Theme: Land rights and tenure

Understanding changes in local land tenure systems:

Changing Land Access, Institutions and Markets in West Africa (CLAIMS)

CLAIMS (2002-2005) investigated the changing ways in which different groups gain access to land and other resources in West Africa. It focused on the evolving forms and institutional arrangements through which people seek to establish firmer claims over land, gain greater security, and protect themselves from other claimants. These arrangements are highly diverse, and the product of various influences operating at many levels. A stark distinction between traditional and modern, or between customary and statutory should be avoided, given their continuous interplay and hybridisation over past decades. The research examined and described current practice, and showed how the various actors with an interest in land are actively seeking means by which to improve their claims.

Field studies were undertaken in four West African countries – Burkina Faso, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin.   The land tenure situation in each of the four countries presents certain similarities and contrasts and the case study sites have been chosen to highlight the differing ways in which land rights and policy are evolving within the region.

The programme brought together researchers from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. They come from research institutes and universities in Africa and Europe, with well-established expertise and partnerships for research work in the field of land tenure.   The programme also established good links with policy makers in the form of learning groups, through which to discuss the emerging findings from the research, and guarantee dissemination of outcomes. Partners include: GRET, IRD, UCL-IED, CUMBU, UERD, LARES, GIDIS-CI, IDS-RUC.

For more information, and to download the research reports produced by CLAIMS, visit the CLAIMS website. The summary report can be downloaded here in English and French.

CLAIMS builds on work done within an earlier programme, “Land Tenure and Resource Access in West Africa” jointly co-ordinated by IIED and GRET.