IRIN Focus on the land issue

Chronic land scarcity in Malawi and accompanying land degradation presents the government of President Bakili Muluzi with a dilemma: How to accommodate the land needs of citizens while preserving the agro-export base of the economy. The legacy of colonial land ownership means that the most fertile land is occupied by a largely settler community who own the estates that produce the cash crops on which Malawi’s struggling economy depends. Malawi has a land area of 118,484 square km for its estimated 10 million people. Of this total, only 18 percent is arable land, and the tea and tobacco estates occupy the most fertile parts. Land pressure Faced with this limited access to land, Malawi’s population - nearly 60 percent of whom live in rural areas - eke out a living from household gardens for their survival. Land around the tea estates - situated mostly in the southern region of the country - faces the heaviest pressure as the result of the historical displacement of indigenous communities accompanying colonialism. The displaced settled around the estates, where they served as a pool for casual labour, living in informal settlements with very little infrastructure. Under conditions where rural Malawians are typically able to work plots only half a hectare in size - less than the minimum needed to feed a household - the limited opportunities provided by work on the estates has served to attract further labour migration, putting added pressure on the land. Land reform policy In recognition of the chronic land scarcity, Muluzi appointed a commission late last year to investigate the problems relating to land ownership and usage. The commission, charged with making recommendations on land reform policy, recently released a report in which it said “original settler acquisitions in Malawi were fraudulent”. “The general thrust of colonial [land] policy was to appropriate all land to the British sovereign and facilitate access to it by the settler community on the basis of private title, while preserving African rights to it strictly as ‘occupation rights’, thus ensuring the availability of cheap labour for settlers,” the report said. However, the commission said that for political and economic expediency, “titles derived from Certificates of Claim held by the settlers should not be disturbed”. It recommended that a social development fund be set up instead, “for the alleviation of poverty and land pressure among the indigenous populations in the areas affected by the Certificates of Claim”. The report said that during hearings conducted among villagers, land problems “which transcend tenure categories, land use systems and production sectors” were highlighted. These problems included land scarcity, land management, and land auditing - related to the status of title deeds. “The existing framework for land auditing is ineffective as it operates without clear and consistent policy guidelines,” the report said. Willing-buyer, willing-seller Irene Chikapa of the Ministry of Lands told IRIN that a new land policy will be ready by the end of this year. She said the Ministry is currently preparing sessional papers to be presented to parliament based on the commission’s recommendations. Chikapa said the Land Act and the Registered Land Act from the colonial era would be repealed as recommended by the commission. “The new land policy will be based on customary law where land tenure would revert to the government and be administered by traditional authorities. No more freehold titles will be granted.” She said, however, that the government will not requisition land that is productively used. “The government will buy under-utilised land on the basis of willing-buyer willing-seller on which to resettle people. We might also have to encourage landless people to migrate from the over-populated areas in the south to the central and northern regions where there is still some excess land.” Compensation Humphrey Mvula, an independent analyst, told IRIN that although there is no threat of the government seizing land from estate owners, issues of compensation for the displaced communities need to be addressed. “Although people were compensated for their land, it is debatable whether this was appropriate or enough.” Mvula raised a concern about the responsibilities of the estate owners towards displaced communities. “Infrastructure in these communities is almost non-existent and the populations are very poor. The estate owners do not seem keen on developing infrastructure in these communities. They are not ploughing back their profits into these communities,” he said.