Land nationalisation and rural land tenure in southwest nigeria paul francis humid zone programme ilca, p. Land tenure, land use and land acquisition in nigeria. Its principles stem from rights established through first clearance of land, or con. Land tenure is another phrase for land ownership, frequently used outside of the united states. Prior to 1978, nigeria s system of customary land tenure provided families and individuals with use rights to rural land for agriculture and urbantown plots for housing that were heritable within families and lineages. Tenure up to 1978, when a land use law was promulgated to provide a uniform mode of access to land in nigeria, land tenure consisted mainly of two forms customary law and the received colonial law. The land act 1998 identifies the four forms of land tenure systems in uganda which include customary, leasehold, freehold and mailo, grants. Land tenure reform refers to a planned change in the terms and conditions e. We examinevarious concepts relating to land and land tenure, on the one hand, and land management and acquisition on the other, in the light of the old system the customary. There are many different types of land tenure, including private and public ownership, and each type of land tenure comes with a bundle of rights for the use and disposition of the property. Advantages and disadvantages of land tenure system answers. The nigeriannation had had a multiplicity of land tenure system until the 1978 land use act whichharmonized all the systems.
Despite the established causal linkages between customary land tenure systems. A more detailed definition describes land tenure as the institutional political, economic, social. At present, most of the land in the country is for leasehold and the governor of the state may grant statutory rights of occupancy for 99 years. The nature of land rights in the country is seen as grossly responsible for the inaccessibility to land. Land nationalisation and rural land tenure in southwest. Subsequent developments on land management in nigeria led to the modification of the northern nigeria land tenure law of 1962, into the land use act of 1978. A case study of oyo and niger states article pdf available january 2000 with 7,158 reads how we measure reads. Types of land tenure systems in uganda land ownership in uganda. In nigeria, we have had various land tenure system which are geared towards proper and easy land administration and management from the colonial era to the land use act of 1978. May 11, 2003 ghanas land tenure system impedes the countrys socioeconomic development, and is completely out of place in a modern, progressive country. This dual mechanism thus created a very complex and often confused system of transactions and interpretations which see adalemo. Cocoa conflict, land tenure, and politics in western nigeria, 1890s1960 abstract this paper is about cocoainduced conflict between the ibadan and the ijebu, two yoruba subgroups of southwestern nigeria.
Meeting on land tenure systems and sustainable development in southern africa held 1 3 october 2003, in lusaka, zambia, and their comments have been incorporated into this report. Economic case for land tenure reform land tenure reform refers to a planned change in the terms and conditions on which land is held, used and transacted. Land tenure also refers to the conditions under which land is occupied. A fundamental goal of tenure reform is to enhance peoples land rights and thus provide tenure security box 2. Indigenous areas are governed by customary land tenure 18. In this connection, arthur young has rightly observed, the magic of private ownership turns dust into gold. In spite of the confusion the land use act brought on the customary land tenure system such that there was uncertainty as to the existence or abolishment of the customary law land tenure system by the act.
Nigerian land tenure system since the lua was promulgated in 1978. Nigeria s total population of 70 million inhabitants live in rural areas, which explains how extremely important any measures concerning land change are in this country. Assessment of land tenure related constraints to cocoa productivity in ghana 1 executive summary between april 11 and april 23, a team the team consisting of two members of usaids land tenure and resource management office, stephen brooks and yuliya neyman, a. Findings the study has revealed that land tenure insecurity is still widespread in southern africa. Land tenure in much of africa is usually portrayed as either customarytraditional, or statestatutory. He has a specialist expertise in land tenure, rural development, and natural resource and environment management. Land acquisition and use remain a critical issue of great policy relevance in developing countries such as nigeria.
Priorities under the land registration act in nigeria. These people provide a real challenge to the use of the legitimate system of nigeria. Land tenure before 1990 land in the rural areas of the former bantustans is categorised as unsurveyed, unregistered state land, and trust land. Different land reforms have taken place in nigeria since 1960 with the aim of facilitating access to agricultural land, and make the nation. Overview simply put, land tenure is the way in which people have access to and use land and natural resources. This is a land pledged for money and can be reclaimed by the owner on repayment of the loan. The system of land registration and land tenure in iran.
Security of tenure types, policies, practices and challenges research paper prepared for the special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to nondiscrimination in this context, raquel rolnik, to inform her study on security of tenure. Statement of the problems the present condition of our rural land developments in nigeria has been a cause for concern in this study. This is the system of landholding indigenous to nigeria. Department of estate management, faculty of environmental sciences, school of post graduate studies.
The land use pattern in nigeria estimated arable land to be about 33% of the total land area, permanent pastures cover 44%, permanent crops cover 3%, forest and woodlands 12%, and others 8%. Land tenure may be defined as the terms and conditions on which land is held, used and transacted. An analysis of igbo traditional land tenure system in amawbia amobia, awka south local government area of anambra state ifediora osita. It addresses four important issues arising from the former land tenure systems in nigeria. A study of customary land law and tenure practices of six communities of the lower benue river valley of nigeria abstract this study is aimed at studying the customary land laws and tenurial practices of the communities of the nigerian lower benue river valley. Land tenure system in nigeria has been described as those systems which represent the relationship of man in society to land even though actual patterns may differ from community to community but there are certain uniformities of type in relations involved which make it possible to apply a common scheme of analysis 1 6. Department of surveying engineering, university of new brunswick.
Alivelihood is sustainable when it can cope with, land tenure and rural development 3 2. A reformation of the system of customary tenure is essential if tenure arrangements are to give adequate support to agricultural modernization. This study therefore examined land acquisition and use in nigeria within the context of food and livelihood security. According to the communal lands act, all communal land is vested in the state president who has powers to permit its occupation and utilisation in accordance. This may be necessary in order to avoid the suffering and social instability. It is well known that the concept of trust was introduced into nigeria by the english and before that time, the entire concept was foreign to the system of administration within the country. The land use act of 1978 is made up of eight parts of fiftyone sections. The chapter used secondary data obtained from the world bank website, national bureau of statistics nbs and other sources. Its components are the system of land ownership and system of labour organization. Land tenure is a part of an ancient hierarchical system of holding lands and over history, many different forms of land ownership. Land tenure refers to the bundle of rights and responsibilities under which land is held, used, transferred, and succeeded. Types of land tenure systems in uganda land ownership in.
Land tenure systems and agricultural productivity in gombe. An analysis of igbo traditional land tenure system in. The interest shown in the conference and debate on land tenure issues and challenges. Therefore, if you want to know how they do their business, then you need to look into the problems of land use act in nigeria in details. Regionally, land holding and tenure system in nigeria are categorized into two distinct classes.
Assess the differentiated effect of existing land laws and practices on nfpa codes standards pdf men and women in. The communal land tenure system is governed by the communal lands act and is applicable to 42% of zimbabwes land area, where approximately 66% of the countrys population resides. Land tenure is the name given to land that is owned by an individual or group. In this article we will discuss about land tenure system. According to many activist groups, the land tenure system in uganda has been the cause of many conflicts and. Introduction conditions under which a tenure system leads to increases in wealth as omotunde evan george johnson has shown, a land tenure system facilitates increases in wealth when a property rights are properly defined with legal and tenure certainty, and b there is. There are various types of land tenure systems in uganda under under which citizens and foreigners can buy land, own and utilize it. Some of the forms of land tenure systems adopted by countries across the globe include.
Customary land tenure is characterised by its largely unwritten nature, is based on local practices and norms, and is flexible, negotiable and location specific. Land rights and land conflicts in africa carried out for the danish. Prior to the enactment of the land use act, it had frequently been stated that private individuals and the government increasingly faced difficulties in acquiring land for development. The indigenous land tenure and nationalization of land in nigeria.
Ajibade, nigeria abstract land is a very significant property and is one thing that man could not do without. In terms of the 1936 act, occupation of land was based on a permission to occupy pto system. Land tenure, governance and accountability in nigeria. Dec 01, 2008 the history of land tenure system in ikorodu land is not so much different from the customary land tenure system indigenous to nigeria. Department of estate management, faculty of environmental sciences, school of post graduate studies, nnamdi azikiwe university awka, anambra state. Certificates apply to urban or rural land and must be approved by the governor. Land tenure system in ekiti state, nigeria felix o. The land problem in namibia is a direct result of the land policy of the apartheid colonial system that created imbalances in property relations in the territory. The existing land tenure systems in each of niger, burkina faso, and mali share similarities, particularly in their recent efforts to protect customary land rights and include them in land records for instance nigers rural code of 1993, malis land code of 20002002, and. If the state of african womens studies is as bad as these and other authorities suggest, taking the case of the igbo, for instance, scholars have. Hence, access to land in nigeria is a major threat to food security in the country. Land can either be owned in perpetuity or for a given period of time. It was observed that in subsaharan africa, the customary land tenure system is widely practiced 3. An analysis of igbo traditional land tenure system in amawbia.
Tenancy system or the land tenure pattern implies a system according to which land is held by an individual or the actual tiller of the soil. Julian quanis a social and political scientist with 25 years of development experience internationally in africa, latin america, and in the uk. Northern nigeria land tenure system nlts and southern nigeria land tenure system slts each of which exhibits up todate, some distinct land tenure and land use procedures and practices meek, 1957. It is used to refer to land tenure prescribed by statutory or common law. Land tenure system has got its specific importance for the development of agriculture. However some minor difference exist, for example,the issue of family property that is discussed in chapter two of these work gives clarity to the variation in family property in yoruba land and nigeria as a. The colonial policy of property relations, including land tenure and access to land, were based on racial lines and were implemented by legislation. Conflicts of land tenure and tree tenure on land use and. Types of traditional land tenure systems and agricultural productivity there is quite a handful of taxonomical analysis of land tenure system within nigeria alone. Two of these operated nationwide while the others followed the usual north. Although historians have examined the socioeconomic impact of cocoa, they have however downplayed how it created. The rules governing land tenure are invented by societies to regulate land ownership behaviours. Prior to 1978, nigerias system of customary land tenure provided families and individuals with use rights to rural land for agriculture and urbantown plots for housing that were heritable within families and lineages. Thus, a landlord or land owner is a holder of the estate in land with considerable rights of ownership or, simply put, an owner of land.
Nigeria landlinks landlinks was created by e3land, a. The flexible land tenure system flts is an innovative concept to provide affordable security of tenure to inhabitants in informal settlements in namibia the basic idea of the flexible land tenure system is to establish an interchangeable tenure registration system parallel and complementary to the current formal system of freehold tenure. A more detailed definition describes land tenure as the institutional political, economic, social, and legal structure that determines 1 how individuals and groups secure access to land and. It is against the above background that the paper examines land rights characteristics and access to land, their implicationson food security in nigeria. You might have heard about land scam agents, professional scammers and many other land grabbing personalities in nigeria.
Land tenure and related institutions gender and land rights. Land tenure can be defined as the manner in which a party holds or occupies an area of land. The effects of existing land tenure systems on land use in kenya today chege waiganjo and paul e. The indigenous land tenure and nationalization of land in. At customary law, ownership of land is generally vested in the village, community or family with the head holding it for the use of the whole village, community or. Establishing an efficient and sustainable system of land administration, both state and customary based on clear, coherent, and consistent polices. How could the same land tenure system accommodate the largescale transition from food crops into cocoa at the opening of the 20th century and so dramatically inhibit investment in land productivity in the same area at the.
Special focus land use in nigeria prior to the land use decree of 1978, the nigerian land tenure system had become the object of intense attack and defence by vested interests promoting their views on changes in the tenure system which would best increase food and fibre production. Land tenure is important in rural development interventions which place an emphasis on building peoples endowments of assets so they can enjoy sustainable livelihoods. Land tenure system makes the ownership of land more secure and permanent, which is very much important for the development of agriculture. This type of land tenure system is also detrimental to agricultural production given that the creditor my not want to farm on the land since the debtor can reclaim it at any time. These communities are the idomas and the tivs of benue state, and the alagos, eggon, mada, and gwandara peoples of. The nigerian nation had had a multiplicity of land tenure system until the 1978 land use act which harmonized all the systems. In nigeria the traditional system of agriculture is losing its capacity to provide the conventional subsistence for the people on the land, while the demands upon agriculture increase. Dec 27, 2018 land tenure is another phrase for land ownership, frequently used outside of the united states. It is the major determinant factor for the existence of man, plants and animals.
Introduction concern about land tenure and its impact on land use as well as the management of natural resources is not a recent phenomenon in kenya and indeed in the. Land is very vital for agricultural production, and for any nation that wants to be selffood sufficient. New lands commission bill to merge 4 land agencies into one laid before. Land tenure and economic development in rural south africa. The land tenure system under the customary law by nkiruka. South africas land tenure reform programme in the former.
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