Land governance and women’s rights in large-scale land acquisitions in Cameroon

Fonjong, Lotsmart; Sama-Lang, Irene; Fombe, Lawrence F.; Abonge, Christiana

doi:10.1080/09614524.2016.1162285

Cited by 28 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The approach used by foreign investors to acquire land in Cameroon has been widely criticized, and described as topdown, elite dominated, corrupt, and gender-biased (Fonjong et al, 2015(Fonjong et al, , 2016. As per the national constitution, all untitled land belongs to the state.…”

Section: The Approach Used In Negotiating Large Land Dealsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Cameroon, existing research on this topic has tended to focus on the nature and impact of land grabs (Cotula et al, 2009;Feintrenie et al, 2014;Fonjong et al, 2015;Greenpeace USA, 2013;Linder, 2013; Nature Cameroon [NC], 2011;SEFE, 2012SEFE, , 2015Vermeulen & Cotula, 2010), the processes involved (Fonjong et al, 2015), and its implication on women (Fonjong et al, 2016). Other scholars have examined not only the contested legality of LSLA in the country (for example, see Fernando, 2013) but also how the law enables Ndi 3 or constrains accountability in land investment processes (Cotula et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their demands coincide with community desires for social and infrastructure development (such as village halls, roads, piped water, vocational schools, and scholarship schemes). I follow Ruth Hall et al, in arguing that some people will always try to participate or benefit from land acquisition (Hall et al, 2015).In Cameroon, existing research on this topic has tended to focus on the nature and impact of land grabs (Cotula et al, 2009;Feintrenie et al, 2014;Fonjong et al, 2015;Greenpeace USA, 2013;Linder, 2013; Nature Cameroon [NC], 2011;SEFE, 2012SEFE, , 2015Vermeulen & Cotula, 2010), the processes involved (Fonjong et al, 2015), and its implication on women (Fonjong et al, 2016). Other scholars have examined not only the contested legality of LSLA in the country (for example, see Fernando, 2013) but also how the law enables Ndi 3 or constrains accountability in land investment processes (Cotula et al, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Land Grabbing, Local Contestation, and the Struggle for Economic Gain

Ndi

2017

SAGE Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines why peasant communities in South West Cameroon have contested a U.S.-based company's intentions to establish an agro-industrial palm oil plantation in their region. Land investments in the form of agro plantations, if not properly conceived, negotiated, and implemented, pose a series of threats to the ecological, cultural, and economic stability among peasant farming communities, who depend on land and forest resources for their livelihood. Using Nguti as a case study, this article argues that local communities do not oppose investment in land but they contest projects that attempt to alienate them from their sources of livelihood without providing alternatives. The study also demonstrates how local communities, despite being critical of the project, struggle with the company through their relations with government, to demand new social contracts and/or memoranda that could offer them greater opportunities as economic partners. The article concludes that for palm oil plantations to be economically equitable, local communities' incorporation is necessary to safeguard rural livelihoods and to ensure that provisions are made for adequate compensation and alternative sources of livelihood.Keywords large land acquisition, local contestation, incorporation, rural livelihoods, SW Cameroon 2 SAGE Open land-related rights and resources by corporate (business, non-profit, or public) entities for various uses (White, Borras, Hall, Scoones, & Wolford, 2012). These acquisitions are not necessarily about enormous tracts of land, or mega-projects, but can emerge from an amalgamation of smaller acquisitions that add up to a significant "grab" and that may displace existing land users and land uses.This study uses LSLA interchangeably with "land grabbing" not only in recognition of the fact that the debates on terminology are ongoing and contentious (see also Doss, Summerfield, & Tsikata, 2014) but also because of the processes involved and their impact on local communities. Even though both terminologies are used, land grabbing is a more accurate term for this study because of the shady nature of the land deals, and the company's inability to respect certain criteria for responsible land investment and good governance, for example, lack of proper social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA).Foreign land acquisition occurs through many different ways, and for different purposes, producing a variety of outcomes (Hall et al., 2015;Wolford, 2010). However, Lorenzo Cotula and others have argued that unequal power relations between foreign investors and national African governments lead to land deals that favor the investors (Cotula et al., 2014). Most of the time, the local gains do not materialize (Anseeuw, 2013;O'Brien, 2011). Critical literature identifies cases where the greatest impacts are felt by the poorest of the poor-those forest-dependent and pastoralist populations who are dispossessed and left without other options to farm or graze livestock (Cotula et al., 2014;De Schutter, 2012;Mope ...

show abstract

Section: The Approach Used In Negotiating Large Land Dealsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Land Grabbing, Local Contestation, and the Struggle for Economic Gain

Ndi

2017

SAGE Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Women Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Forestales Vol. 8 (44) have less bargain power vis-à-vis governmental authorities or investors, and have unequal representation in negotiations, so quite often they lack adequate information and are left out of consultation processes and decision making (Daley, 2011;Daley and Pallas, 2014;Fonjong et al, 2016). When compensation exists, jobs and lump sum cash payments are mostly directed to men, while environmental impacts (i.e.…”

Section: Revista Mexicana De Ciencias Forestalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When compensation exists, jobs and lump sum cash payments are mostly directed to men, while environmental impacts (i.e. increased difficulties to access water, fuel, edible plants and common property), which are usually overlooked or downplayed, affect women the most Mutopo, 2012;Behrman et al, 2012;Ossome, 2014;Wisborg, 2014;Fonjong et al, 2016).…”

Section: Revista Mexicana De Ciencias Forestalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land grabbing in Mexico: extent, scale, purpose and novelty

García¹

2017

RMCF

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The expression "land grabbing" has been used to describe large scale land transactions in developing nations; buyers or contractors usually are governments or companies of industrialized nations. This paper addresses the extension, scale, purpose and novelty of land grabbing, as well as two major debates around this issue: the contribution of land transactions (if any) to rural development; the role of rural actors in the process. The paper focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean, with particular emphasis on Mexico. Land grabbing in the region involves not only the production of "flex crops", but also "commodity grabs" and "green grabs".Mexico presents a very high concentration and foreignization of the agricultural chain value, which is expressed in various forms of contract agriculture. Current processes of land grabbing are different from others occurring in the past because they are a new way to respond to the multiple dimensions of the global crisis:financial, food, energy and climate. The paper concludes that more research is Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Forestales Vol. 8 (44) needed on the impacts of land grabbing on rural communities, particularly from a differentiated and comparative approach capable of highlighting regional, class, age, and gender disparities.

show abstract

Large-scale land acquisitions aggravate the feminization of poverty: findings from a case study in Mozambique

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The local implications of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs), commonly referred to as land grabs, are at the center of an exponential production of scientific literature that only seldom focuses on gender. Our case study aims to contribute to filling this analytical gap. Based on structured interviews and focus groups, we investigate local experiences in the lower Limpopo valley in Mozambique, where a Chinese investor was granted 20,000 hectares in 2012. Our findings show that land access in the affected area varied prior to land seizure due to historical land use differences and after land seizure mainly due to non-universal compensation. Furthermore, we show that as farming conditions deteriorate, a trend toward both the feminization of smallholder farming and the feminization of poverty is consolidated. Succinctly, as available land becomes increasingly constricted, labor is allocated differently to alternative activities. This process is by no means random or uniform among households, particularly in a context in which women prevail in farm activities and men prevail in off-farm work. As men disengage further from smallholder farming, women remain directly dependent on fields that are smaller and of worse quality or reliant on precarious day labor in the remaining farms. We contend that the categories female-headed and male-headed households, although not inviolable, are useful in explaining the different implications of LSLAs in areas in which gender strongly substantiates individuals' livelihood alternatives.

show abstract

Land governance and women’s rights in large-scale land acquisitions in Cameroon

Cited by 28 publications

References 7 publications

Land Grabbing, Local Contestation, and the Struggle for Economic Gain

Land Grabbing, Local Contestation, and the Struggle for Economic Gain

Land grabbing in Mexico: extent, scale, purpose and novelty

Large-scale land acquisitions aggravate the feminization of poverty: findings from a case study in Mozambique

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About