Land Reform in Liberia: A Reflection From the Field

Ali D. Kaba

The Community Land Protection Program of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI)

A Snapshot

Concessioned Out: 40-50%

Private “deeded” claims –15 to 20%

Protected Areas – 10 to 15%

Tribal certificates – Unknown

Public Land – Unknown

Lack of consultation with local communities

Overlapping claims – private, public, protected, tribal certificates, community collective claims

Weak institutional arrangement, poor documentation, weak capacity, “political will?”, etc

How Did We Get Here: Land Rights Challenges in Liberia

Tenure Rights: we have a very unclear and more accurately, unfair land laws, characterized by uneven distribution and recognition of tenure rights. i.e.

– Dual regime: customary and statutory tenure systems– Undocumented (un-deeded) land seen as Public Land

Unclear Access Rights: – On the one hand, indigenous communities have maintained

customary tenure regimes over most land (deemed as Public Land) in Liberia

– Private access to “public land” is through indigenous communities– Yet, formalization (privatization) and commercial use rights are

exclusively state’s affairs

Land Rights Challenges in Liberia

Tenure (In)security: Unclear tenure rights, confusing access rights, weak institutions, and poor legal and record system = Tenure Insecurity

Land Productivity: import versus export – Agro-plantation, forestry, and mining: of the 40% or so

land concessioned out, less than 15% under active production

– Import rice US$200 million dollars yearly

– Import vegetable – about $22 million on vegetable and other food products

– Land valuation - experience from Rivercess

Interventions

The State: laws and Polices (CRL, LRP, Benefit sharing – logging and mining, LRA)

International Instruments/Regimes– International instruments (FPIC, RSPOs, VPA, FAO)

The CSOs– leveraging information, national laws, and international

instruments– Work extensively with the Land Commission and Local

Communities to produce policies and laws (CRL, LRP, LRA, - FDA and Land Commission)

Protests/Agitations

CSOs/Community Take on the LRA

Article 2, Section 22: Customary land is equal to private land – used and managed in accordance with customary practices, is protected just as privately held land.

Article 32, Section 2: Customary ownership is automatically formalized. With or without a deed, the moment that the Land Rights Act passes into law, Customary Land rights will be legally protected.

Articles 2 Section 7: Communities are empowered to self-identify and define the area of their customary lands in keeping with custom, history, and norms.

Article 34: The land rights of all community residents are equally protected.

Articles 35 and 36: Community members are directly responsible for the management of their land and natural resources.

Conclusion (Risks)

Lack of a common position on the LRA (executive, legislative, national and local elites, etc)

The Cost of Change: private/tribal, protected, the role of concession, eminent domain

Uneven access to factors of production Non-implementation of the Act – Bureaucratic, regulatory,

management, governance

Financial, human, institutional, and technical capacity in the administration and management of land related reforms (land and natural resources)