What is land tenure security for rural small holders in Sub-Saharan Africa context : revisiting the concept.
Simbizi, Marie Christine, Jaap Zevenbergen & Rohan Bennett
The meaning of land tenure security is reasonably well agreed upon in developed societies. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) however, the concept remains controversial and poorly defined. Past conceptualisation efforts have favoured reductionist approaches, resulting in narrowing the concept to one aspect or another. Though it is agreed that there is no one-size-fit-all definition of tenure security, scholars remain silent on a framework that enables conceptualising tenure security in its totality, taking into consideration the diversity and contextual differences that exist among land tenure systems. This paper aims to assist in closing the theoretical gap by revisiting the concept of tenure security using Sub Saharan Africaas small holders as a case. A research synthesis was undertaken to develop a new conceptual framework of tenure security. This paper introduces system approach as a framework that enables to capture more holistically the total security of a small holder. The new multi-aspects concept of security is defined as an emergent property of a land tenure system. The content of such security is explained by exploring key interactions between elements of land tenure system in SSA: (1) people, (2) social and (3) public institutions, (4) a continuum of land rights and restrictions, and (5) land.
Event: Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2013
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