Land relations and local livelihoods in the great lakes region

Abstract

In a context of globalisation and liberalisation, Africa is increasingly confronted with the commercialisation of its space. Various so-called large-scale actors - international private investors, ‘investor’ states, and local entrepreneurs - are searching for large quantities of land for the production of food crops or biofuels (Zoomers, 2010). At the same time, a large majority of the population rely upon agricultural activities - and thus access to land - for their main livelihood strategy. Moreover, the increasing demographic pressures have already resulted in increasing competition for land at the local level. The combination of these evolutions accumulates in a fierce clash in the land arena, where power relations clearly play to the advantage of large-scale, more powerful, and better-connected actors.