LAND TENURE SYSTEM

Introduction
Secured access to land, whether through formal, informal, customary or other means, is
necessary for vulnerable rural households to enjoy sustainable livelihoods, and is an
important part of sustainable development. Land tenure problems are often an important
contributor to food insecurity, to restricted livelihood opportunities, and therefore to
poverty. Secure access to land should thus be considered when designing solutions to
specific rural development or food insecurity situations. This requires recognizing and
tackling land tenure related problems even in the earliest stages of a rural development
project.

Discussion of land tenure is not restricted to access to land alone, but also includes access
to other natural resources, such as water and trees, which may be essential for people’s
livelihoods. It should be noted that tenure issues vary considerably from one country to
another, and even within a country. Moreover, tenure issues are far more complex and
context dependent, both in terms of the specific forms of tenure and of the inter-
relationships over time, space and resources that may exist between different rights.

WHAT IS LAND TENURE

Land tenure can be defined as the rights of ownership a community or an individual holds
with respect to land and the resources on and in the land such as trees, minerals, pastures,
and water. In simple terms, land tenure systems determine who can use what resources
for how long, and under what conditions. (For convenience, “land” is used here to
include other natural resources such as water and trees).

A land tenure system defines

 the rules for allocating property rights to land,
 how access is granted to right to use,
 how land should be used and managed in a region as well as associated
responsibilities and restraints, and
 the transference of ownership rights.

Land tenure is an important part of social, political and economic structures. It is multi-
dimensional, bringing into play social, technical, economic, institutional, legal and
political aspects that are often ignored but must be taken into account. Land tenure
relationships may be well-defined and enforceable in a formal court of law or through
customary structures in a community. Alternatively, they may be relatively poorly
defined with ambiguities open to exploitation.

FORMS OF LAND TENURE SYSTEMS

1. Communal Land Tenure System: A communal land tenure system ordains the
community head as the governing power of the land. Although the land jointly belongs to
the community, the head of the community takes the decision of how the land is
distributed. This land tenure system is typically used for large scale farming. On the flip
side, the land cannot be used as collateral to obtain a loan.

2. Open Access Land Tenure System: Open access tenure is a tenure where ownership
rights are unallocated to anybody and nobody can be excluded. Open tenure typically
includes marine residency where access to the high oceans is largely available open to
anybody. This might extend to forestry like rangelands and woodlands.

3. Inheritance Tenure System: Inheritance land tenure system is the transference of land
ownership rights to a successor after the death of the primary owner. Under this system,
the next of kin of the owner- usually the children- assumes the role as the new owners of
the land. The major disadvantage of this land tenure system is, this land allocation could
cause disputes between the beneficiary and other family members.

4. Leasehold Tenure System: The leasehold tenure system involves having ownership
rights over a property for a given period of time. Simply put, it is temporal ownership of
a landed property. Here, the temporal owner is called a tenant and the principal owner is
called the Landlord. The land in question cannot be used as security to obtain a loan.
Depending on the lease period, this system is suitable for permanent crop cultivation.

5. Gift Tenure System: The gift tenure system is the voluntary transfer of ownership rights
from the landowner to another. This type of land ownership can be used as collateral to
get a loan by the new landowner. The new owner also enjoys the full benefits of land use.
However, under this form of land tenure, the new ownership status can be revoked by a
court order.

6. Freehold Tenure System: In this case, an individual or a group pays an agreed sum of
money to get the right of ownership to a part of the land. Buying land under this tenure
can be expensive. The advantage is the land can be used to source loans from a financial
institution.

7. State: The government can allow a portion of land to an individual or a community. A

good example is the Federal Government giving a massive portion of land to farmers to
foster agriculture at a low cost. Although the individual or community generally has full
autonomy to the usage of the land, the land cannot be used as collateral for loan.

LAND TENURE RIGHTS

a) Use rights: rights to use the land for grazing, growing subsistence crops, gathering minor
forestry products, etc.

b) Control rights: rights to make decisions on how the land should be used including
deciding what crops should be planted, and who should benefit financially from the sale
of crops, etc.
c) Transfer rights: right to sell or mortgage the land, to convey the land to others through
intra-community reallocations, to transmit the land to heirs through inheritance, and to
reallocate use and control rights.

CHALLENGES OF LAND TENURE

To say we are living in interesting times is a gross understatement. Increasing
populations, globalization and climate change have increased demand for land, while
market forces have raised prices to levels unaffordable to many.

1. Security of tenure: Conflicts over land are the most common form of litigation in
many countries, impeding social and economic development. Dual or multiple legal land
tenure systems present both policy makers and residents with major challenges.

Claims that property ownership can help lift people out of poverty have been grossly
exaggerated and have not only raised land prices to levels that many cannot hope to
afford, but have rendered many vulnerable to market-driven displacement. Even more
seriously, unless all subsequent land transfers are formally registered, the certainty
provided by titles ceases to exist. Ownership can be a burden rather than a benefit, so
governments need to promote a range of tenure options to meet diverse needs.

2. Regulatory barriers: Planning standards, regulations and administrative procedures

for registering, developing and transferring land exert considerable influence over the
equity and efficiency of land markets. These norms are formulated by professionals but
have proved inappropriate to needs in many countries. For example, official minimum
plots sizes are too often based on aspirations not realities and impose costs that many
cannot afford, forcing them into various forms of unauthorized development and making
it impossible for many existing residents to become legal occupants.

The number of administrative steps, costs and time required to register and develop land
deters many people from conforming to official norms and is a widespread source of
corruption. Innovative approaches, such as ‘One-Stop-Shops’, have improved land
management and governance, but need to be more widely adopted.

3. Land use planning: Mixed land use stimulates social interaction and economic
development and is a key feature of successful cities. However, many master plans seek
to inhibit this in favour of superficial forms of order. Planning should also maximize the
proportion of land in private, revenue-generating use. Satellite cities have increased
transport costs and encroached on large areas of productive rural land, suggesting that
greater focus should be given to developing more compact poly-centric cities.

Innovative approaches to balance the interests of public and private sectors have
generated many examples of innovative partnership. However, private interests have
increased with land commercialization, weakening public influence.
4. The rise of neoliberalism: Neoliberalism was conceived as a balance between state
planning and classical liberalism. Despite the global recession of 2008, land and property
remain a key asset class of choice for those with funds to invest and land has now
become a commodity like any other, dramatically reducing its social and cultural value.
The commodification of land promoted by neoliberalism has increased inequality in
countries at all levels of economic development and led to social, economic and political
instability.

5. The political economy of land: Given the extent to which competition for land has
intensified, it is inevitable that it now dominates public discourse and media globally.
Interests have become so intense that many of those campaigning on land rights have
even been killed. Put simply, the challenge is to make markets work for society, not the
other way round. Fortunately, land and housing markets are an excellent means for
achieving this wider goal since government exert considerable direct and indirect
influence over land prices and are therefore justified in claiming a reasonable proportion
of the surplus generated for allocation in the public interest.
Apart from climate change, the greatest challenge of our day is inequality. A new system
of regulating land markets is needed that harnesses the strengths of capitalism in putting
resources to efficient use in generating growth with the regulatory responsibilities of the
state to protect the public interest.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Land tenure and environmental conditions are closely related: land tenure can promote
land use practices that harm the environment or it can serve to enhance the environment.

a. Unsuitable rules (either formal or informal): In many parts of the world, clearing the
land has become an effective way to lay claim to it. For example, forests have
traditionally been used for slash-and-burn agriculture by local people who had customary
rights to those resources. The ability of people who are not members of local
communities to acquire land by cutting down trees has resulted in the clearing of land on
an extensive scale leading to emergency fires in many parts of the world.

b. Poor land use: Caused by insecure land tenure leads to environmental degradation.
Lack of clear rights can reduce the incentive to implement long-term resource measures.
In the case of privately-held land, for example, tenant farmers with short-term leases may
not undertake soil protection measures, plant trees, and improve pastures if they do not
hold the land long enough to receive the benefits of their investments.

c. Inappropriate tenure arrangements: In arid or semi-arid grazing systems, some

rangelands regarded officially as state property have been converted from traditional
pastoralist production to commercial ranching or cultivated lands. Most pastoralist in
Nigeria now crisscross privately owned lands in search of green pastures, leading to
farmers/herders clashing all over the country. However, modern day ranching should be
encouraged to curb this menace that has turned our farmlands into warzones.
d. Unsustainable use of common resources referred to as the “tragedy of the commons”
by Hardin in 1968. This analysis of over-exploitation has been faulted because it was
based on the unrestrained ability to use open-access property systems rather than the
community-controlled access of common property resources.

e. Inappropriate land management tools: In order to improve the sustainable use of

natural resources, land tenure strategies should be linked with appropriate land
management tools, such as agro-ecological zoning, to ensure that the land is put to a use
that is suitable for its soil, landform and climatic characteristics. Increased participation
and the empowerment of community structures are also required to ensure effective self-
management of the natural resource base.

GENDER ISSUES
In most societies, women have unequal access to rural land and associated natural
resources. In many cases, societies may have protected the interests of women through
customary law, religious law, and legislation in the past, but changing socio-economic
conditions often result in the old rules failing to ensure that women have access to the
resources needed to raise and care for families. Communities that now experience land
shortages or rapidly increasing land values may be unable or reluctant to prevent male
relatives from claiming land over which women, particularly widowed or single women,
have rights.

Yet increasingly, female-headed households are faced with the responsibility for food
production necessary to feed growing populations. Even in male-headed households,
women often have prime responsibility for food production while men commonly
concentrate more on cash crops. Rural women in particular are responsible for half of the
world’s food production and produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in most
developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, they produce up to 80
percent of basic foodstuffs. In Asia, between 50 and 90 percent of the work in the rice
fields are done by women. After the harvest, rural women in developing countries are
almost entirely responsible for storage, handling, stocking, marketing and processing.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women noted in 1998 that land rights
discrimination against women is a violation of human rights. It urged states to design and
revise laws to ensure that women are accorded full and equal rights to own land and other
property, including through the right to inheritance. The range of laws that affect tenure
and gender is broad and includes national constitutions and legislation pertaining to
family, inheritance, privatization, agrarian reform, land titling and registration, and
resource management.

LAND USE
Particular areas of land can be utilized by humans in diverse ways. These can include
residential, institutional, business, industrial, agricultural, forestry, park, and other
relatively natural land uses. Each of these broader categories can be further subdivided,
based on the nature and intensity of the activities that are undertaken.

Acquiring a parcel of land in Nigeria is tough and one of the biggest challenges stems
from the activities of land grabbers, scam agents and the sheer number of professionals
needed to legitimately and successfully acquire one. Land ownership and administration
here is a constitutional matter, according to Chapter 202 of the Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria (1990), the Land Use Act is:

“An Act to Vest all Land compromised in the territory of each State (except land vested
in the Federal government or its agencies) solely in the Governor of the State, who would
hold such Land in trust for the people and would henceforth be responsible for allocation
of land in all urban areas to individuals resident in the State and to organizations for
residential, agricultural, commercial and other purposes while similar powers with
respect to non-urban areas are conferred on Local Governments.”

Problem with the Act

1. One of the biggest problems around the Land Use Act is the process of acquiring the
Certificate of Occupancy from the state governor or the President in the case of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, who exercises this power through the
Minister of the FCT. As a result of the sensitivity of the document, it has given birth
to high-level corruption in the ministry that processes the C of O. In other words, the
process has suffered political and social abuse over the years.
2. In Nigeria, the government can seize your land or property without any form of
compensation if you do not have a Certificate of Occupancy, C of O. The power to do
this rests within the Land Use Act, which reads: “All the rights formerly vested in the
holder in respect of the excess of the land shall in the commencement of this Act be
extinguished and the excess of the land shall be taken over by the Governor and
administered as provided in this Act.”

USES OF LAND
a. Residential land use: Involves single-family dwellings on large or small lots, or
aggregations of multiple-unit dwellings of various sorts. The most intensive residential
land-uses are associated with clusters of apartment buildings, which can support
extremely large densities of human populations.

b. Institutional land use: Mostly associated with land that is occupied by public
buildings such as schools, government office buildings, markets, churches/mosque,
museums, etc. These facilities are most commonly located in urban or suburban areas.

c. Commercial land use: Mostly associated with land that is appropriated to businesses
such as retail facilities of various types, shopping malls, office buildings, banks, etc.
d. Industrial land use: This land use type is extremely varied, depending on the nature
of the industry being considered. Urban-industrial land usage generally refers to the siting
of factories or petroleum refineries, and of utilities such as industrial areas,
electricity generating stations, and water- and sewage-treatment facilities. Industrial land
use in rural areas can include mines, smelters, and mills for the production of ores and
metals; mines and wellfields for the production of fossil fuels such as coal, oil,
and natural gas; and large water-holding reservoirs for the production of hydroelectricity.

e. Agricultural/forestry land use: Similar to industrial land uses, it involves the

production of food or tree-fiber as renewable resources. The nature of agricultural land
uses depends on the types of crop and agronomic systems, which can vary from
intensively managed monocultures, to more organic systems involving annual or
perennial crops and little use of fertilizers or pesticides. Similarly, the intensity of land
use in forestry varies from systems involving clear-cutting and the establishment of short-
rotation plantations, to selection-harvesting systems.

f. Recreational land use (parks and golf courses): Usually involves intensive
modifications of the natural landscape. The management practices required to maintain
these lawn-dominated ecosystems are similar to those utilized in some types of
monocultural agricultural systems. Other types of parks, however, are little changed from
the natural state of the land, and they may only involve the development of a few access
roads, unpaved trails, and recreational facilities.

g. Forest reserve: This category of land use is really a nonuse, and involves designation
of an area as an ecological or wildlife reserve. In most cases, this sort of land-use
designation precludes the exploitation of natural resources by mining, forestry, or
agriculture, and usually by hunting and fishing as well. However, scientific research and
recreational activities that do not require extensive facilities, such as hiking and canoeing,
may be permitted in many areas designated for natural land use. E.g. The Sambisa forest,
Yankari games reserve, etc.