Brown Undergraduate Law Review -- Vol. 2, No. 1 (Fall 2020)

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LAND GRABS AND THE REACH OFTHE LAW: REFORMINGLARGE-SCALE LANDACQUISITION IN SUB-SAHARANAFRICAAlexander FasseasABSTRACTThis paper proposes two legal reforms designed to minimize the adverse impacts of large-scale land acquisition (LSLA)in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing primarily on deals between foreign investors and state and local-level governments. Thefirst proposed reform calls for the passage of legislation mandating that foreign lessees and host countries engage in ameaningful, informed discourse with local farmers. The second reform proposes the strengthening and expansion ofinvestors?contractual obligations in conjunction with more robust enforcement mechanisms. These reforms will first becontextualized within the architecture of agricultural LSLAs and the broader political history of sub-Saharan Africa. Next,the positive and negative impacts of LSLAs? notably land conflict, inadequate employment and land use compensation,environmental impacts, and food insecurity? will be assessed. Finally, this paper will explain how the two proposedreforms can combat the negative consequences of LSLAs in sub-Saharan Africa and maximize their positive outcomes byfilling the current legal vacuum.Brown Undergraduate Law Review20
Land Grabs and the Reach of the Law: Reforming Large-Scale Land Acquisition in Sub-Saharan AfricaIntroductionthe architecture of agricultural LSLAs and the broaderpolitical history of sub-Saharan Africa? in particular, theThe 2007?08 global financial crisis generated record highlegacy of colonialism, weak governance and corruption,food prices, precipitating a global food crisis. This crisis ininadequate land registration practices, and the overlappingturn sparked an unprecedented surge in demand for arableand chaotic relations between state actors and localland in the Global South. Foreign investors scrambled topopulations. I will then characterize the positive andbuy up millions of hectares (ha) of farmland in developingnegative outcomes of LSLAs? notably land conflict,countries through deals known as large-scale landinadequate employment and land use compensation,acquisitions (LSLA). In recent years, a significant pluralityenvironmental impacts, and food insecurity. Finally, I willof these land deals? 37 percent as of 2018? have occurredexplain how the two proposed reforms can combat thein sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper focuses on theLSLAs in this region. 1negative consequences of LSLAs in sub-Saharan Africaand maximize their positive outcomes by filling the currentBolstered by the liberalization of agricultural markets andcollective land policies in the developing world, investorslegal vacuum to strengthen governance and empowercommunities.engaged in an unprecedented ?land grab.? 2 Critics decrythe wave of LSLAs as a neocolonial venture: transnationalland purchases often lead to the exploitation anddisplacement of indigenous farmers and the widespreadenvironmental degradation of investment sites and theirHistory and Features of Contemporary LSLAs in SSADuring the age of New Imperialism (c. 1875?1914),western colonial powers sought to expand their hegemonicreach over sub-Saharan Africa via large-scale landsurrounding ecosystems. 3 Yet LSLAs have also brought acquisition, resulting in massive exploitation andemployment and increased social services to dispossession of indigenous populations. 4 Althoughunderdeveloped and underserved populations.nominal territorial control was restored to SSA countries inthe early 20th century, appropriation of local lands hasIn this paper, I will propose two legal reforms designed topersisted to the present day as land purchases by foreignminimize the adverse impacts of large-scale landinvestors have proliferated. From 2000?2013 alone, 56.2acquisition. The first proposed reform calls for the passagemillion hectares of SSA farmland (equivalent to roughly ?of legislation mandating that foreign lessees and hostof Europe?s cultivated land) changed handscountries engage in a meaningful, informed discourse withtransnationally.local farmers. The second reform proposes theThe Land Matrix? a public database ofglobal land acquisitions sponsored by the Internationalstrengthening and expansion of investors? contractualLand Coalition? defines LSLAs as deals involving moreobligations in conjunction with more robust enforcementmechanisms. I will first contextualize these reforms withinthan 200 hectares of land; 6 nevertheless, most leases in1. Chiara Mazzocchi et al., ?The Determinants of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A Case Study,? Agriculture,vol. 8, no. 12 (December 8, 2018), 2.2. Laurence Roudart and Marcel Mazoyer, ?Large-Scale Land Acquisitions: A Historical Perspective,? Revue Internationale De Politique DeDéveloppement, vol. 6, no. 1 (2015).3. Paul Hufe and Daniel F. Heuermann, ?The Local Impacts of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions: A Review of Case Study Evidence from Sub-SaharanAfrica,? Journal of Contemporary African Studies, vol. 35, no. 2 (April 2017).4. Roudart and Mazoyer.5. Ward Anseeuw, et al., ?Transnational Land Deals for Agriculture in the Global South,? Land Matrix (April 2012), 7.6. The Land Matrix. International Land Coalition (ILC), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement(CIRAD), Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), (November 1, 2020).Brown Undergraduate Law Review21
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Brown Undergraduate Law Review -- Vol. 2, No. 1 (Fall 2020)

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