Originally published in 1963 this volume surveys various aspects of the complex relations between rights in land, social organization and economic interests in tropical Africa. The papers - in English and French but with summaries in the other language - analyse case studies illustrating the various basic factors and problems connected with land in Tropical Africa. Indigenous systems of tenure and their adaptation to commercial agriculture, the balance between rights and obligations of groups and individuals, and the authority and duties of chiefs and headmen are discussed in detail for many different areas. Against this background important contributions are made towards the better understanding of problems raised by economic and political development, population increase, migration and scarcity of land.

Land in African Agrarian Systems argues that proposals for sweeping changes in African agricultural land tenure are misconceived. Colonial administrators, African elites, and foreign aid donors have historically viewed the variety of indigenous landholding systems as obstacles to increased agricultural production and to economic progress in general, believing that only private land ownership will provide the investment security necessary for agricultural efficiency. This volume contends that privatisation is not the panacea for Africa's agrarian ills, and that any solutions must take into account critical social dynamics that influence how productive resources are acquired, used, contested and underutilised.

This book focuses on the work of one of the leading African scholars on the land question and agrarian transformation in AfricaSam Moyo. It offers a critical discussion, in conversation with Sam Moyo, of the land question and the response of African states. Since independence, African states have been trying to address the colonial legacy on land policy and governance. After six decades of formulating and implementing land reforms, most countries have not succeeded in decolonising approaches to land policy and the administrative framework. The book brings together the broader debates on the implications of decolonisation of Africas land policy. Through case studies from several African countries, the book offers an empirical analysis on land reforms and the emerging land relations, and how these affect land allocation and use, including agricultural production. Most of the chapters discuss how the unresolved land question in post-colonial Africa impacts on agricultural production and rural development broadly. The failure to decolonise colonial land policy and the imported tenure systems has left post-colonial African states dancing to two tunes, resulting in schizophrenic land and agrarian policies. The book demonstrates that the failure by African states to reconcile imported and indigenous land tenure systems and practices is evident in the deliberate denigration of customary tenure. It is also evident in the rising land inequality and the neglect of the agricultural sector, the small-scale and subsistence sub-sectors in particular.

Interrogates the narratives of land grabbing and agricultural investment through detailed local studies that illuminate how these are experienced on the ground and the implications for Africa's land and agricultural economy.

Originally published in 1963 this volume surveys various aspects of the complex relations between rights in land, social organization and economic interests in tropical Africa. The papers - in English and French but with summaries in the other language - analyse case studies illustrating the various basic factors and problems connected with land in Tropical Africa. Indigenous systems of tenure and their adaptation to commercial agriculture, the balance between rights and obligations of groups and individuals, and the authority and duties of chiefs and headmen are discussed in detail for many different areas. Against this background important contributions are made towards the better understanding of problems raised by economic and political development, population increase, migration and scarcity of land.

Papers from the Center for African Studies 1988 spring symposium held at the U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, discuss flexibility and conflict in indigenous landholding systems, access to land and agrarian politics, and radical agrarian reform and agricultural performance. Among the specific topics: land use conflicts in pastoral development in Northern Cote d'Ivoire, producing politics and rice in Senegambia, and policy reforms and peasant producers in Mozambique. Paper edition (unseen), $26. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR