For a long time sub-Saharan Africa has been considered to have abundant and underutilized land than any other continent. On the contrary, recent studies show that many rural Africans live in increasingly densely populated areas where all arable land is allocated or under cultivation. This has led to a long-term decline in farm size and reduced fallows.
Le Niger compte aujourd’hui 85 aménagements hydro-agricoles (AHA), qui s’étendent sur environ 16 000 hectares et font travailler plus de 40 000 exploitants. Avec la pression démographique et la raréfaction des ressources naturelles disponibles pour l’activité agricole, l’informalité de la gestion du foncier des AHA et du statut des personnes qui les exploitent est devenue problématique.
There are 85 irrigation schemes in Niger that cover around 16,000 ha and are cultivated by 40,000 farmers. The informal status of these irrigation schemes, and their occupants, has created problems due to population growth and the increasing scarcity of natural resources. Holders of traditional land rights have challenged government decisions concerning land attributions and property rights within the schemes, and have occasionally prevented construction from proceeding.
For a dam to successfully contribute to the sustainable development of the society, the local populations should also benefit from it. This 5 minute video examines the challenges to obtaining an equitable compensation for the people affected by the construction of large dams and defines the various steps to make sure that the farmers who were disowned of their land can have secured access to new land.
Pour qu'un barrage contribue avec succès au développement durable de la société, les populations locales doivent également en bénéficier. Cette vidéo de 5 minutes examine les défis relatifs à l’obtention d’une compensation équitable pour les personnes affectées par la construction de grands barrages, et définit les différentes étapes pour s'assurer que les agriculteurs expropriés puissent bénéficier d’un accès sécurisé à de nouvelles terres
The Organising Committee of the Dutch Land Governance Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue has commissioned an investigation into the need and possibility to develop a protocol on fair compensation in cases of legitimate land tenure changes, with a focus on expropriation. This is in line with the Ministry’s role in the Land Governance Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue. This dialogue involves government, civil society, business, finance and academia.
Source: IIED
Through our robust search engine, you can search for any item of the over 64,800 highly curated resources in the Land Library.
If you would like to find an overview of what is possible, feel free to peruse the Search Guide.
