Suchergebnisse

This brief presents an overview of land tenure and other land rights reforms that have been introduced in Africa to address issues of agricultural production efficiency, natural resource sustainability, and equity of access to and control over land resources by marginalized groups such as rural households and women, and the efficacy of these reforms in improving agricultural productivity and combating poverty. ; Available in SANREM office, ES

Metadata only record ; Recent efforts by Sahelian states to define and recognize "traditional" ownership rights and encourage local participation in resource management are often deluded, because these policies tend to be based on an inadequate understanding of local institutions in the 1990s. Governments in the Sahel have promoted land tenure reform ever since independence in the 1960s to rationalize formal and customary systems, to promote equity, to encourage land markets, to appease international creditors, and to consolidate power. Niger's most recent land reform effort involves writing a new Rural Code, which recognizes and empowers customary land tenure practices and institutions. Moreover, the Code's objective is to establish a national-level legal and institutional framework for (1) increasing local participation in resource management, (2) recognizing customary ownership rights, and (3) incorporating local tenure and land management systems. However, Niger and many African states contemplating resource management reforms seem unaware or willing to ignore the structural impact on "traditional" institutions and practices of 30 years of post-colonial policy reforms. Survey research in households in three villages within the Kollo district, interviews conducted among canton chiefs, judges, and government magistrates in Kollo, and an exhaustive review of the proceedings of land dispute cases brought before official courts in Kollo from independence until 1994 show: (a) the concept of customary land tenure institutions and norms is very ambiguous because customs have evolved during the colonial and post-colonial periods, absorbing elements of formal law; (b) the most consistent behavior of persons seeking land access--whether farmer, herder, owner, use-right holder, landless person, or other--has been to petition successively, often repeatedly, the various courts, authorities, and institutions available for adjudication, in rarely-ending cycles of appeal; (c) each successive policy shift has created new institutions, arguments, and avenues of appeal for actual and potential litigants; and (d) land claims are pressed especially strongly during periods of policy flux, as astute claimants jockey for advantage under anticipated reforms. Thus, land tenure reforms serve to shift in sometimes predictable and sometimes unpredictable ways the boundaries of social and tenure control exercised by persons and groups seeking to maintain or obtain access to land. (CAB Abstracts) ; available in SANREM offices, FS

Metadata only record ; The changes currently being made by Sahelian countries in the sphere of land use and resource management laws are discussed. Changes are being made to accommodate increased local participation in resource management, the recognition of customary ownership rights, and the integration of customary tenure and management systems. Environmental degradation, population pressure, and the drive of urban elite to acquire land and invest in commercial agriculture have put new pressures on rural systems and revealed embedded contradictions over resource control. In rural Niger, as elsewhere in Africa, the conjunction of these pressures has led to increasing conflicts between family members, farmers, herders, and traditional chiefs and their dependents. To address these different issues, the Government of Niger has undertaken since 1986 the formulation of a major land legislation project, the Rural Code. The situation in Niger is discussed in: the history of land policies in Niger until 1987; conflicts and land policies; creating tenure institutions for conflict resolution; lessons from past commissions; the Rural Code in 1993; and the obligation of conciliation, empowering local institutions. (CAB Abstracts)

Metadata only record ; 'Fallow of Discord' was the title of a recent article in Sahel Dimanche (1992) describing land disputes between two neighboring cantons in the Filingu arrondissement, Tondikandia and Tagazar. This conflict, which dates back to 1928, resulted in four killings and twenty wounded. Conflicts among farmers, herders, villages, and cantons have been common in Niger's rural areas in recent years. The literature is replete with studies on the land tenure system in Niger (Raulin 1961, 196?, 1965; Latour Dejean 1973; Mariko 1971, 1985a, 1985b; Keita 1985; Arzika 1985); however, there is little documentation of the nature of land conflicts, the different parties involved, and how they affect the land tenure systems and the development strategies started by the Government of Niger. The aim of this paper is to fill some of these gaps and make a first assessment about the capabilities of a new rural code to address tenure reform and conflict over land access. ; Available in SANREM office, FS

Metadata only record ; The "Principles of Orientation of the Rural Code" (the "Code") was approved under Ordinance (No 93-015) of March 2, 1993. Efforts are being made by the National Rural Code Committee (NRCC) to implement the new Code in rural areas. The NRCC has decided to begin with pilot tenure commissions in seven arrondissements: Kollo (Tillavery), Boboye (Doss), Birni Nkonni (Tahoua), Guidan Roumgi (Maradi), Mirriah (Zinder), Maine Soroa (Diffa), and Tchirozerine (Agadez). Each tenure commission will adjudicate land disputes and help manage the use of natural resources. ; Available in SANREM office, FS

Metadata only record ; The system-wide program for collective action and property rights (CARPRi) sponsored an International Conference on Policy and Institutional Options for the Management of Rangelands in Dry Areas, May 7-11, 2001 in Hammamet, Tunisia. The conference focused on institutional aspects of rangeland management and brought together policy makers and researchers from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia to discuss sustainable rangeland production strategies and livelihood of pastoral communities in dry areas. ; Available in SANREM office, FS