Land-grabbing in the 21st century

Resource exploitation was the very basis for colonialism, as well as the cause for much of the development of the modern world as we know it, for better and worse. The thirst for land and resources continues around the world, especially in Africa, and people must constantly adjust to, assess and hopefully learn from its repercussions:

Sub-Saharan Africa has foreign investors flocking to buy its fertile land. Sometimes referred to as "land grabbing," the large-scale buying or leasing of large tracts of land in developing countries shifts indigenous, or customary, land rights from chiefs and local communities to investors or national governments, often stripping native people of a source of income.

The laws, its practices and eventual outcomes for the countries and people involved are the topic of one recent study led by University of Georgia anthropologist Laura German.

Looking at 34 case studies examining the policy and practice of land acquisition and investment in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, German and her co-authors noted significant differences in the legislation among the countries. Despite the wide variety of legislated processes for land acquisition and customary rights protection, outcomes were very similar.

"We found that in most cases, meetings held to consult affected communities about the land acquisition and related investments were very poorly done, and people were losing their land and livelihoods often in the absence of any real benefits," said German, an assistant professor with the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

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The land in some countries has to be reclassified as state land for the lease agreement to pass to the investors, which results in a permanent loss of land from local populations. Of the countries studied, Tanzania is the only one that requires payment for the losses suffered by the community when the land is acquired by private investors. They are also the only country that requires the entire community be present at a "baraza," or village assembly, when consulting affected communities about allocating the land for investment. Plus, Tanzania set a limit on land leases of 33 years and 20,000 hectares for biofuel investments. However, in practice, deals have been made for much longer terms and larger areas and payments have been diverted to local officials.

Great work, Dr. German. The social sciences have much to contribute to understanding and improving our world by focusing our attention on the people who live there.

Image: Tanzania natural resources map courtesy of a GNU Free Documentation License, via Wikimedia Commons.