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Reviewed by:
  • Land and Sustainable Development in Africa
  • Patrick Malope
Kojo Sebastian Amanor and Sam Moyo, eds. Land and Sustainable Development in Africa. New York: Zed Books, 2008. Distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave MacMillan. 226 pp. Tables. Select Bibliography. Index. $108.00. Cloth. $32.00. Paper.

Land and Sustainable Development in Africa critically assesses the land question and the role of land in sustainable development in Africa. The book is a collection of articles addressing the land question and sustainable development in eastern, southern, and West African countries during the colonial and postcolonial periods.

In the first chapter, Amanor sets the stage by defining sustainable development and discussing the importance of the land question. He defines sustainable development in three different ways: first, as the introduction of technical management practices over particular resources with the goal of attaining sustainable yield over a long period of time; second, as the management and regulation of the environment by society and its organs of governance in order to ensure continued existence of natural resources for future generations; and three, as development that must provide equal opportunities and access for all.

The three definitions are rooted in two different paradigms: the neo-liberal and the political economy frameworks. Under the neoliberal framework, unsustainable development is seen as a product of poverty and inappropriate technology. Sustainable development should therefore be built on free trade and the liberalization of markets, and local communities should be empowered to manage their resources with the help of governments. The political economy framework, by contrast, focuses on social justice and power relations, and argues that poverty is a product of development, not a cause; therefore sustainable development should involve the redistribution of resources at all levels.

Amanor argues that land is crucial to sustainable development, because it is a primary livelihood resource in most parts of Africa. The neoliberal framework sees land tenure reform as an institutional arrangement that can promote security of ownership. Secure ownership, in turn, is seen as establishing an enabling environment for economic and productive growth and providing producers with the confidence to invest in long-term land improvements. The political economy framework, by contrast, argues that inequitable access to land prevents the rural poor from acquiring economically viable plots of land. It maintains that land shortage creates pressures on natural resources and constrains their sustainable development. [End Page 220]

The book presents case studies from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Malawi, where postcolonial land redistribution was and is still based on the market-based land reform of the willing seller–willing buyer framework supported by the World Bank. Yet in all these countries, we have witnessed land grabbing by an emergent black political elite class, and land reform has created further inequities. In some countries this has led to disillusionment and occupation by the previously dispossessed blacks (as in Zimbabwe).

In West Africa, similar developments have taken place, albeit with some differences, in that white settlers were mainly involved in trade rather than in production. However, even in West Africa the land question is important for sustainable development because land was used to control labor. Here, as it turned out, the state became the major land owner and tenant. The process of land reform has led to further marginalization of the poor to the benefit of the elite, who have been able to secure their land rights through registration. The majority and the poor have been left with customary land tenure, which does not have secure rights.

The chapter on Botswana discusses the land question in relation to minorities and ecotourism. However, the chapter fails to state clearly that land reform in the form of the Tribal Grazing Policy of 1975 and the fencing component of the National Policy on Agricultural Development, both of which promote commercial livestock farming, led to displacement of minorities and the poor from their grazing land. This has led many into destitution, and hence to unsustainable development. The book also mentions that in all the countries that were studied, civil society is very weak and therefore cannot spearhead land reforms that are pro-poor.

The book argues that World Bank market-based land reforms have failed and suggests...

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