Customary Land In Africa

Land is a primary resource that men and women depend on for their livelihood (Mudenda, 2006). From generations to generations, land has been hailed as the greatest resource and indeed the backbone of wealth in many African communities, whether urban or rural (Ibid). Land is the focal point of economic growth poverty eradication and the general improvement of livelihoods (Ibid). To the investor, land has been the basis of wealth; to the farmer, a basis of production and down to the ordinary man, a source of pride (Ibid).

Land in Africa is a subject that can be traced to as far as the 1950s and 1960s and yet it is still one of the topical issues and a top agenda item at many global forums especially those hinging on development in sub-Sahara

In Botswana, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Niger, and Zambia, customary land rights are the dominant tenure system (Ngaido, 2005). Under these systems, land values are generally equal to the discounted net present value of current and future productivity per hectare. Over the years land reform has been the subject of intense debate in Africa; some of the issues that have arisen (e.g. the future of customary land tenure) are familiar and have been discussed at length in the context of land reform (Coldham, 2000). Discussions of reforms of customary land tenure in Africa are often plagued by a romantic idealization of communal ownership (Barrows 1974; Downs and Reyna 1988). Romantic perspectives such as these often favour what is considered to be the status quo, thereby ignoring the reality of disorderly privatization and inequities in land rights and access to land among the purported landowners under communal management (Ibid). The rationale behind customary land reform revolves around the quest to eradicate poverty. It is widely argued that Africa can only develop if the traditional tenure, consisting of about 90% of Africa’s land resources (Deininger, 2003; Manji, 2006). Shivji (2006) argues that customary tenure system is detested by many proponents of private tenure because customary land is perceived to be a primitive accumulation. Furthermore, Mulolwa (2006) observes that customary tenure has

However from the 1980s, land reform approaches have been dominant (Ibid). The rationale is that this would lead to rural economic growth through sustainable individual use of land resources, good governance and promotion of rural land markets (Pilipinas, 2002) Proponents of the approach argues that the recognition of property rights will reduce poverty and reduce the problem of capital accumulation in developing countries (Ibid). The hope that rural people will be able to loan, rent or even sell their land in terms of hardship and have financial security is the basis of the land reforms (Plateau, 19992). Deiniger (1997) observed that in the times of economic growth through reforms, the income of the poorest section of society also tend to improve. Even where the growth does not directly affect the poor, it can do so indirectly, for instance through improved provision of rural services, employment or safety nets, the poor will be able to mortgage their property and thereby unlock their hidden capital assets (Quan,