USAID Workshop on
Conflict Prevention Management

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Land as a Source of Conflict Alan Dejanvry, The World Bank June 7, 2000  Click here to hear an audio clip from this speech.  Four questions are useful for analyzing the link between land and conflict. They are: When are land scarcity and/or land inequality sources of conflicts? Has land reform been effective in reducing conflicts over land? Beyond land reform, are there new mechanisms to facilitate access to land that can serve to reduce conflicts over land? What are alternative approaches to resolving land disputes to prevent conflicts? 1) When are land scarcity and/or land inequality sources of conflicts? In general, it has been difficult to establish a direct link between land inequality or scarcity and conflict; instead, a combination of factors is usually required. However, land issues do factor in conflict. Increased land inequality (either real or perceived) or rising land scarcity (through population growth, few off-farm employment or migration opportunities, a lack of land-saving technological change) act as triggers to conflict; this can escalate into violent collective action if the marginalized group in question has a strong collective identity, few opportunities for expressing its dissatisfaction, feels that it can make gains from initiating violent collective action, has effective leadership, or believes that the state is weak. 2) Has land reform been effective in preventing or resolving conflicts? Land reform usually has three different objectives: efficiency gains (removing unproductive landlords or tapping underutilized land), equity gains (redistribution of land from large landowners to smaller ones), or political gains (preventing or mitigating conflict through land reform). Land reform has been effective in reducing conflict and achieving efficiency and equity gains. However, land reform requires political power that many states do not presently have. 3) Beyond land reform, are there new mechanisms to facilitate access to land that can serve to reduce conflicts over land? There are several mechanisms for allowing the poor to acquire land and reduce the potential for conflict. These mechanisms include: Land sales markets - voluntary transaction between seller and buyer. Sometimes subsidies are given to buyers to help facilitate this process. Titling to achieve greater security of access to land and collateral. This is important where property rights are not guaranteed and where access to credit is important. But this can sometimes encourage conflicts, so best practice resources may be useful. Dispute resolution for conflicts over property rights and forms of access. Transfers and inheritances to allow for equitable distribution of land (especially towards women and illegitimate children, who are traditionally excluded). Land rental markets and contracts - these can be strengthened to help the poor and young. Common property resources and cooperation - allow resource management by transforming open access resources into common property resources through collective titling. 4) What are alternative approaches to resolving land disputes to prevent conflicts? In addition to land reform, there are other devices for reducing the potential for land-related conflict. One way is to encourage rural development to make more efficient use of land resources. Also, educating and training people, especially the young, for non-agricultural jobs, either in rural or urban areas, may reduce conflict over land. AUDIO CLIP FROM THIS SPEECH  Click here for audio clip of Alan Dejanvry. [RealAudio non-streaming file, 334k] Transcription of audio clip: "My conclusion is at the end is that what we need is a comprehensive territorial approach. Rural development is not a sector business. It's the territorial farms, the regional development to create the opportunities for rural development via regional dynamism in terms of the set of activities that can be placed in that -- through that region. Really to put -- put forward new mechanisms of access to land -- and I have given you six -- six of those -- and of conflict resolution one has to remember that many of the reasons why land markets and land rental markets do not work is because you don't have in place conflict resolution mechanisms, many of which would be local so you avoid having to take all those conflicts before -- to the court, which are quite often not reliable, very costly, very distant, and eventually not fair to the parties which are -- come seeking -- and then with instruments to give value to land which is technology, et cetera and create other income opportunities on your land." [This audio clip requires RealPlayerTM. The RealPlayer software is available for free download from RealNetwork at http://www.real.com/player/index.html.]

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