Land Grab Refocus. 

Roots and Possible Demise of Land Grabbing

PANGEA has prepared an informative report focused on the contentious issue of land grabbing. The aim of the report is to identify the true basis for land grabbing, and further, to illustrate through the provision of examples that it is not a solely a biofuels problem as recent publications might suggest. In reality, biofuels play a relatively small role in the occurrence of land grabs but that does not eliminate industry’s responsibility to avoid them.

The study investigated the current situation in three Sub-Saharan African countries and discovered that the majority of land grabs are to a large extent, the result of an inadequate land tenure system and weaknesses in the public law and institutional framework of the countries. The countries investigated are: Ethiopia, Mali and Sierra Leone. The findings common to the three case studies, are as follows:

• All three countries exhibited a lack of secure land rights – Even though the countries analysed do recognise land rights, the implementation, protection and enforcement of those rights was not always found to be in place.

• All three countries exhibited a lack of a functional and consistent institutional framework – The lack of a formal and uniform institutional framework, be it customary or legal, or a combination, results in unclear guidelines for carrying out, monitoring and enforcing land deals. There is no way to define and ensure accountability of parties, or to define and enforce safeguards to vulnerable populations and to ensure a proper level of compensation to displaced people.

• All three countries exhibited a lack of transparency in land deals – Lack of access to documentation and terms of deals renders public scrutiny impossible. Without a clear process of auditing and accountability conditional requirements are worthless.

• All three countries exhibited a lack of consistent community consultation  – Although some of the countries require community consultation, there is in many instances no evidence that those have been carried out.

• All three countries exhibited a lack of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and/or Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) – Even though EIAs and EISAs are statutorily required, research shows the requirement is not consistently enforced.

Following the discovery of weaknesses common to these three countries which contribute to the ease with which incidences of landgrabbing can occur, the report makes recommendations to various stakeholders involved in the land acquisition process.

Recommendations for Host Governments:

1. Strengthen the country’s tenure system by: carrying out comprehensive land use planning; strengthening land rights via land certification and registration; improving monitoring and enforcement of laws and investment requirements; ensuring transparency and public scrutiny of deals.
2. Ensure accountability – governments should be accountable to the people they represent. Good governance principles should not be ignored in land tenure systems. 

Recommendations for the Investors:

1. Understand local tenure system, including its weaknesses – there is no excuse for not understanding or ignoring local laws to increase its own benefit.
2. Conduct inclusive and extensive social and environmental assessments and follow its recommendations;
3. Sign up to recognised certification schemes to make sure product was produced sustainably and contributed to the development of local community;
4. If the costs of sustainable and fair production are not economically viable, then perhaps the project should not be carried out.

Recommendations for Host Communities and Civil Society:

1. Work with local groups to help inform, educate and support their claims to land and to make sure they have representation;
2. Create incentives for skill transfer – legal, representative – so locals can advocate on behalf of vulnerable communities;
3. It is necessary that local communities embrace their voice and capacity to influence land deals

To read the full report, please click here

Biofuels Digest said this about the new report: Into a fray largely defined by name-calling and panic-stirring, PANGEA has published a report that offers “a jug of cool spring water to a perplexed conclave,” as Churchill once described the debating gifts of Lord Birkenhead.

PANGEA’s report has been included in the list of research papers on the website of the International Land Coalition. To access the website, please click here.