination.

Early colonial period

• Main purpose of land policy was to provide legal frameworks, enabling to transfer lands for European settlers and businesses.

• The land policy were directly connected to colonial statebuilding.

From interwar period to independence

• After the First World War, necessities of resource management began to be emphasized.– The colonial authorities began to regard Africans

as important actors for development.• Territorial control was still a major concern.– Through the indirect rule, African communities

were reorganized under a chief, and were strongly connected to specific lands.

From independence to the 1980s

• Newly independent African countries made efforts for overcoming colonial legacies.– Recapturing lands taken in the colonial time.– Controlling the power of traditional chiefs.

• African countries were reluctant to establish strong private property rights.

• Land policies were closely related to the idea of territorial control, as they were formulated on pressing needs for the statebuilding.

Since the end of the Cold War

• New land policies have tried to strengthen and/or stabilize rights of land users.

• The idea corresponds to the current tendency promoting liberal democracy and market economies.

• However, there is a tendency to avoid providing strong private property rights.

Case of Rwanda

• Rwanda has carried out a systematic land registration, but the title holders have a number of restrictions on land use.

• Factors behind the restrictions on land use– strong needs for efficient land use– historical continuity– Post-conflict political environment

Concluding remarks

• Tracing back African land policies makes clear that individual property rights have been in a long time neglected and strongly restricted.

• New land policies has emphasized on the land tenure security, but individual land rights are still fragile and/or unstable.