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

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3.3.1 Impact of the Wars (1989-2003)
During the Liberian Civil Wars (1989-2003), populations in many clans were decimated by death and outmigration.
In a few clans, including Motor Road, many of the displaced have not returned. In this clan, several
towns and villages were abandoned and forests have regrown. In the studied clans, livelihoods also changed
drastically, as farmers were forced to abandon their seasonal crops and life trees. Livestock was stolen and killed
and the numbers have yet to recover. Citizens from Little Kola, Dobli, and Ylan reported that farming virtually
halted during the war and is only now recovering. Little Kola Clan members also reported that their market shut
down during the war and people suffered a decline in their standard of living – before the war, zinc roofs were
prevalent, but now they are few. Such reported changes were common throughout the studied clans.
3.3.2 Increasing Cash Crop Cultivation
Interest in rubber and other permanent cash crops, such as cocoa in Tengia and Ylan and cultivated palm in
Ding and Mana, is increasing. In many clans, there is a growing shift from seasonal rice and vegetable cropping
to tree crop cultivation, especially among men. The trend is fueled by the high value of certain tree crops, as well
as by the perception that these crops are less labor intensive than rice cultivation. In clans where tree crops are
not prevalent, there is interest in acquiring them, as noted in Section 3.2.2 of this chapter.
The shift to cash crops is clearly underway in many of the studied clans. In Dobli, clan members told us that
many primary forests have been cleared to make way for cocoa, orange, oil palm, and especially rubber trees.
Similarly, in Ylan Clan, citizens reported that there are no longer primary forests and that the rubber economy is
increasing. Clan members from Saykleken reported a growth in the rubber economy and increased cash
cropping. And, while most rubber trees are still young, Ding Clan members predicted that, in the future, all the
clan‟s agricultural land will be planted in rubber.
3.3.3 Demand for Labor and Availability
As demand for land increases in conjunction with population growth and the transition from seasonal cropping
to permanent tree cropping, land available for agriculture appears to be decreasing. Citizens of Mana Clan
reported that the land available for farming is diminishing due to an increase in tree cultivation and mining.
Dobli, Gbanshay, and Ylan Clan members reported that, with the growth of permanent tree cropping, land
available for seasonal rice farming has decreased. In Gbanshay Clan, rising demand for land to plant rubber is
leading to encroachment and disputes and is causing farmers to seek land further and further from settlement
areas. In Tengia Clan, increased demand for land and reduced availability was attributed to children establishing
their own farms at a younger age, rather than farming with their parents.
3.3.4 Decreasing Fallow Periods
With the exception of Ding, Little Kola, Motor Road, and Saykleken, residents of all other clans reported that
fallow periods have decreased. Generally, clan members estimated that fallow periods decreased from around 10
years during the Tolbert Administration to three or four years today. Clan members attributed shorter fallow
cycles to the growth of tree crop cultivation and increased population. Clan members from Gbanshay and Ylan
specifically associated the decrease with the increase in rubber cultivation. Citizens of Dobli Clan attributed the
decrease in fallow periods to population growth. Pressure on available agricultural land has thus led farmers to
cultivate land that has not lain fallow for a long period of time. Clan members in Upper Workor reported that it
has become difficult for citizens to find fertile land, particularly for upland crops.
3.3.5 Women’s Evolving Roles
Women have increasingly taken on tasks previously considered to be men‟s responsibilities due to men‟s
evolving labor demands. In Mana Clan, men‟s labor, and especially younger men‟s labor, is increasingly absorbed
by mining activities such that they are farming less than in the past. The male labor needed for farming has
become scarce and, as a result, women too are moving away from farming and into the mining sector, either
directly or indirectly through the provision of services to miners. In Dobli and Ylan Clans, citizens reported that
CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE IN LIBERIA