Issue

Vol. 41 No. 3 (2016): Africa Development

3 - Women’s Land Rights and Working Conditions in Large-scale Plantations in Sub-Saharan Africa

https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v41i3.808
Lotsmart Fonjong

Corresponding Author(s) : Lotsmart Fonjong

flotsmart@gmail.com

Africa Development, Vol. 41 No. 3 (2016): Africa Development

Abstract

Women’s land rights are fundamental for women’s economic empowerment. Increasingly, the nationalization of customary land and the current growth in private land ownership and commercial farming are exerting strong pressure on land and are a threat to women’s usufruct land rights. The discourse over land reforms in most poor African countries like Cameroon is embedded in the evolutionary models where customary landholding systems are changing into state land ownership with greater market integration. These changes are taking place within limited state protection of communal and women’s land rights in the process of land registration. This article discusses the evolution, actors and activities involved in large-scale land acquisitions in the sub region within the framework and women’s rights to land and working conditions in the plantations. Through simple mapping from an in-depth desktop review and some level of field observations and conversations with some of the actors involved in affected localities in Cameroon, the article highlights women’s experiences as customary communal land is transferred into private ownership. In fact, wherever land has been taken up for plantation agriculture, women’s access to land has reduced, making them more vulnerable to hunger, poverty and poor working conditions. This is because women’s land rights have not evolved with the customary evolution into private tenures. Current processes of large-scale land acquisitions should therefore create conditions for women’s participation through a fair degree of equal opportunities, transparency, and accountability to communities, and relevant institutions.

Keywords

Women’s Land Rights Sub-Saharan Africa Cameroon large-scale land acquisitions
[1]
Fonjong, L. 2021. 3 - Women’s Land Rights and Working Conditions in Large-scale Plantations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Development. 41, 3 (Sep. 2021). DOI:https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v41i3.808.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Alden, W., 2012, Customary Land Tenure in the Modern World: Reviewing the Fate of Customary Tenure in Africa, Brief #1, available at: http://www.rightsandresources.org/documents/files/doc_4699.pdf.
  2. Ardener, E., 1956, ‘The Coastal Bantu of the Cameroons’, International African Institute, London.
  3. Anyangwe, C., 1984, Land Tenure and Interests in Land in Cameroonian Indigenous Law, Cameroon Law Review, Vol. 27, pp. 29-41.
  4. Asea, P. and Kaija, D., 2000, ‘Impact of Flower Industry in Uganda’, ILO Working Paper No. 148, International Labor Organization, Geneva. Available online at http://www.ILO.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/papers/uganflow/index.htm.
  5. Atwood, D., 1990, ‘Land Registration in Africa: The Impact on Agricultural Production’, World Development, 18, pp. 659-671.
  6. AWID, 2013, ‘Women Moving Mountains. Collective Impact of the Dutch MDG3 Fund. How Resources Advance Women’s Rights and Equality’, Association of Women’s Rights in Development, Toronto, Canada.
  7. Banana Link, 2014, Working and Living Conditions in Banana Sector of South West Cameroon, Cameroon Research Report, Vol. 7, Available online at www.bananalink.org.uk/sites/default/files/0169BLCameroon/Vo_7.pdf
  8. Bakoumé, C., et al. 2002, Revue du secteur rural – Le Palmier à Huile, Study Report, Yaoundé, IRAD/CIRAD/IITA/FAO.
  9. Behrman, J., et al. A., 2011, The Gender Implications of Large-Scale Land Deals, Discussion Paper No. 1056. Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  10. Berdeman, S., 1968, The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC): Partner in National Growth. Unpublished Study Report, Bota, CDC.
  11. Boserup, E., 1965, ‘Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian change under Pressure, London, George Allen and Unwin.
  12. Bruce, J. and Migot-Adholla, S., eds., 1994 Searching for Land Tenure Security in Africa, Dubuque, IA:Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
  13. Cabral, L. and Norfolk, S. 2016. Inclusive Land Governance in Mozambique: Good Law, Bad Politics? IDS Working Paper. Vol. 2016, No 478. IDS
  14. Cotula, L., 2010, Investment Contracts and Sustainable Development: How to Make Contracts for Fairer and More Sustainable Natural Resource Investments, London: International Institute for Environment and Development.
  15. Cotula, L., Vermeulen, S., Leonard, R. & Keeley, J., 2009, Land Grab or Development Opportunity? Agricultural Investment and International Land Deals in Africa, London and Rome: IIED and IFAD.
  16. Cramer, C., Oya, C., and Sender, J., 2008, Rural Labour Markets in Sub Saharan Africa, Policy Brief No. 1, SOAS, Centre for Development Policy Research, Available online at http://www.soas.ac.uk/cdpr/publications/pd/file48088.pdf
  17. Daley, E., 2011, ‘Gendered Impacts of Commercial Pressures on land’, International Land Coalition (ILC) Collaborative Research Project on Commercial Pressures on Land. Rome: ILC.
  18. Deininger, K. & Binswanger, H., 1999, ‘The Evolution of the World Bank’s Land Policy: Principles, Experience and Future Challenges, The World Bank Research Observer, 14, pp. 247–276.
  19. Demsetz, H., 1967, ‘Towards a Theory of Property Rights’, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 347-459.
  20. Diaw, M. and Njomkap, J., 1998, La Terre et le Droit : Une Anthropologie Institutionnelle de la Tenure Coutumière, de la Jurisprudence et du Droit Fonciers chez les Peuples Bantou et Pygmées du Cameroun Forestier Méridional Forestier, Document de Travail, Yaoundé, INADES Formation.
  21. Dolan, S., 2001, The Goodwife’s Struggle over Resources in Kenya Horticulture Sector, The Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3.
  22. Etoga, E., 1971, Sur les chemins du développement. Essai d’histoire des faits économiques du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Editions CEPMAE.
  23. FAO, 2010, Women in Infrastructure Works: Boosting Gender Equality in Rural Development! Gender and Rural Employment Policy Brief, No. 5, Food and Agricultural Organisation.
  24. FAO, UNO, IFAD and ILO, 2010, Gender Dimensions of Agricultural and Rural Employment: Differentiated Pathways out of Poverty; Status, trends and gaps, Rome.
  25. FAWU, 2012, Report on Working Conditions of Female Banana Workers in the Republic of Cameroon.
  26. Feder, G. & Noronha, R., 1987, Land Rights Systems and Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, Research Observer, Vol. 2, pp. 143-169.
  27. Feder, G., Onchan, T., Chalamwong, Y. &Hongladarom, C., 1988, Land Policies and Farm Productivity in Thailand, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, available online at http://policypractice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/land-and-power-the-growing-
  28. Federici, S., 2009, ‘On capitalism, colonialism, women and food politics’, Politics and Culture, available at: http://www.politicsandculture.org/2009/11/03/silvia-federici-oncapitalism- colonialism-women-and-food-politics/.
  29. Fonjong, L., Fombe, L. and Sama-Lang, I., 2012, The Paradox of Gender Discrimination in Ownership and Women’s Contribution to Poverty Reduction in Anglophone Cameroon, GeoJournal, pp. 1-15.
  30. German, L. et al., 2011, Contemporary Processes of Largescale Land Acquisition by Investors: Case Studies from sub-Saharan Africa. Occasional Paper No. 68. Bogor, CIFOR.
  31. Global Land Tools Network, 2008, ‘Gendering Land Tools: achieving Secure Tenure for Women and Men’, Nairobi, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT).
  32. Gobena, M., 2010 ‘Effects of large-scale land acquisition in rural Ethiopia: The case of Bako-Tibe Woreda’. Master thesis, Uppsala: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Available at http://stud.epsilon.slu.se/3542/1/gobena_m_111108.pdf
  33. Holt-Gimenez, E. and Shattuck, A., 2008, ‘Agrofuels and Food Sovereignty: Another Agrarian Transition is Possible’, Presentation to Workshop on ‘Food Sovereignty: Theory, Praxis, and Power’, St. Andrews College, University of Saskatchewan, 17–18 November 2008, available at: http://www.foodfirst.org/files/pdf/Agrofuels.
  34. Hughes, A., Knox, A., and Jones-Casey, K. 2011. Customary Leaders and Conflicts of Interest over Land in Ghana. Brief. Focus on Land in Africa. http://www.focusonland.com/
  35. Kevane, M. and Gray, L., 2008, ‘Diminished Access, Diverted Exclusion: Women and Land Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa’, available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1096247
  36. Ingrid, Y., 2002, Women, Wives and Land Rights in Africa: Situating Gender Beyond the Household in the Debate Over Land Policy and Changing Tenure Systems, Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1.
  37. IDRC, 2012, ‘The Impact of Land Tenure Practices on Women’s Rights to Land in Anglophone Cameroon and Implications on Sustainable Development’, Final Technical Report No. 5.
  38. IFPRI, 2011, Who Owns the Land? Perspectives from Rural Ugandans and Implication for Land Acquisition, IFPRI, available online at http://www.ifpri.org/publication/gender-implications-large-scale-landdeals
  39. Ikdahl, I., Hellum, A., Kaarhus R., and Benjaminsen A., 2005. ‘Human rights, Formalisation and Women’s Land Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa’. Aas: Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Noragric Report No. 26.
  40. Jackson, C., 2003, ‘Gender Analysis of Land Rights for Women? Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 453-480.
  41. Katchika, T., 2009, ‘Women Land Rights in Southern Africa, Consolidated Baseline Findings from Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, pp. 16, Commissioned by Action Aid International
  42. Kameri-Mbote, P., 2013, Fallacies of Equality and Inequality: Multiple Exclusion in Law and Legal Discourses, Inaugural lecture, Nairobi, Department of Law, University of Nairobi.
  43. Kenfack, P., 2012, Régime foncier au Cameroun, Un état des lieux inquiétant, Les Cahiers de Mutations, 80: pp. 7-8.
  44. Konings, P., 1993, ‘Labour Resistance in Cameroun. Mangerial Strategies and Labour Resistance in the Agro-Industrial Plantations of the Cameroon Development Corporation’, Leiden and London, African Studies Center and James Currey.
  45. Lappin, K., 2012, ‘Decent Work for Women’, In: Women’s Major Group, 2013, Gender Equality, Women’s Rights and Women’s Priorities. Recommendations for the Proposed sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Women’s Major Groups.
  46. Lastarria-Cornhiel, S., 1997, ‘Impact of Privatization on Gender and Property Rights in Africa’, World Development, Vol. 28, No. 8, pp. 1317-1334.
  47. Lastarria-Cornhiel, S. and Garcia-Frais, Z., 2005, ‘Gender and Land Rights: Findings and Lessons, In ‘Gender and Natural Resources: Gender and Land Compendium of Country Studies’, FAO publication TC/A0297E/1/12.05/500, Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/90297e/90297eoo.HTM.
  48. Mbembe, A., 1996, La Naissance du Maquis au Sud Cameroun, 1920-1960, Histoire de l’Usage de la Raison en Colonie, Paris: Karthala.
  49. Mutopo, P., 2012, ‘The Granary is Never Empty: Female Agency, Land Access and Livelihood Security in the Face of Non-Permanent Mobility after Fast Track Land Reform in Zimbabwe’, Published PhD thesis. Cologne African Studies Centre: Cologne.
  50. Mutopo, P., Manase, K., Ncube, M. and Mutondoro, F., 2013, ‘An Analysis of Transparency and Accountability in Land Sector Governance in Zimbabwe’, Harare: Transparency International Zimbabwe.
  51. Mupoto, P. and Manase, K., 2014, ‘National and International Actors in the Orchestration of Large-Scale Land Deals in Zimbabwe: What’s in for Smallholder Farmers?’ Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa, (OSSREA), Policy Brief, No. 2.
  52. Mveng, E., 1985, ‘Histoire du Cameroun’, Yaounde, Editions Centre d’Edition pour l’Enseignement et la Recherche.
  53. Nguiffo, S., Kenfack, P. & Mballa, N., 2008, L’Incidence des Lois Foncières Historiques et Modernessur les Droits Fonciers des Communautés locales et Autocthtones du Cameroun, Study Report, Forest Peoples Programme.
  54. Njuki, M., Kihiyo, M. O’ktingati, A. and Place, F. 2004, “Male and Female Labour in an Agroforestry System in the Central Highlands of Kenya: Correcting the Misconception” International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Vol., 3, Nos. 1-2, pp. 154-170.
  55. Nonfodji, P., 2013, Small farm holders’ response to the global land deals in Benin: the role of international solidarity linkages, Land Deals & Politics Initiative (LDPI) working Paper, 41, UK.
  56. Otsuka, K. and Place, F., eds., 2001, ‘Land Tenure and Natural Resource Management: A Comparative Study of Agrarian Communities in Asia and Africa’, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  57. Oxfam, 2013, Promises, Power and Poverty: Corporate Land Deals and Rural Women in Africa, Oxfam.
  58. Oyono, R., 2013, The Narratives of Capitalist Land Accumulation and Recognition in Coastal Cameroon. IDS, Vol. 29.
  59. Oyono, P., Biyong, B. and Kombo Samba, S., 2012, Beyond the Decade of Policy and Community Euphoria: The State of Livelihoods under New Local Forest Rights in Rural Community, Conservation and Society Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 173-181.
  60. Oyono, P., 2005, The Foundations of the Conflit de Langage Over Land and Forests in Southern Cameroon, African Study Monographs, Vol. 26, No. 3,
  61. pp. 115-144.
  62. Oyono, P.R., 2004, Les acteurs de l’exploitation forestière et l’usage des terres, in Bigombé, P. (ed), Le Retournement de l’Etat Forestier. L’Envers de Processus d’Exploitation Forestière au Cameroun, Yaoundé, Presses de l’UCAC, 52-69.
  63. Platteau, J., 1996, The Evolutionary Theory of Land Rights as Applied to Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Assessment, Development and Change, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 29-86.
  64. Rudin, H., 1938, German in the Cameroons, 1884-1914: A Case Study on Modern Imperialism, New Haven, Yale University Press.
  65. Smaller, C. and Mann, H., 2009, ‘A Thirst for distant Lands: Foreign Investment in Agricultural Land and Water’ Winnipeg Manitoba Canada: International Institute for Sustainable Development.
  66. Smalley, R., 2013, Plantations, Contract Farming and Commercial Farming Areas in Africa: A Comparative Review, Land and Agricultural Commercialization in Africa Project Working Paper No.005, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, available online at http://www.fao.org/uploads/media/FAC_Working_Paper_005.pdf
  67. Tandon N., 2012, Low Income Women: First Casualties of Green Economy Land Grab. http://networkedintelligence.com/wp/wp- content/uploads/2014/12/Tandon_LandGrab_LowIncomeWomen.pdf.
  68. Toulmin, C. & Quan, J. eds, 2000, ‘Evolving Land Rights, Policy and Tenure in Africa’, London, DFID/IIED/NRI.
  69. Von Braun, J. & Meinzen-Dick, R., 2009, Land Grabbing by Foreign Investors in Developing Countries: Risks and Opportunities, Policy Brief, No. 13, Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.
  70. Whitehead, A. & Tsikata, D., 2003, Policy Discourses on Women’s Land Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Implications of the Re-Turn to Customary, Journal of Agrarian Change, Vol. 3, Nos.1-2, pp. 67-112.
  71. Wiley, L., 2010, Whose Land Are You Giving Away, Mr. President? Power Point presentation from the Annual World Bank Conference on Land Policy and Administration, Washington DC.
  72. World Bank, 2010, Rising Global Interests in Farmland: Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits? Report No. 55600-GLB, Washington DC.
  73. World Bank, 1989, ‘Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth’, Washington, DC, World Bank.
  74. World. Oxford: Oxfam. http://policypractice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/growinga-
Read More

Author Biography

Lotsmart Fonjong

University of Buea, Cameroon. Email: flotsmart@gmail.com

Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 1243 Download : 53

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.