Abstract
We discuss the results of two research projects carried out by the Institute of Social Anthropology and Institute of Geography, University of Bern (Switzerland), to examine large-scale land acquisitions in Africa. Our case studies are from Morocco, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi. They illustrate the drama of grabbed commons and economic consequences affecting marginalized groups. Our research revealed that foreign investors made new land deals with local state officials and elites. The new rules made the land available for market-oriented productions and transferred the assets into state-, local elite-, or international companies-owned properties. These changes adversely affected the traditional property rights scheme. New institutional changes eliminated communal ownership and access to land-related commons such as water, pasture, fisheries, forestry, non-timber forest products, and wildlife, all vital for local sustainable livelihoods. Stipulated in the agreements payments and developmental projects through corporate social responsibility (CSR) schemes proved to be false and prone to hidden losses. We analyze how local groups reacted to these dramas and what strategies they used to reinstall the commons. We argue that only bottom-up institutional buildup provides essential basis for securing resilient livelihoods. Our studies allow for understanding how to use the commons in the future on local, national, and international level.
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Haller, T. et al. (2019). Large-Scale Land Acquisition as Commons Grabbing: A Comparative Analysis of Six African Case Studies. In: Lozny, L.R., McGovern, T.H. (eds) Global Perspectives on Long Term Community Resource Management. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15800-2_7
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