Traditional landholding institutions and individual ownership of land rights in sub-Saharan Africa

Abdulai, Raymond Talinbe; Antwi, Adarkwah

doi:10.1504/wrstsd.2005.007690

Cited by 15 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…In many African countries, control over land rights is a means of accumulating and dispensing political as well as economic power and privilege, through patronage, nepotism and corruption, and so addressing these issues is critical to improving land governance (Kironde, 2009). African countries have been subject to colonialism, and therefore there are mainly two types of land supply or tenure systems: (a) formal/State land tenure systems based on the real property law of the colonial masters of the respective African countries; and (b) customary/traditional land tenure systems, which originate from indigenous societies (Abdulai and Antwi, 2005). In the State land sector, the State holds the land in trust for its citizenry and so has to manage the land prudently in the public interest.…”

Section: Need For Good Land Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A historical account of indigenous and pre-colonial settlement of African ethnic groups and the evolution of land rights among such ethnic groups has been comprehensively described by Iliffe (1995), whose work has been reviewed by Abdulai (2010), Abdulai and Antwi (2005) and West (2000). Generally, the treatise shows how attitudes towards land as both a living space and a recognisable corporate resource originated and subsequently developed among African ethnic groups.…”

Section: Development Of Land Rights Among African Ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual access to land for any purpose depended on membership of a particular community, which held the land corporately under a family head, ethnic group head or chief (West, 2000). These corporate heads allocated land rights to members of the group or non-members, often referred to as "strangers" (Abdulai, 2010;Abdulai and Antwi, 2005). Traditionally, no cash payment was made for such rights; instead, a token payment was often made (Payne, 1997).…”

Section: Development Of Land Rights Among African Ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This token payment is referred to as "drink money" in Ghana and "cattle or beer money" in some other countries in Africa. However, as pressure on traditional property rights in land increased with population growth and urbanisation, this token payment tended to increase to the extent that it approximated to the open market value of land (Abdulai and Antwi, 2005).…”

Section: Development Of Land Rights Among African Ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rwanda's land tenure reform: non-existent to best practice

Ngoga¹

2018

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References 114vi FOREWORD Redefining expectations: Rwanda's transformational land tenure reformThe Rwandan authorities have swiftly and cheaply created enforceable legal titles to every plot of land in the country. In this, Rwanda is wholly exceptional: in most poor countries, land rights are confused and contested. The failure to clarify land rights is hugely costly: fundamental processes of investment are stalled, especially in cities. Rwanda shows that this is entirely avoidable. Many other governments need to learn from it, and this book will enable them to do so. It is both important and liberating: the Rwandan authorities were able to succeed because they thought for themselves, rather than attempting to copy a donor blueprint. Thierry knows how public officials came up with simple yet ingenious local solutions to a major global problem because he was in the kitchen: part of the team transforming goals into reality.Land reform is both the greatest challenge and the most promising opportunity for developing countries today. Effective land use provides a platform for productive activity and service delivery -creating jobs and raising living standards not just for landowners, but for citizens at large. However, weak land rights in many countries undermine this potential. Competing claims on land, complexity of land transfer, and limited planning and taxation of these assets limit both private and public investment. Land is frozen in unproductive uses -at a considerable cost to the economy. Active policy to strengthen land rights can change this.Effective land rights serve three functions: security, marketability and legal enforceability. By providing security of future ownership, land rights allow owners to make significant investments in their land without fear of being dispossessed. By allowing land to be bought and sold by a market, land is able to be transferred to its most productive use, transforming it to meet rapidly changing needs. And for security and marketability to work in practice, legal enforcement of land rights through courts, policy and public records is needed. This includes legal enforcement of private land rights, as well as public land rights that enable governments to tax and plan land for the public good. While informal systems of tenure can provide a degree of security, they can be difficult to enforce and transact. Legally enforceable rights are essential for economic development.I have a long list of friends and colleagues who have encouraged me to write this book, persevere with it, and finally to publish it.

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Section: Need For Good Land Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development Of Land Rights Among African Ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development Of Land Rights Among African Ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development Of Land Rights Among African Ethnic Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Rwanda's land tenure reform: non-existent to best practice

Ngoga¹

2018

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show abstract

“…In Ghana, the traditional landownership system operates alongside the state system (Abdulai, 2006;Abdulai & Antwi, 2005;Antwi, 2000;Larbi, 1994). In the former system, land is owned and controlled by communities represented by chiefs and families referred to as customary landholding institutions.…”

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 99%