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.