Land Tenure Insecurity and Urbanization in Benin – NELGA Land Register Francophone West Africa
In Benin, the issue of land tenure insecurity and the instability of land rights in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas draws its source from the increasing pressure exercised by different categories of land stakeholders in their search for space for the development of their economic, social and cultural activities.
Consequently, the exercise of land rights remains low and does not stimulate appropriate enthusiasm by land stakeholders to turn land into productive investments for sustainable development and economic growth. Added to this situation is the virtual control exercised by families and communities on the agricultural land considered (rightly or wrongly) as goods inherited from their ancestors and, therefore, belonging to them. Often this preeminence of customary rights ancestral constitutes a brake on the implementation of agricultural development policies. While traditional rights include a variant of the rural land issue not negligible, it remains that the lack of supervision and better regulations annihilate the efforts made by the public authorities in reviving the agricultural sector.
This report from NELGA Francophone West Africa node, provides a case study for Benin republic with provisions for land reforms for land tenure security.