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African land disputes arise primarily as a result of forced removals – research

24th February 2017

By: David Oliveira

Creamer Media Staff Writer

     

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Research released earlier this month by UK-based consultancy TMP Systems, and the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) found that 63% of disputes related to private-sector land and natural resources in Africa start because communities are forced to leave their land.

The research explores investment-based conflicts in East, West and Southern Africa, and compares them with similar conflicts worldwide. The research was released at a panel event in Dakar, Senegal, alongside RRI’s Annual Review of the global state of land and resource rights.

“African governments are competing for investment to spur economic development and improve living standards,” says TMP Systems CEO Lou Munden.

He highlights that, to create an attractive and stable investment environment, most countries will need to “radically improve the governance of tenure rights”.

“Companies and investors – who increasingly understand that unclear tenure rights create financial and reputational risks – need to do more to identify and respond to these implicit challenges in emerging market investments.”

The research also found that areas targeted for development in Africa are more heavily populated than similar developments elsewhere in the world. The population density within a 50 km radius of disputed projects in Africa is more than twice the global average: 816 547 people, compared with 319 426 globally. The average in West Africa is more than one-million people.

“The mistaken belief that Africa is a continent of empty, freely available land open for development has done so much harm,” says RRI coordinator Andy White, adding that “no land is unclaimed, and uprooting communities without their consent . . . and [from their] traditional livelihoods create conflict and social unrest.”

He adds that by recognising and securing the property rights of local people, governments, investors and companies are afforded a sense of security, “a critical need, given all the political uncertainty in the world today”.

The research found that the typical tenure dispute in Africa occurs far from centralised government, within an average of 61 km from national borders. Disputes also typically happened in areas with endemic poverty, low access to government services and poor nutrition, very little development and where traditional land use predominated. According to the research, tenure-related disputes were also typical of areas with histories of social conflict.

“The fact that disputes were just 61 km from national borders on average was surprising and, in our view, very revealing,” said Munden, adding that this suggests tenure disputes are more likely to take place in areas with low legal accountability and economic development.

“The point is that investors can be exposed to serious risk in these areas because local people will ensure that their interests are heard.”

Stepping into the Breach
Meanwhile, RRI’s Annual Review of the global state of land and resource rights found that development finance institutions have emerged as potential leaders in the land rights arena, given their significant leverage over investments in the developing world.

While a number of high-profile corporations have pledged to prevent deforestation, and respect human rights, implementation of these commitments is slow at best, given complex supply chains and local suppliers whose reputations are less exposed. Despite the growing number of economic actors that accept the market rationale for respecting community land tenure, rights violations are still commonplace.

“Corporations can prevent conflicts that are costly to investors and devastating for local peoples by working with local communities to secure their property rights,” says White, “but not everyone at the table embraces this approach or applies it effectively,” he adds.

Meanwhile, sugar plantations and mining developments are driving a majority of the disputes in Southern Africa, according to the research and, without strong legal frameworks for communities to assert their rights, significant violence has ensued.

Community displacement was the primary driver of 82% of the tenure disputes examined. However, issues relating to compensation were never the primary driver, showing that companies could not buy their way out of disputes.

Of the tenure disputes, 73% resulted in work stoppages, and the same percentage triggered violence – the highest rate of violence in the world.

While a number of major buyers and producers who dominate supply chains in the sugar sector have made commitments to land tenure, efforts to clean up their supply chains have been plagued by issues of transparency and lack of local engagement.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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