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Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues

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Chapter 16
Land Tenure Challenges in Africa:
Current and Emerging Issues

Horman Chitonge and Ross Harvey

Abstract This chapter brings together the different insights on the complexity of
land governance in Africa discussed in this volume. We highlight the major land
governance challenges and the consequences of weak and ineffective land governance
systems. One of the common issues raised in all the chapters in this volume is that
serious land tenure challenges occur in contexts where land governance systems are
weak and ineffective. The analysis presented in this chapter shows that land tenure
relations have continued to be a major land policy issue across Africa. We argue
that when land governance processes are dominated by rent-seeking, corruption, and
lack of accountability and transparency, it is often the poorest citizens who are worst
affected by the uncertainties surrounding their only asset and source of livelihood—
land. We also show that when land tenure relations are not managed effectively and
fairly, tensions, conflict, and sometimes war, ensue. The chapter highlights the point
that land tenure relations in Africa are complex, partly because they are embedded
in what has been referred to as the “web of interests” and overlapping relations.
The discussion in this chapter confirms that African countries have not yet found
a formula to address land tenure relations in a way that leads to fair and equitable
distribution of land. We argue that when land is governed efficiently, it can make
significant contribution to reducing poverty, inequality, and economic exclusion.

Keywords Land Governance · Land tenure insecurities · The State and land ·
Land conflict · Land tenure challenges · Africa · Land inequalities

16.1 Introduction

Land tenure relation have continued to be a major land policy issue in Africa. All
the chapters in this book have highlighted some specific challenges surrounding land

H. Chitonge (B) · R. Harvey

Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Town, South Africa
e-mail: Horman.chitonge@uct.ac.za
R. Harvey
e-mail: ross@gga.org

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 325
H. Chitonge and R. Harvey (eds.), Land Tenure Challenges in Africa,
Economic Geography, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82852-3_16
326 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

tenure relations in different African countries. One of the common issues raised
in most of the chapters in this volume is that serious land tenure challenges occur
in contexts where land governance systems are weak and ineffective. For instance,
in many countries where there is lack of coordination between the different land
administrative institutions, securing land tenure for majority of the people becomes
a major problem (see Chap. 6). Often, when land tenure relations are not managed
effectively and fairly, tensions, conflict and sometimes war, ensue. This book has
provided insights into the current complexity of land tenure across Africa from
different viewpoints. As indicated in the Preface, the importance of secure property
rights as an economic institution is critical for achieving broad-based and sustain-
able development. Economic institutions and relations are largely shaped by political
power relations, and ignoring political realities often lead to institutional and gover-
nance failure (Acemoglu and Robinson 2013). This is more evident when it comes
to land tenure relations.
This book, in many respects, has demonstrated the complexity of the political
operating environments in which land policies are formulated and implemented, on
one hand, and the negotiation of tenure relations on the other. The situation is much
more complex in most African countries where tenure relations are embedded in
what has been referred to as the ‘web of interests’ and overlapping relations around
land (Meinzen-Dick and Mwangi 2009). In cases where these overlapping interests in
and relations over land are not effectively managed through efficient land governance
systems, struggle and conflict follow. The thread which weaves the book together is
essentially a common understanding that the real deficit—in delivering more optimal
land tenure arrangements for citizens—lies in governance. Most of the chapters in the
book have shown that African countries have not yet found a formula that addresses
land tenure relations in a way that leads to fair and equitable distribution of land, and
productive and sustainable use of the land.
While some chapters in this volume have noted that most African governments are
now seeking to resolve land governance issues in an effort to promote equitable and
sustainable land tenure relations, several chapters have pointed out that in situations
characterised by chaos or instability it is difficult to implement land policies that can
deliver widespread benefits. For example, in situations where elites do not respect
the rule of law even within their own ruling coalitions, effective governance of land
relations remains a pipe dream. Land governance is ultimately about allocating and
managing land resources in an orderly, equitable and sustainable manner. In the case
of land, when the governance process is dominated by unproductive rent-seeking,
corruption and lack of accountability and transparency, it is often the poorer citizens
who are worst affected by the uncertainties surrounding their only asset and sources
of livelihood—land. It is in this context that effective land governance becomes
central to making sure that land is used in a way that contributes to building inclu-
sive and sustainable economies and communities in Africa. When land is governed
properly, it can make significant contribution to reducing poverty, inequality and
economic exclusion. But effective land governance can only be achieved by building
more inclusive political and social systems which allow communities to actively
and meaningfully participate in the various land governance processes. This requires
16 Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues 327

creating institutions that move us away from personalised deal-making between elites
to more transparent and accountable structures.

16.2 Key Current Land Issues

16.2.1 Importance of Effective Land Governance

In the first chapter, Horman Chitonge (Chap. 1) makes the point that the first three
decades post-independence in Africa were characterised predominantly by African
states affirming their sovereignty over territory in general. We then saw a shift around
the 1990s towards relatively narrow questions of tenure reform, particularly focusing
on improving security of tenure (through the formalisation of property rights) on
communal land, or land governed under ‘customary’ tenure arrangements. This
directional move was typically associated with Structural Adjustment Programmes
(SAPs), which many countries had to adopt because they were debt-ridden and
required loans from the International Monetary Fund. For a host of reasons, the
last decade has seen a shift in land policy emphasising broader issues of land gover-
nance. As Chitonge rightly points out, ‘securing land rights is unattainable when
land governance systems are weak and ineffective’.

16.2.2 Vulnerable Groups Are the Most Affected from Weak

Land Governance

Beinart (Chap. 2) presents a comparative analysis of land tenure issues drawing

from experiences in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Ghana. This analysis
shows that weak land governance systems endanger the land rights and livelihoods
of the most vulnerable groups in these countries. The chapter highlights the unre-
solved question of both governance and tenure security in South Africa in the former
‘homelands’—vast territories set aside by the Apartheid government for ‘separate
development’ and governed by complicit chiefs. These same chiefs now benefit
from this arrangement and often abuse their power to allocate land in these commu-
nities, especially if mining interests come into play. Beinart makes the point that the
land rights of landholders should be certain and secure if we are to avoid arbitrary
dispossession. He makes this observation drawing from the experiences of other
African countries, where he finds that the collective approach to land rights tends
to have detrimental effects for individual citizens. He argues that the Machakos and
Narok experiences in Kenya—where bottom-up privatisation was practised—may
hold pertinent lessons for South Africa. He concludes, though, that neither customary
tenure nor private title are unambiguously effective in providing greater security for
poorer landholders. Both can be vulnerable to those with disproportionate power. The
328 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

answer, as emphasised already, is to build strong institutions that prevent corruption

and abuse in all landholding systems.

16.2.3 The Need to Democratise Land Governance

In similar vein, Bayer—in the third chapter—concludes that successful land reforms
depend on the democratic interaction between citizens and the state. Drawing from
the experience of eight southern African countries formerly colonised by Britain,
Bayer shows that despite de jure improvements on paper, the de facto reality is
that the urban and rural poor still remain largely excluded from equitable access
to land. Procedures by which land reform policies have been implemented tend
to lack transparency, and intended beneficiaries often fail to receive title to land
that has been apparently allocated to them. Efficiency and effectiveness of these
programmes are also often lacking, largely because the land reform sector fails to
engage with private financial institutions. Genuine participatory decision-making
is often lacking, along with a deeper but connected malaise that the rule of law
is not consistently upheld. Zimbabwe is, according to Bayer, a classic example of
the negative impact that accrues from abandoning principles typically associated
with functional democratic land governance. Interestingly, the willing buyer-willing
seller, voluntary resettlement processes favoured by Malawi, Namibia and Zambia
have largely produced positive results. Ultimately, the best way to resolve land reform
issues is through democratic governance institutions that provide the space in which
competing interests can be resolved and the voices of affected citizens can be actively
heard and addressed.

16.2.4 Redressing Land Inequalities Through Effective

Governance

Applying the concept of land governance—the political, policy or decision-making

mechanisms which define how land access or use is configured—Eric Yankson then
tackled the challenging question of land ownership and tenure in Ghana and Namibia.
Each country inherited vastly different colonial institutions, which evidently raises
difficult questions of how land governance can be employed both as a means of
protecting property rights but also executing restitution where necessary. In both
countries, communal ownership is a preeminent theme of land governance. Simul-
taneously, private ownership characterises both contexts too. With regard to restitu-
tion, Yankson rightly identifies that the main question in Namibia is how to redress
historical inequities in rights and ownership, whereas in Ghana the primary concerns
are minimising fragmentation and how to compensate citizens whose land is taken
over by the state, whether private or communal. Yankson concludes that adopting
16 Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues 329

a land governance approach to these two cases allows practitioners to identify and
understand the broad range of historical and contemporary issues at stake. Accu-
rate understanding may produce policy approaches that ultimately deliver both more
equity in addressing past injustice and greater protection of property rights at the
same time.

16.2.5 Political Rhetoric Distracts from the Real Land

Tenure Issues

Sometimes useful approaches, such as the willing buyer-willing seller model

mentioned by Bayer, do not produce the desired response, not necessarily because
the model is deficient, but because the kind of governance structures and processes
required to make it fruitful are lacking. In the fifth chapter, Ben Cousins addressed
the controversial proposal that has been gaining steam in South Africa over the
last four years—the expropriation of privately owned land without the payment of
compensation (EWC). Cousins rightly notes that this simplistic approach is ‘found
wanting’. Indeed there are perhaps stronger assessments one might make, but Cousins
is clear that land reform in the South African context—as Beinart also emphasises—
is complex. It cannot be accomplished through political sentiments that are likely to
serve only a corrupt elite. He locates the recent proposal within the toxic factional
politics of the ruling party and concludes that a narrow focus on the mere mecha-
nisms for (and the costs of) acquiring land for redistribution risks ignoring other more
serious issues and constraints to real land reform. If land policies in South Africa are
to truly benefit the poor—the purported beneficiaries of EWC—then both the poor
and their allies across civil society will have to stand up against policies that are only
likely to benefit a handful of elite groupings. They will also have to ensure that the
government becomes more transparent, capable and accountable. It will also have to
move away from using the land issue as a means of fighting internal factional battles
(within the ANC) and appeasing radical opposition groups, towards actually wanting
to address the real and difficult challenges that persist. In the current context, this
seems unlikely but is not impossible.

16.2.6 Poor Land Administration Increases Tenure Insecurity

If South Africa’s case is mildly despondency-inducing, then the case described by

Blaise Muhire in the sixth chapter is depressing. The Democratic Republic of Congo
is one of the most impoverished countries on earth and while its 2006 Constitu-
tion asserts that private property is sacred and cannot be arbitrarily expropriated
without due process and compensation, the practical reality has proved far different.
Muhire shows that beyond the country’s early independence state-centric obsession
330 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

with gaining sovereignty over its territory, the lack of long-term vision has created
extensive problems. He analyses how multiple governing authorities compete and
overlap in the current land administration set up. Most importantly, though, he shows
that contradictions and ambiguities in existing legislation governing land reform are
intentional, they are leveraged by political elites for their own benefit and to advance
their own interests. While recent initiatives towards a more coherent set of tenure
reforms are to be welcomed, they lack the requisite political will and common agenda
to be productive or gain traction.

16.2.7 Encouraging Productive and Sustainable Use of Land

In the seventh chapter, Moses Moyo explores the impact of Zimbabwe’s controver-
sial Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). His work again exposes that
successful land reform—productivity that actually benefits its apparently intended
beneficiaries—requires sound governance institutions. In Zimbabwe, the FTLRP
distorted the relatively successful and stable equilibrium that had previously charac-
terised the country’s tobacco sector. Following the disastrous FTLRP, the government
promoted tobacco production under contract (instead of the complex but productive
financing arrangements that had previously governed the sector—the cluster model).
The incentives for collaboration and cooperation with each other, which the cluster
model induced, have now collapsed under the contract farming model. In Moyo’s
words, ‘the necessary institutions to manage production and the environment like
the Intensive Conservation Areas (ICAs) (present prior to land reform) disappeared’.
Using the cluster theory, Moyo has shown that while production yields may have
improved in some areas through contract farming, this was a function of short-term
horizons that came at the opportunity cost of optimal land use management. In other
words, we have a paradox of increased production alongside degraded land, with
increasingly land available for future use.

16.2.8 Evaluating the Role of Land Reform Policies

in Securing Land Tenure

In a comparative analysis of land reform theories in Zambia and Ethiopia, the authors
of Chapter 8delineate various competing theories that have influenced land reform
efforts in both countries at one time or another. The authors show that each country—
in remarkably different ways—went through three stages of land reform, and different
theories (or combination of theories) were applied at each stage. They conclude that
Zambia’s attempts at land reform have failed to promote more secure tenure. The
draft land policy of 2006 has still not been finalised. Mandhu and Mashinge argue that
16 Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues 331

Ethiopia’s efforts have been comparatively more successful at ensuring greater secu-
rity of tenure, though significant challenges remain. The authors correctly identify
that employing a particular theory is insufficient for achieving the stated objectives
of any given programme. Identifying and applying the most relevant and applicable
theory for the context (carefully traced, historically) is what increases the probability
of success. One might add that this conclusion reflects a growing consensus in the
development literature more broadly that the application of theoretically derived poli-
cies that do not consider history, and the real distribution of power among competing
groups, are likely to fail (Levy 2014).
It also remains true, of course, as revealed by other authors in this volume, that the
most contextually relevant and applicable theories may have been brought to bear
on formulating law and policies, but their contents may prove enduringly incentive-
incompatible with the interests of the ruling coalition. This is something that practi-
tioners, citizens and civil society will continue to grapple with. From the key issues
discussed in the first part of the book, it is apparent that there is no one-size-fits-
all approach; land tenure challenges have to be addressed bearing in mind the local
context and the real political power play on the ground. Nonetheless, there are general
principles that should ground each context-specific approach. The conclusion that
emerges from this section of the book is that the principles of inclusive, transparent
and effective governance are irreplaceable but not easily implemented. However, it
is at least promising that an emphasis on effective land governance has overtaken
the narrow focus on tenure security in the new land policy reform agenda. This
is not to say that figuring out which tenure systems are most appropriate should be
discarded, but rather that even the most optimal will be obsolete without concomitant
governance improvements.

16.3 Emerging Land Tenure Issues

16.3.1 The Role of the State

One of the central themes which have featured directly as well as indirectly in this
volume is the importance of the state in land relations in Africa. Whether one is
discussing expropriation without compensation in South Africa, the land dynamics
after the Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe or the broader issues of land gover-
nance, the state looms large. But the role of the state in land relations in Africa has
often been ambiguous. This should not be surprising given that the state is a space
populated by people with different (sometimes contradictory views) interests and
ideological leaning. The inconsistent way in which African states have dealt with the
land question has to be understood as a manifestation of the different interests which
inhabit the state-space. However, effective land governance structures and systems
can help reduce the disconnected way that African states have dealt with land tenure
issues.
332 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

There are many instances that manifest the state’s ambiguous way of dealing with
land tenure issues. In general, while in some instances the state has played an active
role in securing land tenure rights for some people on the one hand, on the other
hand, certain policies and actions taken by the state have often tended to weaken
the land rights of some sections of society. In Mozambique for instance, while the
state’s policy of recognising customary land tenure through the DUAT system has
strengthened the land rights of many communities in rural areas, the same govern-
ment has been undermining the land rights of certain communities by allocating
large pieces of land to international investors, leading to the displacement of several
local communities (Kaarhus and Dondeyne 2015). Similarly in Zambia and several
other countries, while the state has clearly recognised customary land tenure and
the administrative roles of the traditional authorities (Wily 2011), a situation which
has the potential to strengthen land tenure rights; the same state, by promoting the
conversion of customary land rights into statutory tenure, is gradually undermining
the rights of many poor rural communities (Chitonge 2019). Several chapters in this
volume have alluded to the ambiguous role of African state when it comes to land
tenure rights. A good example of this is the post-Fast Track Land Reform Programme
in Zimbabwe where the state made land available to many households who had no
access to land before, but the beneficiaries of this FTLRP are reported to have precar-
ious land rights. Chapter2 in this volume has highlighted similar experiences in South
Africa where the land rights of people, especially women, in former homelands have
remained unclear in a context where the state has a full programme aimed at securing
land tenure rights. In fact, the various attempts by the South African government to
enact a bill that regulates land relations in customary areas have been criticised for
seeking to weaken the rights of local people, especially women and the youth.

16.3.2 The Land Governance Agenda

The other major theme that has emerged in this volume is that of the importance of
having effective land governance systems in place. Several chapters have highlighted
the point that securing land rights is difficult to achieve in situations where land gover-
nance structures are weak and ineffective. Chapters 1, 3, 4 and 6 have all pointed to
the importance of having strong and effective public institutions to secure land tenure
rights. Chapter 4 has particularly outlined the different dimensions of what constitutes
effective land governance such as fairness and equity, transparency, accountability,
clearly delineated responsibilities between role players, and the genuine participa-
tion of people in land processes. In the new land policy reform agenda outlined in
Chap. 1, it has been observed that these dimensions are now being institutionalised
in several countries with the hope that this will improve the way land resources are
governed. Given this, it is important that the implementation and outcome of these
efforts should be evaluated to provide useful lessons which can be taken into account
going forward.
16 Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues 333

Whether African countries will make headway in implementing the principles

of effective land governance is yet to be seen. The wide consensus among policy
makers, donors and analysts is that it will be difficult for Africa to enlist the massive
land resource in the fights against poverty, to use land as an instrument for building
resilient, inclusive and sustainable economies, without address the way land resources
are governed. Examples from Namibia, Ghana, DRC, Ethiopia, Zambia and the
broader Southern Africa have all emphasised that having effective land administration
systems is a prerequisite for securing land rights. Situations where land administration
and management systems are weak and disjointed, create tensions, insecure land
tenure rights, conflict and violence. This is highlighted in the second part of this
volume which brings out different dimensions of the struggles for land tenure rights
in different countries.

16.3.3 The Hybrid Model

The other major issue which has emerged from the discussions in this volume is
that addressing the land tenure challenges in Africa requires flexibility, given the
complex nature of the issues. In the past, the dichotomised approach to land tenure
(either customary or statutory) has not taken us far. There are now calls for more
flexible approaches to securing land tenure rights in a way that combines customary
land practices and norms with statutory norms and rules. Experience and lessons from
a number of countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana
show that land tenure rights can be strengthened when traditional practice combines
with principles of statutory land law and administration. This approach which is
now being referred to as the hybrid approach (Hull et al. 2019), operates on the
understanding that land tenure systems are not rigid rules, but flexible norms which
can be adjusted depending on the local situation. Customary land tenure norms and
practices, in particular, have been reported to be flexible and adaptable to changing
situations (Migot-Adolla et al. 1991). For instances, there are now several African
countries that are not relying on the costly cadaster system to document land rights;
traditional ways of documenting and recording land rights using modern technology
have been implemented in Ethiopia and other countries are now following suit using
the Social Tenure Domain Model(STDM, see Lengoiboni et al. 2019). The hybrid
land tenure regime has gained momentum out of the realisation that what secures
tenure is not necessarily a piece of paper in the deeds office or the beacons on the
ground, but the social practice and institutions which validate and regulate land
relations.
334 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

16.3.4 Struggles for Land Tenure Rights

The other key issue emerging out of this volume is that struggles for tenure rights
have continued in many communities. Chapters in this volume show that there are
many different causes of struggles for land tenure rights, but most of the land tenure
struggles point to the lack of an effective land governance and administration systems,
which leave the rights of majority of the people uncertain and vulnerable. Although
the struggles for land tenure rights take different forms in different circumstances,
they are manifested by tension, conflict and sometimes violence between different
groups or between the state agencies and communities. We have seen tensions and
conflict between the Mbororo minorities in the northwest region in Cameroon for
instance (Chap. 14). Land tenure challenges for minorities and other vulnerable
groups have been reported in different countries not just in Cameroon. The failure
to effectively manage land tenure relations has created tension often leading to legal
battles as well as recurrent violent conflict between contending parties. The struggles
for land have often affected the following groups of people:
Minority Groups
There are several cases on the continent in which land rights for minorities have
resulted in tension and conflict between communities. Examples of cases where the
failure to manage and regulate the land rights of minorities have resulted in tension
and struggles over land include the Kunama and Nara people in Eritrea, the Erbore,
Tsema, Karaya, Afar people in Ethiopia; the Karamojong people in South Sudan,
Kenya and Uganda; the Khoimani in South Africa, the San in Botswana; the pygmies
in the DRC and Congo, Tuaregs and the Berbers in Morocco, Algeria and Libya and
some parts of West Africa, are minority groups constantly struggling to affirm their
land tenure rights. Some of the minorities who are struggling to access land rights
are in fact indigenous people, but their rights to land have been rendered precarious
due to weak or ineffective land governance systems. In some cases, it is the state that
weakens the tenure rights of people through legislation and policy which disregards
the interests and plight of minority groups and poor people living on collective land.
i. Pastoral Communities
The struggle for tenure rights is not restricted to minorities, there are other people
on the continent who continue to face real threats of being displaced from their land
or uncertainties around their rights to land. Pastoral communities in different part
of Africa face serious land tenure challenges including the loss of land and liveli-
hood when part of the land they use for grazing is allocated for a different use. In
Morocco, Balgley and Rignall (Chap. 9) have observed that the private investors in
pastoral lands have created pressure and tensions in local pastoral communities as
a result of the state and private investors acquiring part of the collectively owned
land for development projects. Such developments often lead to land tenure uncer-
tainties and struggles by the local communities as they fight to keep their land.
Pastoral communities are particularly vulnerable when land tenure rules are unclear,
16 Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues 335

especially in situations where national and local land administration systems are
weak or poorly coordinated. Private investors and state officials often assume that
the large arid pieces land which pastoralists use are either empty or not optimally
used and therefore open for investment and re-development. Although the invest-
ment decisions are made under the promise that this would bring development and
employment to the area for the benefit of local residents, oftentimes such ventures
bring little benefit to local communities. We have seen this in the context of large
mining projects, construction of dams and now the sustainable energy projects which
are requiring large pieces of land.
ii. Ancestral Land Claims
There are also tenure struggles related to ancestral land claims. While most of these
cases are connected to the colonial land expropriation particularly in countries that
had relatively large settler population like Namibia, South Africa, Algeria, Kenya and
Zimbabwe, there are reports of ancestral lands being taken away from local commu-
nities. Odendaal and Hebinck (Chaps. 12 and 13) have discussed the ancestral land
claims in Namibia highlighting the point that restoration of the rights to ancestral
land for many communities involve complex and lengthy legal battles which most
of the local communities have no resources to engage in, unless they receive support
from non-governmental organisations (NGOs). A well-known case of loss of ances-
tral land is that of the San and baKgalagadi people who have been seeking to restore
ancestral land rights they lost when the government of Botswana created the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve. In South Africa, while there has been an official programme
that handles the land restitution cases, there are many cases which have not yet been
resolved and many are not submitted by affected communities (Hendricks 2013; HLP
2017). For people in displaced communities, the struggles to claim the rights to the
land which they lost have continued in many communities. In most countries, there
are several communities that have lost land in the past and their rights to land have
remained uncertain.
iii. People in Peri-Urban Areas
One of the common instances of struggles for land tenure rights in Africa is around
access to urban land. For many poor communities who live on the margins of African
cities and towns, their land tenure rights are largely uncertain, especially for people in
informal settlements and peri-urban areas (Rakodi and Leduka 2004). Land tenure
security for people in peri-urban areas has become precarious due mainly to the
growing pressure from the rapidly urbanizing African population, leading to rising
demand for commercial and residential land. In most cases, it is peri-urban commu-
nities that are targeted for the developing of real estates to accommodate the growing
urban middle class as well as mansions for the upper class. In Morocco, for example,
the development of luxury real estates in the coastal town of Mehida has created
enormous pressure on communities living on the outskirts of the town (see Chap.9).
When property development projects in peri-urban areas emerge, the land tenure of
people in the surrounding communities is rendered uncertain by investors, usually
with support from the local state.
336 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

Struggles for land tenure rights in urban areas are sometimes a result of the devel-
opment of public infrastructure which require large pieces of land. In some cases, the
development of public and private infrastructure requires local people to move from
their current location, with little compensation if any. The development of airports
in Bouake International Airport (BIA) in Cote d’Ivoire and Blaise Diagne Interna-
tional Airport (BDIA) in Dakar Senegal, highlights some of the tenure insecurities
for local people induced by the development of infrastructure. In the case of Bouake
International Airport, local residents lost part of their land which was annexed to the
airport, while in the case of BDIA, residents had to be evicted for their land to give
way for the new airport. In both cases, while it was argued that the two airports (one
military and the other civilian) were in the public interest, the interest and the tenure
rights of local residents were disregarded by arguing that the land they were occu-
pying was actually state land. Similar cases involving development of infrastructure
either by the state or private investors which lead to tenure insecurity for residents
in peri-urban areas have been reported in many African cities and towns. In cases
where the land is controlled by traditional authorities, it is common for such land to
be sold or leased to investors who then evict local residents (Ubink and Quan 2008;
Ubink 2008). We see many communities in African cities and towns struggling to
affirm their right to land and to the city.
iv. Tenure Security for Land Reform Beneficiaries
Struggles for land tenure rights are common even in post-land reform situations,
where people are resettled on redistributed land. A good example of this is the post-
Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) dynamic in Zimbabwe where the
tenure rights of the beneficiaries of the programme remain ambiguous. Mazwi and
Mudimu (Chap. 11) have shown that the beneficiaries of the FTLRP in Zimbabwe
are still facing many challenges regarding their rights to the land they occupy. In what
they refer to as the state-based tenure, the beneficiaries are given the permission to
occupy the land (and in some cases the offer letter to lease the land). In most instances,
the beneficiaries are not only unaware and uncertain of their rights, but they are also
often threatened with evictions from the land. While the actual incidences of evictions
from the land are rare, majority of the people interviewed (96 percent) indicated that
they have received threats of being evicted from the land. Beneficiaries of FTLRP
have argued that their tenure rights to the land they occupy would be stronger if they
are given titles which they can use to argue their case in the courts. William Beinart
(Chap. 2) has also made a similar observation in the case of land reform in South
Africa where the land redistribution programme has now stopped transferring land to
beneficiaries; instead, a renewable three-year lease arrangement is now the dominant
approach. This arrangement has made the land tenure rights of beneficiaries more
uncertain, with many worried about whether their leases would be renewed when
it expires. Since the government has focused on promoting ‘emerging farmers’, in
cases where a beneficiary does not perform to the satisfaction of the land officials,
the leases are not renewed and the land is allocated to a different farmer (Hornby
et al. 2017).
16 Land Tenure Challenges in Africa: Current and Emerging Issues 337

v. Migrants
Struggles for land tenure in Africa are also common in areas where there are a
large number of migrants, and the struggle is not just between migrants and indige-
nous group, but also within families as the demand for land rises due to increasing
economic value of the land (Berry 2017). Tensions and conflict over land between
migrants and indigenous groups have been reported in different regions of Africa,
especially in the cocoa-growing regions in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. Boone (2017)
has argued that local land conflict involving strangers and ‘sons of the soil’ has
been on-going in the DRC, northern Uganda, some parts of Senegal and parts of
Cote d’Ivoire. She argues that the character of state and local institutions tasked
with administration and management of land plays a significant role in the emer-
gence and duration of such conflicts. Some of these struggles are a result of the
lack of clarity and transparency in the land administration structures and institu-
tions, which often give rise to contradictory decisions between the different actors
including local government officials and traditional authorities (Lund 1998). There
are other different struggles over land tenure rights in Africa including struggles over
women’s land rights, struggles against unequal distribution of rural and urban land,
and struggles against the privatisation of customary land through land grabs by local
elites and international investors (Chitonge et al. 2017).

16.4 Conclusion

When institutions which regulate land tenure rights are weak and riddled with contra-
dictions, the land rights of the majority poor are largely unprotected and unclear. In
such situations, the common tendency has been for a few elites to accumulate more
land leading to land concentration at the expense of the majority of people (Moyo
2008). This often leads to struggles over land and it is people with political connec-
tions whose land rights are secured. It has been widely assumed that what gives
tenure security is a piece of paper like the title or land certificate, but in reality if
the land governance and administrative systems are weak, even the people with title
deeds to land man not be able to defend their rights. It is in this sense that effec-
tive land governance plays an important role in addressing land tenure challenges
including coordination of rules and administrative decisions. In most of the instances
where people struggle for land tenure rights, it is usually a result of the state’s failure
to implement the existing law and policy in a way that protects land tenure rights
of people, especially the vulnerable groups. For instance, in the DRC (and many
other countries), the Constitution provides that no one shall be deprived of the land
except for public interest (see Chap.6), and yet many people have lost their land
with little recourse. Most countries in Africa already have laws and policies which
are meant to regulate land administration and management (Wily 2011), but most
of these are not implemented due to lack of effective land governance systems in
place. There has also been a widespread belief that the main challenge regarding
338 H. Chitonge and R. Harvey

land tenure in Africa is tenure dualism or pluralism, with customary land or other
non-westerns tenure systems widely seen to be problematic and outdated (see Peters
2004). Tenure dualism can actually be addressed if there are effective land governance
systems and structures; it does not pose any threat to tenure security. There are several
examples highlighted in this volume of relatively successful land administration and
management approaches which have utilised the flexibility of land tenure systems
to put in place structures that ensure clarity and security of tenure for many people.
Many countries are now trying to learn from successful examples in Mozambique,
Botswana and Ethiopia where flexible tenure regimes which protect the land rights
of local residents and communities while at the same time making land available for
investment and development, have been implemented. Securing land tenure rights
while at the same time ensuring that land is used productively for people to derive
sustainable livelihoods, will require getting the land governance systems right. While
in the past the land policy reforms and legal frameworks solely focused on the narrow
issue of securing tenure, there are indications that land policies on the continent have
now begun to highlight the importance of effective land governance as a crucial vari-
able if land is to contribute to creating sustainable and inclusive economies, able to
contribute to poverty alleviation and promote sustainable use of land. Achieving the
objective of inclusive growth and sustainable use of land will continue to be difficult
to realise if land governance systems remain weak and ineffective.

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