Abstract

The new scramble for land in Africa has revived debates on customary land tenure – a phenomenon that has become almost synonymous with the role of traditional chiefs in land politics. At the same time, investors continue to seek opportunities in complex customary land tenure systems, which may not necessarily be within the absolute domains of chiefs. This paper examines the politics of compensation and rent distribution following the process of a large-scale expropriation of family lands for an oil palm plantation in Ghana’s eastern corridor. It demonstrates how and why the sudden commodification of land and the accompanying individualisation of land holdings alter the power structure and entitlements within families, often concentrating authority in the hands of a few elderly male kin and exacerbating inequality. The resulting changes could be attributed to the state’s role in land and investment policies. However, family heads also used the ensuing process of compensation and rent distribution to increase their influence and income at the expense of some smallholder farmers, sharecroppers, migrants, women and the youth. Even as the state continues to promote such farmland investments, civil society and researchers can influence public policies to protect marginalised groups.

摘要

非洲新的土地争夺战重新引发了关于传统土地保有权的辩论——这种现象几乎已成为传统酋长在土地政治中的作用的同义词。与此同时，投资者继续在复杂的传统土地占有制度中寻找机会，这可能不一定属于酋长的绝对领域。本文研究了加纳东部走廊油棕种植园大规模征用家庭土地后的补偿和租金分配政策。它展示了土地的突然商品化以及随之而来的土地所有权的个性化如何以及为什么改变了家庭内部的权力结构和权利，往往将权力集中在少数年长男性亲属手中，加剧了不平等。由此产生的变化可归因于国家在土地和投资政策中的作用。然而，户主也利用随之而来的补偿和租金分配过程来增加他们的影响力和收入，而牺牲了一些小农、佃农、农民工、妇女和青年的利益。即使国家继续推动此类农田投资，民间社会和研究人员也可以影响公共政策以保护边缘化群体。