Chiefs and lairds: land reform in Africa and Scotland

Land ownership in Scotland is highly skewed and unlike anywhere else in Europe. Half the privately held land is held by 313 landowners. Scotland, like South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya is coming to terms with the historical legacy of enormous tracts remaining in the hands of rich landowners, in many cases considered ‘foreigners’ by the local population. In Scotland, as in part of Africa, there is popular pressure to address this historic wrong.

As Scotland flexes the powers of devolved government and Africa tackles the legacy of British colonial land law, a paper from the International Institute for Environment and Development looks at the common issues and lessons.

In both contexts the grant of land holdings to political and ethnic allies has been a key means of building power bases. In Africa and Scotland land reformers tend to vilify customary chiefs and large landowners, and argue for powers to be vested in elected local government. However, highland lairds and African chiefs also have their defenders. At best, they can be benevolent, community-minded powerbrokers who have greater local legitimacy than incomprehensible procedures imposed by far-away central government. Should they be allowed to continue to provide an effective, low cost means of managing land? There has been much talk of sweeping away the vestiges of feudalism and colonialism but little thought of a system of land management to put in its place.

A comparison of land reform approaches in Africa and Scotland shows:

• Agreement that a more egalitarian pattern of land ownership will generate greater economic opportunities for a broader set of stakeholders, than where land is held by the few.
• In Scotland as in Africa, amid the talk of ‘community participation’ and valuing indigenous knowledge, governmental authorities are loath to relinquish control to local people.
• The prospects for a dramatic redistribution of land in both Scotland and South Africa are minimal, due to the protection conferred on property by respectively the European Court of Human Rights, and the South African constitution.
• Recent African experiences shows how governments seemingly enthusiastic about land reform soon take fright and shy away from radical redistribution, when they realise the political power that control over land can bring.
• Reformers often forget that land reform alone cannot revive local economies and guarantee incomes. Other complementary measures are needed which strengthen access to markets, technology, credit and capacity building.

The recommendations in the report suggest that:

• There is a pressing need to learn from experience across the world. As Scotland’s new parliamentarians agonise over defining ‘community’ and deciding who are its legitimate members, they could learn from recent South African experience.
• There is no ideal institution for managing land, customary or democratic. It is crucial to ensure effective checks and balances on power: with local land boards for example, representation from a broad range of interests, the landed and the landless, can provide a forum for developing consensus on sustainable use of fisheries, woodlands, wild fruit and grazing resources.
• The Land Reform consultation process in Scotland has tried to consult with a broad range of stake-holders, though some say this has been poorly handled. In much of Africa debates on land reform, despite the rhetoric concerning participation, are largely confined to civil servants, politicians and western donors and need to be opened up to greater civil society involvement.

Source(s):
‘Land reform North and South’ by Camilla Toulmin and Simon Pepper, International Institute for Environment and Development, London

id21 Research Highlight: 9 May 2001

Further Information:
Camilla Toulmin
International Institute for Environment and Development
3 Endsleigh Street
London WC1H 0DD
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7388 2117
Fax: +44 (0)20 7388 2826
Contact the contributor: camilla.toulmin@iied.org

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK

Other related links:
'Dispelling myths: land and property in Africa'

'Promise. performance and pitfalls: land reform in Côte d'Ivoire'

More research from the Land Use and Land Cover Change

FAO and SD Dimensions focus on Land Tenure