Report: Regional Consultative Meetings on Land - Land Commission

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By making farms (food crops: rice, etc), hunting
and fishing;
Planting cash crops (cocoa, coffee, etc.);
By Negotiation;
1.2 Are you able to get enough land for your 1)
rice farms, 2) tree crops, 3) houses, and 4) businesses
or (How do you give out land in your community?
For Farming? Houses? Business?)
Responses:
• No, the process in obtaining land is very difficult;
• Land is expensive for the poor;
• Large portions of land are owned by people
who cannot develop the land;
• Private surveyors sell land without the knowledge
of the proper authority;
• Yes, there is enough land, but the forest land
is limited due to Government restriction on
Reserved Forest;
• Yes, for rice farms;
• No, for tree crops because original land owners
are holding on to land and do not want to
give it out;
• For houses, there is enough land;
• For business, it depends on the agreement,
land can be available;
• No, land is not enough due to growing population,
and pressure on land in urban communities;
• Getting land is constrained by encroachment
with purchase made easier for financially potent
individuals;
• Rapid urbanization is taking up land area;
• Land can be acquired from both government
and private owners;
• Private owners must have simple titles;
• For Public land, one must go through the community
leaders or civil authorities, and whatever
document received must be properly
registered and probated. This process is long,
costly and difficult for most poor people;
• Presidential approval following executive order
for survey is a requirement that make acquiring
land difficult;
• Extension of private and foreign owned plantations
makes it difficult to get land;
• Yes for those who own land, there is enough
land for farming, housing and tree crops;
26 Governance Commisssion - Liberia
1.3 How do you make sure that land is put to
good use?
Responses:
• You make sure to develop the land, if not, the
quarter, family or elders have the right to take
back their land;
• Encourage other town people to live on, and
use the vacant land;
• By making sure that all zoning regulations
and ordinances are adhered to.
1.4 How do women, youth and strangers get access
to land?
Responses:
• Strangers can lease the land not own it;
• Strangers have to be naturalized citizens of the
country if desirous of engaging in farming;
• Strangers may get land by application to the
elders and authorities;
• Through stranger-fathers or host who vouches
for the stranger’s character;
• Man as a stranger gets land by marriage to a
woman from the community;
• Strangers get access to land through intermarriages;
• Long stay in a particular community where
he/she resides; By commitment and kindness
to landlords, stakeholders;
• In appreciation of services rendered (by
strangers and youth);
• Land given to a stranger is not bought and is
forfeited when a stranger’s behavior is no longer
compatible with community values. If no
life-trees are planted, the land goes back to the
citizens. If life-trees are planted, the land goes
to the children of the strangers.
• Strangers can lease the land but not to sell it to
them; For strangers, especially foreigners, can
only get land by leasing. Internal strangers
(Liberians from different area) can get land
through stranger-father.
• Stranger acquires land through tribal certificate
from tribal authorities; The first step is to
ask the citizens for a parcel of land for farming
and building;
• If desirous of planting life-trees, token can be
given to the citizens by the stranger;