Informal formalisation in a hybrid property space: The case of smallholder oil palm production in Solomon Islands

Abstract

Across post-colonial Melanesia, the benefits and costs of 'mobilisation' of customary land for economic development remain much debated among scholars, activists, policy-makers and the donor community. This paper presents a case study from Solomon Islands of a hybrid property space in which smallholder oil palm blocks are being established on customary land through an informal 'smallholder land use approval' system. This system provides salutary evidence of how customary land can be engaged for commercial agricultural activity without recourse to formalisation. It also potentially provides a more equitable pathway for landowners, especially women and young men, to engage in the oil palm sector, with the only current alternative being the registration and leasing of land directly to the oil palm company. However, enthusiasm for the scheme must be tempered by an explicit awareness of the relationships between land, development and conflict on the island Guadalcanal where the oil palm operation is located. The nascent 'informal formalisation' and commercialisation of customary land that is taking place on Guadalcanal is subjected to a conflict analysis informed by both the recent history of violent conflict in the area and comparative experience from the village oil palm sector in neighbouring Papua New Guinea. A number of potential conflict stresses are identified and recommendations made to mitigate them.

Transforming communicative spaces: the rhythm of gender in meetings in rural Solomon Islands

“…Throughout Melanesia, migrant settlers and customary landowners have frequently entered into mutually acceptable and beneficial land arrangements that foreground Melanesian forms of exchange and social relations (Allen 2012;Koczberski and Curry 2009;Numbasa and Koczberski 2012). However, in urban settings, land has long been transacted as a commodity, exchanged on the market through normative legal frameworks, and alienated from customary land tenure regimes.…”

‘There’s Nothing Better than Land’: A Migrant Group’s Strategies for Accessing Informal Settlement Land in Port Moresby

“…Indeed, many residents of the settlement recall Henao in their stories of the history of the settlement, and several recalled attending her funeral in the settlement at Portion 698. People also recollected engaging with customary landowners by contributing funds towards, and participating in, customary events in practices similar to those described by a number of other authors (Koczberski and Curry 2004, 2005Chand and Yala 2008Monson 2010;Allen 2012;Numbasa and Koczberski 2012). On the other hand, reflecting the complexity of customary landowner identification in PNG, a few people I interviewed expressed uncertainty on this score.…”

“…In the context of Port Moresby, Yala (2008, 2012) have undertaken a study looking at informal arrangements for land access in settlements. Others have examined this issue in the oil palm growing regions of PNG and Solomon Islands, looking at the ways in which migrant settlers and customary landowners use adaptive strategies to create avenues for mutually beneficial land transactions (Koczberski and Curry 2004, 2005Koczberski et al , 2012Allen 2012; see also Chapter 5, this volume). Koczberski and Numbasa (2012) have looked at migrant access and maintenance of tenure in the urban setting of Wewak (PNG) (see also Chapter 5, this volume).…”

Indigenous entrepreneurship on customary land in the Pacific: Measuring sustainability

“……within the island Pacific there is little sign that culture, in whatever form, is seen as a resource but much more that it is seen as a brake on hopeful structures of development. (Curry, Koczberski, & Connell, 2012: 122) However, a number of dissenting voices have emerged to show that culture facilitates effective businesses on customary land (Fingleton, 2004;Huffer & Qalo, 2004;Bourke, 2005;Iati, 2009;Allen, Indigenous entrepreneurship on customary land in the Pacific 2012; McCormack & Barclay, 2013). There is now growing recognitioneven from the World Banks and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsthat customary tenure can be more flexible and adaptable than previously assumed, and valuable for achieving a variety of development purposes (Fingleton, 2004;National Land Development Taskforce, 2007;Ward & Kingdon, 2007;AusAid, 2008).…”