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2. Land governance and displacement in Zimbabwe: The case of Chilonga Communal Area, Chiredzi District
- Author:
- Malvern Kudakwashe Marewo, Senzeni Ncube, and Horman Chitonge
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Africa Governance Papers (TAGP)
- Institution:
- Good Governance Africa (GGA)
- Abstract:
- This article investigates the effect on rural livelihoods of the displacement of people in Chilonga communal area in Zimbabwe. Various studies in Africa, including Zimbabwe, have shown that land displacements happen where the political elite, in collusion with multinational companies and powerful individuals, take advantage of weak land governance systems particularly in communal areas to displace people. Lack of title over land, which is mostly vested in the state, makes communal areas most vulnerable to displacement. This is evident in the current case study of Chilonga, where various statutory instruments have been enforced to evict people. The Chilonga displacement, enforced by the state to accommodate large-scale lucerne farming, ignores that land is a source of livelihoods and identity for communal area dwellers. It has also shown that people from communal areas have limited freedom to resist displacement that curtails access and use of land. We argue that the Chilonga case study illustrates our contention that, where African land governance is weak, political elites and their connections use it to achieve narrow interests regardless of the impact on communal area dwellers through displacement and loss of livelihoods.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Governance, Displacement, Rural, Elites, Land Reform, Livelihoods, and Communal Areas
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Zimbabwe
3. Fast-track land reform, politics and social capital: The case of Rouxdale farm in Zimbabwe
- Author:
- Senzeni Ncube
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Africa Governance Papers (TAGP)
- Institution:
- Good Governance Africa (GGA)
- Abstract:
- This article investigates the effect of the politicisation of land on the social capital and agricultural livelihoods of beneficiaries of the A1 villagised model of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). The model allocates individual arable and residential plots to beneficiaries, while they share grazing land, social infrastructure and services. Beneficiaries rely on social capital to access resources for agricultural production. Proponents of the FTLRP have portrayed the model as successful because it creates livelihoods. Missing in these studies is the politicisation of land through reallocation of land within the model to advance individual political interests, and its effect on livelihoods. The resultant strain on social capital negatively affects agricultural production, which depends on it heavily. The article argues that Zimbabwe’s top-down land governance system leaves it open to manipulation by politically connected individuals in the service of their own personal and political interests. It further argues that this weakness in the governance system is due to the fact that the state owns the land, which means that beneficiaries of the programme do not have the power to challenge the decisions of politicians and bureaucrats.
- Topic:
- Politics, Governance, Social Capital, Elites, Land Reform, and Livelihoods
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Zimbabwe
4. Tracking Reforms in Land Leasing and Change in Land Use: Insights From Gujarat and Karnataka
- Author:
- Ankit Bhatia
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- As India’s economy has become more urban and industrialized, property and land rights have evolved, too. In the states of Gujarat and Karnataka, key reforms in land leasing and change in land use show what may—and what may not—be a path forward. India is primarily an agrarian society. More than 60 percent of its population is dependent on agriculture and allied services and dwells in rural areas. In the past couple of decades, India has attempted to shift away from its rural-agrarian base toward an urban-industrialized economy. In this journey, it encountered many challenges, but none remain as severe and persistent as the ones related to the assignment and balancing of land and property rights. Land governance in India remains historically complex, politically sensitive, and economically inefficient. In recent times, state governments have attempted proactive measures to reform the sector and bring greater efficiency to land markets. Despite the exigency of these reforms, issues surrounding equity, abuse of power, and nexus among powerbrokers remain central and require thorough analysis. To unpack the fuller effects of the recent reforms, this paper aims to examine key reforms in land leasing and change in land use sub-sectors initiated by Gujarat and Karnataka states. The paper takes a comparative assessment approach to decipher the nuances and complexities of land governances in the two states. Given that land has deep historical connections, this paper briefly delves into the historical evolution of land leasing and change in land use regulation in the two states. The historical analysis highlights the political economy context of each sector and is followed by an in-depth review of the recent reforms. The paper covers reforms effectuated through legislative, executive, and judiciary actions. This approach allows a comprehensive tracking of different mechanisms at play. The paper brings out some interesting findings. In both the states, the change in land use sub-sector was able to reform more frequently than the land leasing sub-sector. Despite both states relying upon all three branches of government to initiate reforms, executive action was used most frequently. On occasion, the judiciary played a critical role, especially when lower branches passed judgments that provided windfall relaxation to the protective regulation. Further, the paper finds that most reforms were not structural in nature; they were merely attempts to ease the restrictions on the transfer of agricultural land. In a complete departure from past objectives, recent reforms attempted to dilute the protective framework of land leasing and change in land use regulation. It is understandable that socioeconomic and political realities have shifted and the archaic regulation may not serve its intended purpose. However, the recent reforms have failed to show a concrete new direction. Instead, they largely focused on allowing a greater transfer of land resources to industries, pushing toward more capital-intensive agriculture, and promoting digitalization of land-related governance and public service delivery.
- Topic:
- Reform, Economy, Urban, and Land Reform
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
5. A Hard Rain'? Reforming the Civil Service
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
- Abstract:
- In this video, the first in our season on the future of British democracy, Robert Saunders (MEI Co-Director) hosts Hugh Pemberton (The Official History of the British Civil Service), Wendy Williams (Lessons Learned Review into the Windrush Scandal) and Jill Rutter (Senior Research Fellow, The UK in a Changing Europe).
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Democracy, Civil Servants, Land Reform, and Civil Services
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
6. Governance and Land Reform in the Palm Oil Value Chain in the Philippines
- Author:
- Caroline Hambloch
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
- Abstract:
- The chain literature (Global Commodity Chains/Value Chains/Production Networks) have remained surprisingly silent about the role of land as a factor of production. I use fieldwork experience from the palm oil industry in Agusan del Sur, Philippines to illustrate the way in which the buyer-driven nature of the chain interacts with a major institutional change, namely the redistributive land reform, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). I argue that the CARP has not resulted in the desired redistribution of power from the landed to the landless, but reinforces the unequal distribution of power between plantation/milling companies and beneficiaries, producing economic and social downgrading trajectories for reform beneficiaries and farmworkers.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Governance, Reform, Land, and Land Reform
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Philippines
7. Dossier 11: The Homemade Politics of Abahlali baseMjondolo, South Africa’s Shack Dweller Movement
- Author:
- Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Abstract:
- The shack-dwellers’ movement– Abahlali baseMjondolo, or AbM— is among the organizations of the world’s poor and dispossessed fighting for land reform and dignity. Despite waves of repression by the state, AbM membership now numbers over 50,000 in settlements across the country since their founding in 2006. In an interview with Tricontinental Institute, Zikode talks about the essence of AbM—what they are fighting for, who they are, what they have achieved, and what we can learn from them.
- Topic:
- Politics, Community, Mobilization, Land Reform, and Grassroots Organizing
- Political Geography:
- Africa and South Africa
8. From the Ground Up: Multi-Level Accountability Politics in Land Reform in the Philippines
- Author:
- Francis Isaac, Danilo Carranza, and Joy Aceron
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
- Abstract:
- In 1988, the Philippines enacted a land redistribution policy known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). After almost three decades of implementation, an estimated 13 percent of the land targeted for redistribution remains in the hands of powerful landlords. This paper investigates the contestation involved in the implementation of agrarian reform through the lens of multi-level accountability politics. The Philippines’ longstanding campaign for agrarian reform has been led mainly by peasant organizations with deep links to the democracy movement. Following the transition from martial law to electoral politics in 1986, a broad coalition was able to secure the legislation of meaningful agrarian reform. Yet landlord power and impunity have managed to slow reform implementation. For decades, the peasant movement has struggled to push the government to implement its own laws, which involves direct conflict with landlords and their allies in government. In contrast to much of the research literature on accountability initiatives, which focuses on public goods and service provision, this study addresses the more openly contested process of implementing redistributive reform. The case of the Peasant Movement of Bondoc Peninsula (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula, KMBP) sheds light on the contest over implementing land reform in the Philippines. This study narrates the struggle of KMBP through the lens of vertical integration—how campaigns target different levels of governance (village, municipality, national, etc.) to achieve meaningful change. Using vertical integration, the paper uses a new mapping tool to identify the wide variety of actions taken by KMBP and its partners, the level of governance they have targeted, and the level of intensity in which they were pursued. The Bondoc peasant movement worked to persuade the government to carry out its own land reform commitments, leading to the transfer of 10,000 hectares of land from some of the biggest landlords in the area to 3,800 tillers. This study shows how peasant organizations built their campaign from the ground up, starting around particular villages and landholdings and then building coalitions operating at the municipal, district, and national levels. This has allowed peasants to exert pressure on different levels of government, at times aided by national-level civil society organizations and media coverage. In a novel approach, the paper also maps the similarly vertically integrated efforts of anti-accountability forces— those with a vested interest in blocking reform. Owners of large landholdings have responded with harassment, physical violence, vote buying and political maneuvering to undermine reform implementation. The conventional approach to the study of accountability initiatives either leaves out the opposition or treats it as a mere residual category. The approach developed here, by analyzing the opposition through a multi-level lens, brings the anti-accountability forces and their strategies into the framework. This mapping of anti-accountability forces reveals their power to be also vertically integrated. Landlord resistance to policy implementation has been especially intense at the village and municipal levels, but they have also undertaken lobbying at the national level. Their coalition-building strategy even includes unlikely alliances with Maoist rebels, when their interests align. In addition to spotlighting the central role of peasant mobilization in promoting redistributive policy implementation, this paper’s broader takeaway emphasizes the relevance of analyzing accountability initiatives through mapping the varied repertoires of both pro- and anti-accountability forces.
- Topic:
- Politics, Accountability, Mobilization, Land Reform, and Community Engagement
- Political Geography:
- Philippines and Asia-Pacific
9. Land Reform in Ukraine
- Author:
- Valeriya Klymenko
- Publication Date:
- 01-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- National Security and Defence
- Institution:
- Razumkov Centre
- Abstract:
- Land reform in Ukraine lasts for over 20 years now – slow, contradictory, with numerous violations of interests and rights of rural workers and existing laws. During 1990’s - early 2000’s, most of the villagers became the owners of land parcels, but were left with no means for land cultivation and no funds for their purchase (in particular, due to the loss of savings and galloping inflation in the early 1990’s, as well as due to a time-gap between distribution of former collective lands and the actual distribution of collective farms property among the new landowners). As a result, the villagers – sometimes not voluntarily and not always to the tenant of their choice – were forced to lease out their lands. According to the Razumkov Centre’s survey results, as of February 2012, about 52% of landowners leased out their land parcels, and only 7% of them were fully satisfied with leasing terms, another 7% – did not really know who they lease out their land to, 36% – were unaware how much their tenants should be paying them. At the same time, private ownership rights to land of rural workers are not absolute, since the disposal of land is restricted to inheritance and/or sale for public or community needs. As a result, no one is entitled to buy an agricultural land. This situation has emerged as a result of the moratorium on sale and purchase of agricultural land, introduced in 1992. It remains in power for over 20 years now. During this time, the issue of agricultural land market – one of the most controversial and politicized issues in Ukraine – has been widely discussed. However, even today, it seems there is no actual or expected consensus on the issue either in the society or among political forces.
- Topic:
- Government, Public Policy, Land Reform, and Farmers
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Ukraine