Sharing or Dividing the Land? Land Rights and Farmer-Herder Relations in Burkina Faso and Northwest Cameroon

Pelican, Michaela; Dafinger, Andreas

doi:10.1080/00083968.2006.10751338

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Many Mbororo argue that they have occupied their grazing area for several decades and have made considerable investments, such as house construction, pasture improvement and crop cultivation. Some of the more wealthy families have legalised their land ownership by acquiring land titles and demarcating their landed property (Dafinger and Pelican 2006).…”

Section: Mbororo Sedentarisation and Changing Attitudes To Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mbororo on the move: from pastoral mobility to international travel

Pelican

2011

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

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This contribution deals with historical and contemporary experiences of mobility among Mbororo (Fulbe pastoralists) in northwest Cameroon. It examines the impact of these experiences on Mbororo interaction with their environment, and the emergence of ideas of tourism and heritage among Mbororo based in Cameroon and abroad. It argues that while Mbororo mobility has now attained a global scale, it is largely limited to the more prosperous and educated elite, and contributes to social stratification within Mbororo society.

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Section: Mbororo Sedentarisation and Changing Attitudes To Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mbororo on the move: from pastoral mobility to international travel

Pelican

2011

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

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“…More importantly, the involvement of authorities reduces the options for local user groups of herders and farmers to find their own negotiated and flexible low-stakes solutions for the conflicts that are inherent to the mosaic of land use characteristic of the Sahelian and Sudanian zones of West and Central Africa. In their comparison of herder-farmer conflicts in northwest Cameroon and Burkina Faso, Dafinger and Pelican (2006) observed a similar phenomenon. After the creation of agricultural and pastoral zones in northwest Cameroon, the number of disputes decreased but their intensity increased, and they tended to escalate to larger conflicts.…”

Section: Discussion: Governance Of Open Systemsmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…After the creation of agricultural and pastoral zones in northwest Cameroon, the number of disputes decreased but their intensity increased, and they tended to escalate to larger conflicts. Dafinger and Pelican (2006) argued that the creation of land use zones reduced daily negotiations between herders and farmers and their ability to resolve them without involvement of the authorities. We see similar developments in the far north region of Cameroon, with the protection of transhumance corridors.…”

Section: Discussion: Governance Of Open Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rangeland governance in an open system: Protecting transhumance corridors in the Far North Province of Cameroon

Moritz

Catherine

Drent

et al. 2013

Pastor Res Policy Pract

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The mobile pastoral system in the far north region of Cameroon is an excellent example of the paradox of pastoral land tenure, in that pastoralists need secure access to pasture and water, but also flexibility in resource use, i.e. the ability to move elsewhere because of spatio-temporal variation in resource availability. In this paper, we draw from our collective research and development experience with mobile pastoralists and discuss how non-governmental organisations have used ordinances and bureaucratic procedures to protect pastoral resources, in particular transhumance corridors that connect seasonal grazing lands in the far north region. We argue that the mobile pastoral system is best understood as an open system and explain what the implications are for the protection of pastoral resources. We argue that delimiting and protecting transhumance corridors is not the panacea, and we conclude with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.

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“…4 Research suggests that as many as one-fourth to one-half of households are entangled in some form of land dispute (Lund, 1998: 114). See also Bassett (1988), Berry (1993), Breusers, Nederlof & van Rheenan (1998), Crook (2004, Dafinger & Pelican (2006), Herbst (2000), andO'Bannon (2006). 5 In a study of all land disputes in the Court of Appeal in Sévare, Mali, Benjaminsen et al (2012) note that about 10% of land disputes involve violence (interpersonal as well as group violence).…”

Section: Land Conflicts In West Africamentioning

confidence: 97%

The law of the land

Eck

2014

Journal of Peace Research

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Common notions about the source of communal land conflict in Africa have long explained it as growing out of conditions of environmental scarcity. This article argues instead that the institutional structure of the legal system is central to understanding which countries are prone to experience communal land conflict. When competing customary and modern jurisdictions coexist in countries inhabited by mixed identity groups, the conflicting sources of legal authority lead to insecurity about which source of law will prevail. Because the source of law is contested, conflict parties cannot trust the legal system to predictably adjudicate disputes, which encourages the use of extrajudicial vigilante measures. Using new data on communal violence in West Africa, this argument is examined for the period 1990-2009. The results show that in countries where competing jurisdictions exist, communal land conflict is 200-350% more likely. These findings suggest that researchers should consider the role of legal institutions and processes in relation to social unrest and collective violence.

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Sharing or Dividing the Land? Land Rights and Farmer-Herder Relations in Burkina Faso and Northwest Cameroon

Cited by 15 publications

References 14 publications

Mbororo on the move: from pastoral mobility to international travel

Mbororo on the move: from pastoral mobility to international travel

Rangeland governance in an open system: Protecting transhumance corridors in the Far North Province of Cameroon

The law of the land

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