The Dynamics of Resource Tenure in West Africa

Land tenure systems are strongly on the agenda of academics and policymakers West Africa - the contributors to this work draw on their experiences to present different ways of understanding land tenure. The contributors to this book are all West Africans. They draw on their experience to find new ways of understanding land tenure. There is increasing concern about land and resource access in West Africa, both in governments and donor organizations. This concern has emerged as a result of a number of factors: failed development projects, perceived by many to result from the neglect of land tenure issues; degradation of soils and vegetation which have beenassociated with poorly defined rules governing management of resources; higher levels of conflict in rural society arising from greater scarcity of natural resources; and the awareness that people need secure rights in order to invest in their farms and improve productivity. Published in association with IIED and GRET

Table of Contents:
Introduction I UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF LAND TENURE Land tenure, resource access & decentralisation in Ghana - Customary land tenure regimes in north-western Cameroon - Shifting tradition: forest resource tenure in Ghana - Forest tenure & access to forest resources in Cameroon - Land rights, land use dynamics & policy in periurban Tamale, Ghana - Behind the norms: women's access to land in Ghana - Land availability & the land tenure regime in rural Benin - Access to agricultural & pastoral resources in Nigeria II RECOGNISING LOCAL RIGHTS - NEW APPROACHES Co-management: a participatory approach to sustainable forest management - Piloting the rural land use plan in Benin - The role of the land commissions in natural resource management in Niger III LINKING LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEMS Tenure problems in pastoral land use management - The role & limitations of the land commissions in Niger - Decentralised management of renewable natural resources in Mali - Land tenure & pastoral resources in northern Yatenga, Burkina Faso - Land taxes & charges in Senegal - Compulsory acquisition of land in Ghana: the 1992 constitution: opening new vistas? - Bibliography - Index

Review :
In West Africa, the inequalities and conflicts created are less dramatic in scale than those in the ex-settler states of Southern Africa, but they are more widespread, as is evident not just from the cases studied in this volume, but also from the disputes and violence over settlement and land-use rights which recur frequently across the region. This volume will be a useful resource to anyone working on such issues in West Africa today. ...Thus this book serves as food for thought: is West Africa moving unavoidably towards a future of individually-held rights to resources and the accumulation of private holdings, at the expense of the communal tradition and the dispossession of the less powerful in society? The whole issue ties into the ongoing debate about development and inequality... .The strong communal ethic of most African countries and the vein of real anger tapped by Mugabe's land redistribution suggest that a process of development based on resource accumulation and exploitation by the few will be a highly contested one. - The book captures all the contemporary issues of land resource management and tenure and is useful for all who are interested in sustainable development. - Many debates about poor agricultural performance and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa focus on land tenure policy. West Africa is the centre of much recent policy innovation, so this edited volume provides a timely addition to a growing literature and ongoing debate about tenure systems. This book is especially relevant because it features the voices of West African researchers and practitioners, who are observing the outcome and direction of policy initiatives. ...Overall this book is a significant addition to the debate over resource tenure in sub-Saharan Africa...as a whole this volume provides important perspectives on the policies and pitfalls of changing dynamics of tenure in West Africa. -