Customary Land Tenure in Liberia - Land Tenure and Property ...

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99 8.2.7 Unclear or Poorly Defined Land Boundaries Boundaries to land held under customary tenure are typically marked by soap trees and pathways, as well as by geographic features such as rivers, creeks, mountains, and valleys. Children learn about these boundaries from their fathers who show them where their claims end. Unfortunately, such boundaries are subject to changes over time and have been a source of tenure insecurity and disputes in these clans. For example, in Dobli, Gbanshay, and Ylan, community members reported that it is not uncommon for these kinds of boundaries to be crossed, especially by people that plant life trees. In Gbanshay and Dobli, women seemed to be especially vulnerable to encroachment of their land. Unclear or poorly defined boundaries also affect land held under TCs. In Gbanshay, we saw TCs with land boundaries only defined on three sides of the property. This is contributing to holders extending their claims further back from the road. We were told that in the past, “people knew where to stop…there was a common understanding…but now people are running the limits.” Unclear boundaries and unpredictable claims have resulted in tenure insecurity. 8.2.8 Poorly Enforced Borrowing Terms In many of the studied clans, it is common for people to borrow land for one or two farming seasons. The seasonal nature of borrowing rights is not necessarily a source of tenure insecurity; rather, this system is appropriate for the bush fallow cultivation system. Further, many communities have customary norms that support lending land to one‟s neighbors. However, borrowing arrangements are becoming more insecure in areas subject to increasing land pressure, particularly in areas with growing interest in cultivating life trees. Likewise, borrowers are creating insecurity among perpetual right holders by planting life trees, which asserts perpetual rights to the land and, in turn, contributes to reluctance on the part of landholders to lend their land. In Little Kola, Saykleken, and Ylan, community members requested that their land be surveyed and deeded to prove their ownership and to prevent borrowers from asserting permanent claims. 8.2.9 Acquisition of Land by Elites The acquisition of land by privileged Liberians is the primary source of tenure insecurity in Ding, Ylan, and Mana. In these clans, both past and present local authorities have been accused of using their power to facilitate the transfer of land rights to elites – both outsiders and well-connected indigenes – fueling tenure insecurity and land disputes. Even clan members with deeds and TCs fear that their land can be transferred to elites via deeds. Tenure insecurities are particularly acute in clans where outsiders have acquired deeds and used these to exclude communities from land they traditionally claimed under custom. We saw this particularly in Ding, Ylan, and Mana. In Ding, where community members have sought to acquire TCs and deeds (mainly at town-levels) to protect their own interests in land, some are concerned that even having such documentation will not protect them against the power of “big hands,” that is, wealthy outsiders. They feel that those with money and power can always find a way to acquire land. Reportedly, authorities have authorized land transfers – often with the suspicion that they are receiving bribes to do so – without consulting with Town Chiefs, elders, and citizens. Some authorities have even been accused of forging the signatures of other authorities on certificates authorizing land surveys, and of personally profiting from these land transactions. Speaking about acquisition of their land by some wealthy and former government officials, an elderly man from Ylan said, "When you don't have money, you are not respected; even your rights are not recognized." In Ding, several youth felt that violence was their only weapon and reported using cutlasses to prevent surveys from being carried out on land claimed by local communities. 8.3 ANALYSIS Many people are trying to protect their historical claims to land from investors, concessionaires, the government, and land borrowers. Whereas communities are eager to benefit from economic opportunities that investors or concessionaries may bring, they want their rights to be respected and to be accorded a decision-making role in whether and how outsiders gain access to land that belongs to the community. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
100 The importance of documenting customary claims and clarifying statutory claims to land is strongly apparent when one looks at the main causes of tenure insecurity in the clans visited. Particularly in those clans experiencing increasing competition for land and mounting tenure insecurity, there is considerable demand for statutory forms of documentation to back up their claims to land – mainly in the form of deeds issued at town levels with Town Chiefs acting as trustees. This is viewed as the most effective means by which they can protect their land from acquisitions that neglect to benefit them. But for such deeds to provide citizens with meaningful tenure security, communities must be able to trust local authorities to stand behind these documents in the face of more wealthy and powerful interests. By themselves, neither deeds nor other forms of statutory documentation of land rights will be sufficient to engender the tenure security of clan members. Rather, the integrity of state-issued documents depends heavily on the integrity of the state authorities charged with upholding the rights these documents convey. Moreover, our findings indicate that the promotion of exclusive and alienable rights to land through deeds is not always the best solution for these kinds of communities and may not necessarily result in tenure security, especially since these communities depend greatly on flexible, diversified, and communal land tenure systems for optimal land and resource use. Finally, land tenure security is necessary, but on its own it cannot guarantee improved and sustainable rural livelihoods. Measures to improve land tenure security need to be complemented by pro-poor policies that would reduce people‟s vulnerability to poverty and enable them to make best use of the land resource in their communities. Moreover, there is a need for the GOL to address disputes and tension that have arisen because of the existing land tenure insecurity. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
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LAND POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPO
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LIBERIA LAND POLICY & INSTITUTIONAL
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ii 1.0 Introduction ...............
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iv 4.2.1 Statutory Tenure Claims by
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vi 7.3.2 Courts ...................
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viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Ma
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x ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CDC CF
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xii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report s
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xiv game for both sale and consumpt
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xvi manage tree crops where these a
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xviii In the clans we visited, stat
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xx DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS Di
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xxii Recommended measures include t
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xxiv Remove land and governance au
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2 This chapter begins with a presen
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4 1.2 LAND TENURE AND RURAL LIVELIH
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6 (Renner, 1931). Initially lacking
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8 1.3 HISTORY OF LAND TENURE IN LIB
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10 Certificate is merely a permit t
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12 however, rights granted to commu
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14 2.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This ch
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16 Figure 2.2: FEWS-NET map of Libe
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18 In each case, after completion o
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20 3.0 LAND USE AND LIVELIHOODS Thi
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22 Upland Rice Cultivated in each o
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24 money quickly. However, they als
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26 3.2.2 Trees In addition to food
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28 large rubber farms ranging from
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30 tasks assigned to women and vice
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32 3.2.7 Hunting and Fishing In mos
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34 bush and fell trees on a farmer
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36 men‟s focus on life tree culti
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38 from one or more patrilineages,
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40 Figure 4.1: Access to land for f
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42 Figure 4.2: Children’s acquisi
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44 Figure 4.3: Profile of borrowing
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46 he/she is fully integrated as a
Page 75 and 76: 48 widows will sometimes marry a ma
Page 77 and 78: 50 Several communities have rules g
Page 79 and 80: 52 Bush and Forest Resources In all
Page 81 and 82: 54 Water and Fishing Access to wate
Page 83 and 84: 56 Other factors cited for contribu
Page 85 and 86: 58 Figure 4.6: Presence of differen
Page 87 and 88: 60 bush resources largely follows c
Page 89 and 90: 62 In Ylan, some land is held under
Page 91 and 92: 64 the majority of studied clans, t
Page 93 and 94: 66 We also found that, in the clans
Page 95 and 96: 68 In some clans such as Upper Work
Page 97 and 98: 70 Town Chiefs Town Chiefs represen
Page 99 and 100: 72 dispute resolution. 55 While in
Page 101 and 102: 74 such as Clan and Paramount Chief
Page 103 and 104: 76 some women who held positions as
Page 105 and 106: 78 could rely. This in turn produce
Page 107 and 108: 80 community sometimes encounter re
Page 109 and 110: 82 rubber on adjacent land, as well
Page 111 and 112: 84 In other clans, including Ding a
Page 113 and 114: 86 Disputes over Mining Mana Clan c
Page 115 and 116: 88 7.0 DISPUTE RESOLUTION Dispute r
Page 117 and 118: 90 7.2.2 Chairladies In Dobli, Gban
Page 119 and 120: 92 7.3.4 Disputes between Clans/Dis
Page 121 and 122: 94 In some clans, the abundance of
Page 123 and 124: 96 8.2.2 Scale of Ownership Claims
Page 125: 98 If communities anticipate that t
Page 129 and 130: 102 The current land tenure sys
Page 131 and 132: 104 10.0 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS In
Page 133 and 134: 106 communities. Instead, we sugges
Page 135 and 136: 108 apply for fee simple tenure. Th
Page 137 and 138: 110 tenure unit. Instead, this role
Page 139 and 140: 112 Tribal Certificates and Deeds R
Page 141 and 142: 114 REFERENCES SECONDARY SOURCES Ak
Page 143 and 144: 116 Wallace, Carolyn Gamiao and Rol
Page 145 and 146: 118 DATE TIME ACTIVITY March 23, 20
Page 147 and 148: 120 ANNEX 3: NORTHEAST TRANSECT, DO
Page 149 and 150: 122 ANNEX 5: TOWN MAP, SAYKLEKAN CL
Page 151 and 152: 124 ANNEX 7: HISTORICAL MATRIX, YLA
Page 153 and 154: 126 ANNEX 9: DOBLI DISPUTE LETTER C
Page 155 and 156: 128 ANNEX 11: TRIBAL CERTIFICATE FO
Page 157 and 158: 130 ANNEX 13: SEASONAL CALENDARS, M
Page 159 and 160: 132 ANNEX 14: COMMUNITY FOREST BY-L
Page 161 and 162: 134 CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERI
Page 163 and 164: 136 b. A family or individual shall
Page 165 and 166: 138 a. Standing Rules Tree
Page 167 and 168: 140 The amount of rattan collecte
Page 169 and 170: 142 o o o o o o o Antelope Hippo
Page 171 and 172: 144 Any community member or gro
Page 173: 146 U.S. Agency for International D
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