Land, the State & the Unfinished Decolonisation Project in Africa

This book focuses on the work of one of the leading African
scholars on the land question and agrarian transformation in Africa—Sam
Moyo. It offers a critical discussion, in conversation with Sam Moyo, of
the land question and the response of African states. Since
independence, African states have been trying to address the colonial
legacy on land policy and governance. After six decades of formulating
and implementing land reforms, most countries have not succeeded in
decolonising approaches to land policy and the administrative framework.
The book brings together the broader debates on the implications of
decolonisation of Africa’s land policy. Through case studies from
several African countries, the book offers an empirical analysis on land
reforms and the emerging land relations, and how these affect land
allocation and use, including agricultural production. Most of the
chapters discuss how the unresolved land question in post-colonial
Africa impacts on agricultural production and rural development broadly.
The failure to decolonise colonial land policy and the imported tenure
systems has left post-colonial African states dancing to two tunes,
resulting in schizophrenic land and agrarian policies. The book
demonstrates that the failure by African states to reconcile imported
and indigenous land tenure systems and practices is evident in the
deliberate denigration of customary tenure. It is also evident in the
rising land inequality and the neglect of the agricultural sector, the
small-scale and subsistence sub-sectors in particular.