From Lineage Property to Individual Property: Dynamics of Land Management in the Villages of Nasso and Dindéresso, Hauts-Bassins, Burkina Faso

TL;DR

The paper explores how land management in two villages in Burkina Faso is shifting from communal to individual ownership due to urban expansion and land speculation.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the erosion of traditional land norms and the rise of individualized land rights in a context of urban sprawl and population growth.

Findings

Land speculation and urban sprawl are leading to the fragmentation of traditional land ownership norms.

Individualization of land rights is occurring as a result of land commodification.

Land governance challenges are impacting social cohesion in the communities studied.

Abstract

This article analyses the dynamics of relations between communities and land resources in a context of scarcity resulting from land speculation. Faced with this reality, the changes brought about by social dynamics in the land sector have ultimately led to the introduction of new forms of land ownership in the villages of Nasso and Dindéresso in Burkina Faso. This issue is a corollary of spatial expansion following urban sprawl due to population growth and speculation around peri-urban land. With increased interest in peri-urban land, traditional management norms are eroding, giving way to more modern management norms that offer more power to individuals.

This research is based on a qualitative approach using data from documentary reviews, semi-structured interviews with community and administrative actors, and direct observation. This approach has made it possible to analyse land management through the prism of public policies and internal community dynamics. Property rights theory has been used to examine this issue.

The combination of methodological and theoretical approaches has yielded illustrative results.

These results reveal the nature and challenges of the fragmentation of land ownership rights within communities. To this end, it appears that land dynamics have had a significant impact on forms of intra-community land ownership, leading to the individualisation of land rights following the advent of land commodification.

In conclusion, it appears that land is a cross-cutting issue that impacts all spheres of society. Hence the multiple and multifaceted challenges in terms of land governance and the consolidation of social cohesion.