Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

OWNERSHIPW O R L D R E S O U R C E S 2 0 0 852consultation and with little or no compensation to local inhabitants.Often these are precisely the lands and resources to whichthe poor require access in order to pursue ecosystem enterprises(Toulmin 2005:31; van den Brink et al. 2006:14).At the same time, new market forces, demographic trends,and land uses have destabilized many customary tenureregimes. Population growth means that more people are vyingfor access to land and resource rights in most areas. Modernmarkets for cash crops, timber, and minerals have also encouragedintensification of land uses. In many areas—particularlynear urban centers and lands with high-value resources—landmarkets have developed that directly compete with traditionalmethods of land exchange and allocation of resource rights(IIED 2006:2–3; Toulmin 2005:29–31, 34).For example, in regions of Ghana where land competition ismost intense, once-secure inheritance rights over land have begunto break down, with older family members increasingly leasing outfamily land for income rather than passing it on, resulting in risinglandlessness among the young. In other instances, agribusinessfirms have worked with local Ghanaian chiefs to expropriatefamily farming land for conversion to cash crops such as palm oilplantations. The result is increasing distortions of customarytenure practices and a trend toward privatizing land and resourceuses to fit the market economy, with the impact falling hardest onthose with the weakest property rights: the young, the old, women,and the poor (van den Brink et al. 2006:9; IIED 2006:2–3).Tenure InnovationsMany governments today are aware of the importance oftenure security to poverty alleviation and economic growth. Ina 2005 study of 18 recent national anti-poverty strategies, theInternational Institute for Environment and Developmentfound that 13 countries made explicit reference to the connectionbetween poverty and the lack of access to land. As a consequence,many countries are experimenting with tenure reform, revisingthe ways they recognize individual and collective rights to landand resources (Cotula et al. 2006:12; Toulmin 2005:35).Rural people and governments alike realize that there is anincreasing need to formalize their property rights in a way thatis legally recognized. To be truly secure, a property right todayrequires two forms of recognition. It must first be seen as legitimatein the eyes of the community, which must respect theproperty rights on a daily basis. But it must also be legally recognizedby the state and thus capable of weathering a competingclaim. While legal recognition may not matter so much if theland is not under pressure and customary tenure arrangementsare still strong, it is essential where local land markets are activeor there is strong interest in the land or resource rights at issue(Cotula et al. 2006:23). Moreover, where communities seeksecure access to natural resources claimed by the state as a basisfor environmental enterprise, a formalized agreement betweenthe community and the state that spells out the community’s useand management rights is essential.