Political Economy of Land and Conflicts

Political Economy of Land and Conflicts June 28 – July 1, 2010, Siem Reap, Cambodia By Remy Sietchiping CAPRi Workshop on Collective Action, Property Rights, and Conflict in Natural Resources Management

Contents
We all know: land and conflicts nexus
Why securing land rights for all matters
Continuum of land rights and conflicts
Gender and conflicts
Political economy of land conflicts

UN-Habitat: land and conflicts
Human settlements programme
Urban agency (nexus conflicts and cities’ issues)
Linking Brown and Green agenda
Land related publications, projects and programme (e.g. Safer Cities)
Three main units working on land and conflicts:
Land, Tenure and Property Administration
Disaster, Post-Conflict
Urban Governance

Reminding ourselves
Land = Life-livelihoods/wealth/death
Natural resources are depleting
Population is growing
Demand for land and land-based resources is increasing
Conflicts over land and its resources are on the rise
Land is multifunctional: social, eco, env, cultural, historical, emotional, and political
The driver or outcome of conflicts is ultimately about POWER

Examples of Key questions
What is the role of power, politics and patronage on land conflicts?
Are land conflicts mostly about property rights or land tenure systems?
How important is it to understand the various needs of and demands over land and its resources?
How can governance of tenure and natural resources play out in conflicts?
How competing interests over land are resolved?

Gender, land rights and conflicts
Women land rights are further eroded during and after conflicts
Power relationship between men and women are often skewed
Women & children tend to be at the receiving end and weaker during and after the conflicts

Property or land rights OR

Land rights and property rights
Property rights often imply ‘ownership’
Tenure may imply relationship and rights ( own, use, access, transfer, etc.) and nest of options
No piece land (property) for everybody, but land rights for all (the law can led you down); equitable access to nat. resources
Burundi is overpopulated. Adverse possession law can be an obstacle for returnees, thus fuelling conflicts (e.g. unresolved grievances and equity) How to address original occupants and current occupiers

Reconciling legal and legitimacy
Avoid the clash between socially accepted tenure arrangements and practices vs formal property rights
In Kenya Post-election violence (2007 up to now) caused massive displacements-IDPs. Land policy formulation and the draft constitution are attempting to address these issues

Conflict management: Enumeration approach

Tenure systems: enumeration approach
Know your land rights
Systematic collection of claims (participatory/collective enumeration)
Enumeration for relocation & resettlement (e.g. Bossaso, Somalia )
e.g . land centre, Ituri DRC

Tenure systems: enumeration approach
Claim database: who claims the land? Which parcel of land is claimed? What type of entitlement does he/she claim? Who has access to what resources or not?
Re/build trust

Skewed land access and armed conflicts
How inequitable access to land and natural resources are contributing to conflicts in SAA
Nigeria Delta region over Oil
Bakasi ( Cameroon vs Nigeria ) over oil
Angola over Diamonds
Democratic Rep. Congo ‘ natural resources cursed’
Darfur (Sudan) access to water, pasture and transit routes
It is critical to understand rebel groups motives and identify the central of powers

Continuum of rights: not one size fits all

Bridging the divide with Continuum of land rights
Recognising that men and women can access land for the range of purposes
Formal and informal tenure systems can co-exist ( legal pluralism )
Legitimate form of tenure arrangements are preferred where governance is weak
Various property rights and tenure regimes can co-exist in the same space
Informal not written (un-recorded) does not mean inexistent

Securing land rights not necessary property
Land rights also call for responsibilities
Conflicts also mean displacements, not necessary loss of land rights and resp.
South Sudan : the length of conflict makes it hard to identify to who the property ‘belongs’ to. E.g. occupation and use rights are methods to prevent further conflicts.
Somalia : Letter of allotment signed by legitimate representation is the first evidence of rights

Post conflicts and land claims
How to address overlapping set of claims?

Examples
Map out the existing tenure arrangements ( DRC ) and centre of power
Identify various land rights holders
Get local leaders and relevant centres of power involved ( South Sudan )
Consider creating mediation centres and alternative/legitimate dispute resolution mechanisms ( DRC )
Gradually legitimate and institutionalise the practices ( South Sudan, DRC )

Political economy of land and gender
Example of simple checklist: Between man and women in post/conflict situation:
Who is likely to have access to land and its resources?
Whose rights/land are likely to be secured/safeguarded?
Who makes decision?
What is the level of participation in decision making?
Who enforces agreements?
Who has access to what institutions (e.g. Conflicts resolution)

Women’s ‘right’ (not) to own, and greater need for use and access
Property can be socially constructed and may refer to ownership and stewardship
In Northern Uganda , conflict has caused over 90% displacement; land resettlement program (driven from ownership) does not include women as they do not have the right to ‘own’.
Ethiopian certification program has reduced conflicts in cases where the name of men and women are on the Certificate

Political economy of land
‘ process by which decisions are made regarding the access to, and use of, land, the manner in which those decisions are implemented and the way that conflicting interests in land are reconciled ’ FAO, 2009
Some pointers
Who is benefiting/losing from the decisions and the conflicts? [ Whose land is this anyway? ]
How ‘equitable’ these benefits and loses distributed?
How land conflicts generate new centres of power and how they can be managed?
How political and economic patronage plays out in pre/post- conflicts? (e.g. concessions)?
How various interests over land managed?

Political economy in practice
When a community group is disfranchised , one can draw from ‘ genuine’ grievances , and link to political and economic elites (internal or external), the governance is ‘weak ’, the situation is ripped for conflicts (e.g. Delta region-Nigeria , Southern Sudan, Cabinda-Angola )
Relying on legitimate means of resolving conflict can pay dividends (e.g. Customary tenured based mediation in Uganda, written consensus on local rules in Niger )

Political economy of land and Poverty
73% of the bottom billion have been or are in conflicts (Collier, 2007).
(Equitable) economic growth reduces incidences of land and natural conflicts (e.g. Sub-Saharan countries)
Avoid nepotism, patronage, poor governance, all can contribute in preventing conflicts and minimise their recurrence

Political economy and institutions
Need for trusted, reliable and legitimate instruments, leaders, powers, etc.
Decentralised land administration for dispute resolution has been found effective: community-based adjudication, local land tribunal, local land boards, (e.g. Rwanda , Namibia , Kenya ).
Legitimate institutions could be formal, customary, religious, etc. (e.g. Gacaca courts in Rwanda handle land disputes)

Securing land rights for all is GOOD for conflict prevention and management
Understand and map out shifting centres of power and various interest groups
Gender and land rights (access and use) are important
Socially and legitimate mechanisms are worthwhile
Political economy is critical especially where poverty, weak governance and injustice prevail
Wrapping up (5 points)

Know more (UN-Habitat references)?
2007: A Post-Conflict Land Administration and Peace-Building Handbook: Volume 1 –Countries with Land Records.
2008: Secure land rights for all
2009: Quick-Guide to Post-Conflict Land Issues,
2010: Count me in: Surveying for tenure security and urban management.
Also available here:
www.gltn.net or www.unhabitat.org

http://unjobs.org	2
http://users.unjobs.org	1
http://mgmt.talkingvillage.com	1
http://mytutor.tut.ac.za	1

Political Economy of Land and Conflicts

by CAPRi on Aug 04, 2010

Accessibility

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

4 Embeds 5

Statistics

Political Economy of Land and Conflicts — Presentation Transcript