African Land Reform under Economic Liberalisation: States, Chiefs, and Rural Communities

This open access book offers unique in-depth, comprehensive, and comparative analyses of the motivations, context, and outcomes of recent land reforms in Africa. Whereas a considerable number of land reforms have been carried out by African governments since the 1990s, no systematic analysis on their meaning has so far been conducted. In the age of land reform, Africa has seen drastic rural changes. Analysing the relationship between those reforms and change, the chapters in this book reveal not only their socio-economic outcomes, such as accelerated marketisation of land, but also their political outcomes, which have often been contrasting. Countries such as Rwanda and Mozambique have utilised land reform to strengthen state control over land, but other countries, such as Ghana and Zambia, have seen the rise in power of traditional chiefs in managing the land. The comparative perspective of this book clarifies new features of African social changes, which are carefully investigated by area experts. Providing new perspectives on recent land reform, this book will have a considerable impact on scholars as well as policymakers.

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Editor and Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Introduction: Drastic Rural Changes in the Age of Land Reform -- 1 Investigating Rural Change Through the Lens of Land Reform -- 2 Customary Land Tenure in Africa -- 3 Pressure on, and Changes in, the African Land -- 4 Backgrounds to Land Reform -- 5 What the Land Tenure Reforms Have Produced -- 5.1 Commodification of Customary Land -- 5.2 Political Implications of Land Reform -- 6 Structure of This Book -- References -- Land Administration, Chiefs, and Governance in Ghana

1 Introduction -- 2 Discourses About Chiefs and Land Administration in Ghana -- 3 Modernisation and the Commodification of Land in the Nineteenth Century and Colonial Gold Coast -- 4 Land and Chiefs in the Early Independence Period -- 4.1 Reforming Chiefly Institutions in the Early Independence Period -- 4.2 The Rise of Commercial Farmers in the 1970s and Its Impact on Land Relations -- 5 Governance Reforms, Civil Society, Traditional Authorities, and Land Markets -- 5.1 Liberal Reforms, Civil Society, and Strengthening of Traditional Authorities

5.2 Forestry Governance and Collaborative Forest Management -- 5.3 Land Administration Reforms and Customary Land Secretariats -- 6 Conclusion -- References -- 'We Owned the Land Before the State Was Established': The State, Traditional Authorities, and Land Policy in Africa -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Politics of Land in Africa -- 2.1 Chiefs, the State, and Customary Land in Africa -- 2.2 Riding on the Democratic Wave -- 3 Land Governance in Africa -- 3.1 Land and Statehood -- 4 Land in Zambia -- 4.1 Categories of Land -- 4.2 Land Governance in Zambia -- 4.3 Land Policy Reforms in Zambia

4.4 Traditional Leaders' Response to the Proposed Land Policy Reforms -- 4.5 The State's Response -- 5 Reforming Customary Land Administration -- 5.1 Traditional Leaders' Power Base -- 5.2 The State-traditional Leaders Relationship Over Land in Africa -- 6 Conclusion -- References -- Renewed Patronage and Strengthened Authority of Chiefs Under the Scarcity of Customary Land in Zambia -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Land Tenure System in Zambia -- 3 Social Organisation, Agriculture, and Land of the Bemba Chiefdom -- 4 The 1995 Lands Act and Customary Land in the Territory of Chief L

5 Local Land Governance Reforms Issued by the Chief -- 6 A New Trend: Villagers Acquiring Land Allocation Forms -- 7 Friction Between Local Residents and Recipients of Land Allocation Forms -- 7.1 Friction with Local Residents -- 7.2 Leasehold Changes Accompanying Changes in Title Holders -- 8 The chief's Revocation of Title Deeds and Reversion to Customary Land -- 9 Conclusion -- References -- Land Tenure Reform in Three Former Settler Colonies in Southern Africa -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Types of Land Tenure in Three Former Settler Colonies in Southern Africa