Cadastre in itself won't solve the problem : the role of institutional change and psychological motivations in land conflicts : cases from Africa
Wehrmann, Babette
Land conflicts occur in many forms: border conflicts between neighbours, ethnic groups and states, multiple sales of land, presidents selling state land and enriching themselves, poor people settling illegally on state land, land use conflicts between environmentalists and investors, between farmers and pastoralistss All actors involved have their own reasons for doing so. The paper analyses their interests and the psychological motivations behind that lead to the ignorance of rules. It is shown that although institutional shortcomings enable land conflicts they are not the deeper cause of the problem. Psychological fears and wishes are at the root of the conflicts. They lead to emotional and material needs which again can get people to take advantage of institutional weaknesses or to ignore existing institutions. It is well known that institutional changes - no matter over what period they occur, e.g. long phases of transition from customary societies to modern ones or short phases of transition from one political system to another one are phases of conflicts. While old rules do not apply any more, new ones are not yet in place or simply are not accepted. The paper shows what psychological effects are taking place in these phases and how they worsen land conflicts. Once it is acknowledged that land conflict resolution and prevention does not only need technical solutions to improve the institutional (legal, administrative and technical) frame but also needs psychotherapeutical approaches, a more holistic approach to (land) conflict resolution can be applied which is more suitable to heal old sores which often date back to the colonial and early post-colonial times. The author draws from case studies in
Event: 5th FIG Regional Conference for Africa : Promoting Land Administration and Good Governance
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