by Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, and Esther Mwangi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute
Land is one of the most important assets for millions of poor people in Africa. Equally critical are their rights to this land, which provide social and economic security and an incentive to use natural resources in a sustainable manner.
More than 30 percent of the land in Africa is jointly held by members of a group or community, making common property rights as important as individual rights. In many developing countries, giving individuals title to land has worked well. In Africa, however, titling has led to a weakening of land rights, especially for women and pastoralists, because so much of the land is held in common.
Land rights based solely on individualized ownership fail to acknowledge and respond to property arrangements found in many African communities, such as flexible boundaries based on customary law-the social rules of a community. These customary rights are often adapted to the local ecology and social system, so imposing exclusive ownership can cause disruption. For example, when land is divided as private property, people may lose access to water sources for their families or livestock.
IFPRI research has found that formal land titling does not guarantee more security than customary laws, and may even be a source of insecurity for impoverished households with limited access to government land registration. The poor in Africa rely heavily on common resources, such as forests and pastures, which are best secured by strengthening common property rights, not individual titles.
While customary laws can provide poor households with greater access to land and security, they too are in need of reform. In many African countries, women are prevented from owning and inheriting land because their property rights are often tied to their social relations with men. For example, some customary land registration systems require women to receive authorization from their husbands to independently acquire a land title. This is especially problematic for women who are unmarried, widowed, or divorced, and can limit women's ability to grow food for their families. Strengthening women's rights will require working with both state and customary laws.
There is no "one size fits all" solution to improving land rights in Africa. Recognizing the important role of common property and customary law in Africa's development is vital. If ignored, future land reform policies will not succeed in improving the lives of the poor.
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For more information, contact:
- Michael Rubinstein, 202/862.5670
m.rubinstein@cgiar.org - Veronica O’Connor, 202/862.8177
v.oconnor@cgiar.org - Michele Pietrowski, 202/862.4630
m.pietrowski@cgiar.org
Additional information available at: http://www.ifpri.org/media/20060518Land.asp