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

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income. In these three clans, interest in mining is increasing because, as one clan member in Ding Clan stated,
“the money is good.” We did not encounter evidence of mining in any of the other eight study clans.
Artisanal gold mining can be undertaken on hillsides, in swamps, and on the banks of rivers. Dirt and gravel
from the mining area is dug, sifted, and washed. In the case of diamonds, pits are dug along river banks and
sometimes river beds, and the gravel is washed and sifted. Gold mining is reportedly less arduous and provides
steadier income than diamond mining, largely because gold is more commonly found and has a higher and
steadier value than diamonds. In Mana Clan, we encountered women and children mining for “glean-glean”
(very small amounts of gold), which provides just enough money to purchase food on a daily basis.
In areas with no gold or diamond resources, clan members may travel to other areas to work in the mines. For
example, Ylan Clan members travel to mining areas around Tapita to mine gold and send money back to their
families. Similarly, Gbanshay Clan members travel to what they called “Lofa” (potentially Lofa Bridge, located in
Grand Cape Mount County) to mine.
3.2.9 Charcoal Production
In some clans, such as Dobli, Mana, and Ding,
residents engage in charcoal production, most of
which is destined for nearby urban centers. The
wood for charcoal is harvested from secondary and
primary forests or from sticks gathered from areas
cleared in preparation for rice farms, then burned
in charcoal „ovens.‟ In both Ding and Dobli,
charcoal production was reported to be a major
livelihood activity. In both of those clans, we saw
large trucks leaving the clans with piles of charcoal
for sale in urban centers. Buyers also reportedly
travel from Monrovia to purchase charcoal. In
Mana Clan, charcoal production was reported to be
undertaken by the very poor. Here we witnessed
charcoal being sold in one of the clan‟s major
towns, Weajue.
3.2.10 Labor
Image 3.5: Charcoal oven in Ding Clan
Agriculture in Liberia is labor intensive; thus, labor is a vital element of cultivation. In every studied clan except
for Mana, farmers participated in kuu, a form of reciprocal group labor whereby community members contribute
group labor to farming tasks on each other‟s farms in succession during critical periods. Men‟s kuus are generally
used for clearing bush and felling trees, while women‟s kuus are used for planting and weeding, and sometimes
harvesting.
Access to labor is critical for women who are single or widowed. Even in clans where single women have access
to land, they may be unable to farm it due to a lack of male labor. In Ding Clan, for example, women have access
to town land for rice farms, but must purchase male labor to brush and burn the land. Women‟s lack of money
makes it difficult for them to exercise their right. It is also possible that, in clans where rules do not explicitly
restrict women from planting life trees, single women are unable to do so because they lack the necessary male
labor.
Labor seems to be a definitive characteristic in regards to relative wealth. In some clans, the selling of labor is
associated with low well-being, the poorest being those who need to sell their labor to other farmers. For those
able to purchase labor outside of the kuu system, as noted by the farmers in Gbanshay Clan, they are able to
burn the land when conditions allow and to plant on time. However, those dependent on the kuu system to clear
their land prior to burning must respect the kuu calendar. If the rains come early and the kuu has yet to clear
CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA