The International Land Coalition (ILC) has commissioned this present report to analyze the illegal/irregular acquisition of land by Kenya’s elites to ascertain the types of land affected, the processes used to acquire land, and the profiles of the perpetrators, as well as to identify the victims and the impacts of land grabbing. The report is drawn largely from the Kenya Land Alliance (KLA)’s series “Unjust Enrichment: The Making of Land Grabbing Millionaires”,

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.

Cameroon is currently witnessing an unprecedented wave of land-based investments, ranging from natural resources exploitation (oil, mining and gas), logging, large infrastructure building, etc. These developments happen in a context of population growth, in an increase in the domestic demand for land. There is a gap between the legislation governing expropriation and compensation in the country, and the variety of customary rules on land and resources. This context of legal pluralism results into endless conflicts opposing communities and the investors, including the State.