Effects of the Systematic Cluster Approach (SCA) and Rural Land Plans (RLPs) on Land Tenure Security for Agricultural Household: Insight from Benin (West Africa)

Abstract

Rural land plans (RLP) and the systematic cluster approach (SCA) are the two main approaches used in Benin to secure rural land tenure. However, the contributions of these approaches to land tenure security in rural communities are mixed. This paper firstly identifies the main factors to be considered in conceptualizing rural land tenure security and secondly assesses the contributions of the two approaches in achieving rural land tenure security. The study is conducted in four communes of Borgou (a district in North Benin) that have benefited from both approaches to land tenure security. The dimensions of land tenure security were identified during focus group discussions and unstructured interviews with key informants. The contribution of the approaches is assessed using individual surveys from 742 beneficiaries of the approaches randomly selected, based on actors’ perceptions measured on the Likert scale. The nonparametric Friedman test was used to determine the average rank of each factor according to the RLP or SCA context. As a result, land tenure security must integrate nine factors, leading to two forms of land tenure security. Legal and institutional security includes land tenure norms, property rights, local land management institutions, and the land information system. Socioenvironmental security involves access and use rights, social peace, gender mainstreaming, and land conservation. According to stakeholders’ perceptions, RLPs mainly lead to legal-institutional security, whereas SCA combines and contributes to both forms of land tenure security. Rural smallholders will enjoy high levels of land security when these elements are in dynamic balance.