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

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xiii However, several of the clans, especially those located near major towns and cities, sell a significant proportion of what is produced in markets. Farming requires phases of intensive labor and is structured around the rainy and dry seasons. Primary farming activities include clearing, burning, planting, weeding, chasing away birds, harvesting, and building storage granaries. With some slight variation by clan, the dry season lasts roughly from November to April, while the rainy season runs from May to October. The sizes of farms vary both within and between clans, ranging from roughly one to four acres. The distances from settlements to farms vary from 30 minutes to two hours on foot. In each of the 11 clans, farmers practice shifting cultivation or rotational bush-fallowing systems for upland rice fields. In some clans, the fallow period is as short as one to five years while in others it is as long as 15 to 20 years. Clan members attributed shorter fallow cycles to increasing populations and the growth of tree crop cultivation. Upland rice was consistently reported to be the most important crop due to its significance as a staple food, followed by cassava. In all the clans, rice is commonly intercropped with vegetables and tubers, including cassava, okra, corn, cucumber, bitterball, pepper, eddoes, potatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, ground peas (i.e., peanuts), yams, and beans. Less commonly, farmers intercrop upland rice with rubber tree saplings. Swamp rice farming is particularly prevalent in those clans where government and NGO interventions introduced technologies and materials, such as Tengia and Upper Workor, both in Lofa County. Yet swamp rice – whether involving the traditional or improved method – is not pervasive everywhere. In Motor Road, farmers do not practice it, while in Ylan Clan, swamp rice production has decreased because of increased pest infestations. Many clans expressed a strong interest in swamp rice farming because of its higher yields and the fact that one does not need to clear or burn the area to plant it. Moreover, swamps can be planted and harvested for multiple seasons before needing to be fallowed. While vegetables are most often intercropped with rice and cassava, some farmers keep separate vegetable gardens. Many women reported selling vegetables in local markets for cash. Women are the primary cultivators of vegetable gardens in most clans, though in Ylan, men reported that they have separate gardens and produce more vegetables than women. In addition to food crops, residents of the studied clans also plant “life trees” to varying degrees. Life trees bear products of economic value, endure over the span of a typical human life (or longer), and typically allow the planter to assert a permanent claim to the land on which they are planted. In several of the clans that we visited, life trees are an important source of cash earnings. Rubber cultivation in particular appears to be increasing in some clans as a result of the growing proliferation of rubber buyers and high market prices. Rubber, palm, cocoa, and coffee play an important role in rural livelihoods, as do coconut, orange, kola, and mango trees. The type of life trees differed depending on the geographic location of the studied clan and seemed most prevalent in clans located in Bong, Lofa, and Nimba counties. Husbands, wives, and children farm together, with certain activities primarily assigned to women and others mainly to men. However, the division of labor is not always strict, and we frequently heard cases in which men participated in tasks traditionally assigned to women and vice-versa. In general, men bear primary responsibility for the cultivation of life trees, though women often participate in their cultivation and maintenance and, less commonly, plant their own trees. Whereas men are often the primary sellers of tree products, women are the main sellers of vegetables and other produce. The extent to which women and men share earnings from sales is highly varied among the clans and even among households within a clan. The importance of livestock as a source of livelihood varied among the clans. In some clans, people reported that their livestock had been decimated during the war; often herds had not been replenished. Fowl, including chickens, ducks, and guinea fowl, and small ruminants are common, while cattle are not. Livestock are both sold and consumed. Some clans have primary forests and all have secondary forests (i.e., bush). In all studied clans, residents harvest NTFPs from the forests. Residents of these clans also catch fish from creeks and hunt and trap wild CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
xiv game for both sale and consumption. Residents usually hunt deer, groundhogs, and other rodents using traps, guns, and hunting dogs. More exotic animals are also hunted in some clans. Artisanal gold and diamond mining is a major source of livelihood in Mana, and is done to a much lesser extent in Ding and Dobli Clans. Gold is mined on hillsides, in swamps, and on the banks of rivers. Gold mining is said to provide steadier income than diamond mining, largely because gold is more commonly found and the value of diamonds varies widely. Mining tasks are also divided by gender. Men typically dig while women sift and wash the gravel. Women also cook for men who are digging. Men commonly sell the minerals. In several of the studied clans, clan members engage in other livelihood activities in combination with seasonal cropping and tree cultivation. In the clans we visited, we encountered charcoal producers, pitsawyers, providers of transportation and cell phone services, shop or kiosk keepers, pastors, healthcare workers, teachers, carpenters, video club owners, and government employees. In Motor Road, however, nonfarming livelihood activities are limited to teaching and government employment. RIGHTS AND RULES GOVERNING LAND USE In each of the 11 studied clans, customary rules governing access and rights to land and natural resources prevail. These rules vary based on the tribal ethnicity and lineage systems that dominate in each clan. Customary tenure systems – though based in tradition and extending back to forefathers who first settled the land – are dynamic and evolve over time in response to interventions and new realities, whether physical, economic, political, or social. Though we encountered many differences in the customary rules of the 11 clans, we also encountered many commonalities. Among the clans, there is a high degree of variance in terms of the presence of statutory forms of tenure, including deeds, Tribal Certificates (TCs), concessions, and government holdings. Where statutory forms of tenure are present, we found that they have influenced the nature of customary tenure – sometimes marginally, in other cases radically. In each of the studied clans, access to land for farming and housing is governed by a set of rules shared by one or more lineages that settled in the area and first cleared the land. Claims to land are highly nested, typically ranging from claims held by the lineage-based chieftaincy or clan to claims held by towns, extended families, and households and individuals. At the household level, claims can be temporary, as with seasonal upland rice and vegetable crops, or they can be permanent as with tree crops and house plots. The rights embodied in nested claims are different. At the higher levels, claims embody more governance rights, including the right to establish customary rules to govern access to and use of land and natural resources and the right to exclude those who are not citizens of the lineage. At the lowest levels, claims represent use rights and a narrower set of governance rights over discrete areas of land. Among the studied clans, the primary basis for accessing land for farming, housing, and harvesting natural resources tends to be through larger claims held by families, quarters, or towns – the unit we refer to as the “core tenure unit.” Members of this unit have primary rights to land; that is, they do not have to borrow land. Communities trace their rights to live, farm, and govern a particular area to the clearing of primary forest and settlement on the land by their forefathers. Once land is claimed by an extended family, individuals and households typically gain seasonal or permanent rights to shares of that land via the following means: 1) allocation by those administering rights in the extended family unit; 2) gifts of land from parents to children or from town citizens to strangers; 3) inheritance of land by children; 4) via marriage – including inheritance as a widow; 5) borrowing land; and 6) planting trees. Rules for Accessing Land Access to land for seasonal crops is typically via seasonal rights within the extended family unit. Seasonal farming rights tend to last one to two seasons, though in some clans the claim lasts three to four seasons. CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA
Page 1 and 2: LAND POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPO
Page 3 and 4: LIBERIA LAND POLICY & INSTITUTIONAL
Page 5 and 6: ii 1.0 Introduction ...............
Page 7 and 8: iv 4.2.1 Statutory Tenure Claims by
Page 9 and 10: vi 7.3.2 Courts ...................
Page 11 and 12: viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Ma
Page 13 and 14: x ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CDC CF
Page 15: xii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report s
Page 19 and 20: xvi manage tree crops where these a
Page 21 and 22: xviii In the clans we visited, stat
Page 23 and 24: xx DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISMS Di
Page 25 and 26: xxii Recommended measures include t
Page 27 and 28: xxiv Remove land and governance au
Page 29 and 30: 2 This chapter begins with a presen
Page 31 and 32: 4 1.2 LAND TENURE AND RURAL LIVELIH
Page 33 and 34: 6 (Renner, 1931). Initially lacking
Page 35 and 36: 8 1.3 HISTORY OF LAND TENURE IN LIB
Page 37 and 38: 10 Certificate is merely a permit t
Page 39 and 40: 12 however, rights granted to commu
Page 41 and 42: 14 2.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This ch
Page 43 and 44: 16 Figure 2.2: FEWS-NET map of Libe
Page 45 and 46: 18 In each case, after completion o
Page 47 and 48: 20 3.0 LAND USE AND LIVELIHOODS Thi
Page 49 and 50: 22 Upland Rice Cultivated in each o
Page 51 and 52: 24 money quickly. However, they als
Page 53 and 54: 26 3.2.2 Trees In addition to food
Page 55 and 56: 28 large rubber farms ranging from
Page 57 and 58: 30 tasks assigned to women and vice
Page 59 and 60: 32 3.2.7 Hunting and Fishing In mos
Page 61 and 62: 34 bush and fell trees on a farmer
Page 63 and 64: 36 men‟s focus on life tree culti
Page 65 and 66: 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
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48 widows will sometimes marry a ma
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50 Several communities have rules g
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52 Bush and Forest Resources In all
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54 Water and Fishing Access to wate
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56 Other factors cited for contribu
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58 Figure 4.6: Presence of differen
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60 bush resources largely follows c
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62 In Ylan, some land is held under
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64 the majority of studied clans, t
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66 We also found that, in the clans
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68 In some clans such as Upper Work
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70 Town Chiefs Town Chiefs represen
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72 dispute resolution. 55 While in
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74 such as Clan and Paramount Chief
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76 some women who held positions as
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78 could rely. This in turn produce
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80 community sometimes encounter re
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82 rubber on adjacent land, as well
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84 In other clans, including Ding a
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86 Disputes over Mining Mana Clan c
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88 7.0 DISPUTE RESOLUTION Dispute r
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90 7.2.2 Chairladies In Dobli, Gban
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92 7.3.4 Disputes between Clans/Dis
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94 In some clans, the abundance of
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96 8.2.2 Scale of Ownership Claims
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98 If communities anticipate that t
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100 The importance of documenting c
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102 The current land tenure sys
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104 10.0 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS In
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106 communities. Instead, we sugges
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108 apply for fee simple tenure. Th
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110 tenure unit. Instead, this role
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112 Tribal Certificates and Deeds R
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114 REFERENCES SECONDARY SOURCES Ak
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116 Wallace, Carolyn Gamiao and Rol
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118 DATE TIME ACTIVITY March 23, 20
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120 ANNEX 3: NORTHEAST TRANSECT, DO
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122 ANNEX 5: TOWN MAP, SAYKLEKAN CL
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124 ANNEX 7: HISTORICAL MATRIX, YLA
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126 ANNEX 9: DOBLI DISPUTE LETTER C
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128 ANNEX 11: TRIBAL CERTIFICATE FO
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130 ANNEX 13: SEASONAL CALENDARS, M
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132 ANNEX 14: COMMUNITY FOREST BY-L
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134 CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERI
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136 b. A family or individual shall
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138 a. Standing Rules Tree
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140 The amount of rattan collecte
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142 o o o o o o o Antelope Hippo
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144 Any community member or gro
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146 U.S. Agency for International D
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