political economy analysis of land reforms in malawi since 1994 a paper presented at the urban net...
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POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS OF LAND REFORMS IN MALAWI SINCE
1994
A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE URBAN NET MEETING ON OCTOBER 2, 2014
(Held At Action Aid Malawi in Lilongwe)
By Harun Juma
Email: [email protected]
WHY DO WE NEED A LAND REFORM IN MALAWI Agriculture is a major source of livelihood in rural areas & a tool
for economic growth and poverty reduction in
More than 80% of Malawians earn their livelihoods from agriculture
55% of smallholder farmers cultivate less than a hectare
Yet 30,000 estates are cultivating between 10 to 500 hectares.
And about 28% of the country’s cultivable arable land (about 2.6 million
hectares) under freehold, lies idle in the rural areas
Strong land laws will help to facilitate proper urban development
WHY ANALYSIS FROM 1994 1994 democratization was a critical
juncture offering some policy windows – e.g. Land reform
Most Malawian had the expectations that the question of land will be solved completely
Political parties used land reform as a campaign tool
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER 1994?Land reform was initiated by the UDF government
(1994) It passed on to the DDP led government in (2004-2009) To the PP led government (2009-2014) Today is almost 20 years in Democracy and nothing
tangible has happened! A land bill was just passed last year (Land Bill 2013)
WHY IS LAND REFORM STILL HANGING?
It is because of lack of political will?
No? Its beyond political Will
We need to do a political economy analysis
WHAT IS POLITICAL ECONOMY Political economy analysis focuses on the
interaction between politics and economics. It examines the influence of economics and
politics in development interventionsPolitics: power and distribution of resourcesEconomics: production, allocation and consumption
LAND REFORM PROCESS
NATURE OF
REFORM:
Pro PoorOr
Pro rich
Stakeholders
& Interests
• Are actors: Politicians, Estate owners, The state, chiefs, NGOs, investors, local people
Power & Politics
• Which actor has more power? How is that power used?
• How can we negotiate that power?
Institutions
• Rules of the game: formal and informal
• Limits the actions of actors in reform
IMPLICATIONS OF LACK OF LAND REFOMS ON URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Scarcity of land in rural areas is a push factor for people to migrate to urban areas - a livelihood coping strategy >> congested settlements
There is a link between the nature of laws governing land and infrastructure being developed
>>poor tenure systems is one of the factors hindering the efficient growth of cities in developing countries- Dawall and Clarke
Poor settlements promotes inefficient land use and accelerates land scarcity issues in urban areas
Vulnerability: Unsecure land rights especially among urban poor
- Cont’d
CONCLUSION
•Land reform in Malawi is caught in competing objectives between the state and private sector on one hand and local communities on the other
•The poor man and the poor woman are the losers
•Most importantly the prospects of a well planned urban development are being stifled
END OF SLIDES