fao reformagraria kay

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ISSN 0251-1894Editor/Rdacteur/Redactor en JefeP. GroppoEditing, design, graphics anddesktop publishing/Rdaction,mise en page, graphiqueset dition lectronique/Redaccin, compaginacin,elaboracin grfica ycomposicin electrnica:Editorial Group, FAOInformation Division/Groupe deldition, Division delinformation de la FAO/Grupo Editorial, Direccin deInformacin de la FAOEditorial Board/Comit derdaction/Comit de RedaccinS. Funes, J. Riddell,J. Dey-Abbas, J. Rouse,S. Baas

This bulletin is issued by FAO as

a medium for the disseminationof information and views on landreform and related subjects tothe United Nations, FAO MemberGovernments and national andinternational experts andinstitutions. Articles are publishedin the original language (English,French or Spanish).

Readers requiring moredetailed information concerningthis bulletin or articles thereinshould write to the Editor, LandReform, Land Settlement andCooperatives, Rural Development

Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme diCaracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.The opinions expressed in this

document are the personal viewsof the individual authors and do notnecessarily reflect those of FAO.

Le prsent bulletin a pour but defournir des renseignements et defaire connatre des opinions surla rforme agraire et lesquestions connexes lOrganisation des Nations Unies,aux Etats Membres de la FAOainsi quaux experts et

institutions nationaux eti i

1 9 9 8 / 2

1 Ed it o ri al / E d it o ri al/ Ed it o ri al

Cristb al Kay

8 Lat in A m e ric a s agrarian re f orm : li gh t s an d sh ad ows

L f i A i l i b l i


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institutions nationaux eti t ti L f i A i l ti b t l i

He zek iel M. Mu s hala, A ck s on M. Ka nd uza, Nom cebo O. S imela ne, J ulian a K. Rw ela m ira a nd

Nonhlan hla F. Dlam ini

100 Dual tenure sys tems and mult ip le l ive l ihoods: a comparison of comm unaland private land te nure in SwazilandModes de faire-valoir et moyens dexisten ce: comp ara ison en tre les m odes d e faire-valoir comm u na ut aires et pr ivs au ZwazilandSistema s dobles de tenen cia y m edios de s u bsistencia m ltiples: compa racin dela ten encia comun al y pr ivada de la t ierra en Swazilan dia

Gonzalo Flores

112 La ley INRA de Bolivia: un a se gunda reforma agraria?The INRA law: a secon d a grarian reform ?La loi INRA: u n e deu xime rforme a graire?

Fu Chen a nd J ohn Davis

122 Land reform in rural China s ince t he m id-19 80 sLa rforme agraire en Chine ru rale depuis la m oiti des an nes 8 0Reforma a grar ia en la China ru ral desde mediados de los a os ochenta


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Editorial

International peace and security are closely linked to economic development and social progress

an d h ave a two-way effect on ea ch oth er. Agrarian reform a pr erequ isite for developm ent mu st a lso

therefore be viewed within th e broader context of the most fu nda men tal problems of contemporary

society.

So began the Report of t he S pecia l Com m itte e on Agra rian Reform comm issioned by theConference of FAO in 196 9. Now, alm ost 30 years on , we on ce again add ress th e iss u e of landan d th e increa sing nu m ber of conflicts it genera tes. While th ere is n o doubt th at at tent ion

mu st be pa id to this issu e (by de facto cons ensu s of the ma jor intern at iona l developmentorgan izations ), the ba sic quan dar y is h ow to proceed.

For a n u mb er of years , FAOs Land Tenu re Service ha s s ough t to contribu te to the deb ateon th e basis of acceptan ce that a grar ian socie t ies are diverse and tha t solut ions mu st comedirectly from th ose concern ed an d n ot derive from externa l visions bearing little resemb lanceto local realities. The r efu sa l to accept a n easy an swer to th e lan d issu e does n ot, however,mea n th at we shou ld not explore ways of tak ing th e mat ter forward. Th is volum e sets out t ofacilitate t he d ebate b y su ggesting a m ethodological itinerary th at h as four distinct st ages:

general un derstan ding of the issu e; in-depth an alysis, requiring appr opriate m ethodological tools; e laborat ion of appropr ia te measu res , u sing a p ar t icipatory approach; ongoin g m onitoring to in trodu ce an y m odifications n eeded as coun try and r egion al

situa tions chan ge.Often, we mu st tu rn to agrarian h istory if we are to u n derst an d th e deep-rooted origin s of an

agrarian iss u e a lesson ta u ght to u s by Marc Bloch an d h is disciples. Th e first a rticles tak e

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becau se toda y it would s eem m ost topical. At th e time, it was a lready calling in to qu estionthe d ichotomous dis t inct ion between u rban an d ru ra l areas . A ma jor ity of comm entatorsma de a c lear d ifferentia t ion between th ese two worlds in the 1 960s an d 19 70s when d ebateon agrar ian reform was a t its m ost inten se . Au thor J . du Gu erny an d others with h im werealread y ch allen gin g this vision, affirmin g tha t th e two worlds were in fact com plemen tar y.Toda y, while there seem s to be genera l agreemen t on th is mat ter, we need m ore tha n ever todefine m ethodological ins tru m ents th at will provide a n integrated an alysis of th eseterritories, given th at a grarian r eform s h ave tan gible repercus sions for th e so-called u rba nor peri-u rban environm ent.

Th e next articles su ggest actions t o imp rove the agrar ian s tru ctu res of selected coun tries.Their cent ral focus is on th e role requ ired of the d ifferent actors (th e importa nce of

coordina tion) and on t h e need to clarify the ju ridical an d legal fram ework s o as to providegreater secu rity to the h olders of lan d righ ts. We ha ve chosen in th is section to concent rat eon cu stom ary righ ts, comm u n al r ights an d individu al r ights, p articularly in Africa (see th earticles on Benin, Zam bia an d Swaziland ). Little or no coordination comb ined with a p oorgrasp of th e historical backgroun d an d an ab sen ce of carefu l an alysis can res u lt in high lycontroversial actions , as seem s t o be th e case in Bolivia.

Fina lly, th e las t pa rt of th is iss u e featu res an evalua tive stu dy by F. Chen an d J . Davis onthe recent land reform exper ience in China , which se ts ou t a nu mb er of concrete proposalsfor a s h ift in orienta tion.

As we prep are to com m emorat e th e twentieth a n niversa ry of th e World Conferen ce onAgrarian Reform an d Ru ral Developmen t which repres ented th e apogee of interest in t h istopic, it ap pears to be a good time to tak e stock of our bu lletin . The b u lletin was est ablishedin 1963. I t pu blish ed a s er ies of optimist ic ar t icles in th e 1960s an d 19 70s, b u t th e tonebecam e more neu tra l in the followin g decade. Th e 1990 s began with a ch an ge in form at a ndstyle, althou gh th e difficu lt times of th e pas t s till left th eir m ark . It was m an ifestly hard to

fi d h d i d i d d b f h l d i


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Editorial

La pa ix et la scu rit int ern ationa les sont troitemen t lies au dveloppem ent con omique et au

progrs soc ia l e t s in f luencen t mutue l l ement . La r forme agra i r e p ra lab le nces sa i r e au

dveloppem ent doit au ss i t re cons idre dan s le contexte plu s large des problmes fonda men tau x

de la socit contemporaine.

Ains i comm en ait leRapport d u Com it S pcia l de la Rform e A gra ire , excut par laConfrence de la FAO en 1969. Presque 30 a ns plus ta rd, nou s en s omm es n ouveau discu ter de la qu estion foncire et des conflits qu i su rgiss ent en n omb re croissan t ce su jet.

Si au cun doute n e su bsis te au jourdhu i qua nt la n cessi t de reprendre ce thme (u nconsensus de facto existe pa rm i les gran des organisa tion s intern ationales de dveloppem ent),la discu ss ion s e concen tre su r la faon d agir en la m atire.

Depu is quelques an n es, le Service des rgim es fonciers d e la FAO essa ie de contribu er cette discu ss ion en u tilisa nt comm e poin ts d e repre, du n e part , laccepta tion de la diversitdes s ocits agraires et, dau tre par t, le fait que les rpons es, pou r avoir u n e chan ce depou voir tre mises en ap plication, doivent venir des acteu rs directemen t con cern s et non pa sdes visions vh icules de lextrieur, tra n gres la r alit locale. Le refu s d u n e solut ionfacile au x problm es fon ciers n e sign ifie pa s, pou r au ta n t, qu il n e faille pas rech erch er u n emth ode de travail pou r ap profondir le su jet et avancer. Avec ce nu m ro du b u lletin, nou svoudrions appor ter u ne contr ibution au dbat , en su ggrant u n it inra ire mthodologiquedivis en qu atr e tap es:

la comprh ension gnrale du problme; u n diagnost ic approfondi , deman dan t des outi ls m thodologiques appropr is; llabora tion de mes u res app ropries pa r un e approche pa rticipa tive;

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condition, des mesu res de caractre pu remen t redistribu tif nabou tiraient qu des rsu ltats modestes

et m omenta ns . (Ra pp ort d u Com it s pcia l d e la rform e agra ire , FAO, 196 9.)

Une telle conception de la rform e agraire dema nd e donc u ne vision globale et holistiqu e.

Lart icle suivan t dcrit certains des out ils n cessaires lan alyse d es relations entr em igration et dveloppem ent . Cet dern ier ar ticle, bien qu crit il y a 2 0 a n s et reprodu it ici,n ous sem ble tre dextrme a ctu alit; en effet, i l remett ait dj en qu estion la visiondichotomiqu e entre espaces u rbains e t ru rau x. Lors de la pr iode la plus inten se qua nt audbat au tour des rformes agraires (an nes 6 0 e t 70), la vis ion dominan te dis t ingua itc la irement ces d eux m ondes. Lau teur J . du Guern y, et dau tres a vec lu i, mon tra ient djqu il en n ta it rien et qu il sagiss ait das pects comp lmen ta ires. Au jourd h u i, alors q u u n

accord s emble exis ter su r ce su je t , il es t p lu s ncessaire que jamais de m ettre au point desinstru men ts m thodologiqu es qu i permetten t lan alyse intgre des ces territoires, tan tdonn que les rformes agraires ont des rpercus sions concrtes s u r l environn ement appelurba in ou p r iurba in .

Les a rticles s u ivan ts porten t s u r d es p ropositions dinterven tion en vu e dam liorer lesstr u ctu res agraires de certains pa ys. Les fils condu cteu rs son t, du n ct, le rle dem an dau x diffrents acteu rs (la recherch e du n e concertation en tre eu x); et, de lau tre, la ncess itdclaircir les qu estions juridico-lgales, en vue de mieu x scu riser les d tenteu rs des droitssu r la terre. Nous avons ch oisi, dan s cette s ection, de p rivilgier le dba t en tre droitscoutu m iers, d roits comm u n au taires et dr oits individuels, par ticu liremen t en Afriqu e (voirles a rticles s u r le Bnin, la Zam bie et le Swaziland ). Peu ou pa s d e concertation, conjugu u ne fa ible comprhen sion his tor ique e t u n ma nqu e dan alyse fine , peu t ab outir despropositions fort contes tes, comm e sem ble tre le cas en Bolivie.

Fin alemen t, la der nire partie de cette pu blication met en lum ire un e tu de ralise parF.Chen et J . Davis, porta n t s u r u ne valua tion de lexprience de rform e foncire

i Ch i f i d i i


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Editorial

La pa z y la seguridad intern aciona les estn estrech am ent e ligad as a l desa rrollo econm ico y al

progreso social, se influyen mutuamente y, por lo tanto, la reforma agraria, requisito esencial del

desarrol lo , t iene que exam ina rse tam bin en es te campo m s vas to de los problemas fu nda men tales

de la sociedad contempornea.

As comen zaba elInform e d el Com it Es pecia l de R eform a Agra ria , s olicita do p or laConferencia de la FAO en 196 9. Casi 30 a os m s ta rde , nos encontram os de nu evoexamina n do la cu estin de la tenen cia y los conflictos qu e su rgen cada vez con m ayor

frecuencia en re lacin con e lla . S i no ha y lu gar a du das ah ora en cu an to a la necesidad devolver sobre el tema (existe en la prctica u n consen so ent re las gran des organ izacionesintern aciona les de desa rrollo), el deba te se con centra en la man era de actu ar al respecto.

Desde h ace algun os a os, el Servicio de Tenencia de la Tierra de la FAO tra ta de contr ibuira este deba te ut ilizan do com o pun to de referencia por un a pa rte la acepta cin de la diversidadde las s ociedad es agrarias, y por otra el hech o de qu e las res pu esta s, pa ra ten er la posibilidadde que s e lleven a la prctica, deben pr oceder de los actores d irectam ente interesa dos y no deplan team ien tos pres enta dos des de el exterior, extra os a la realidad local. El recha zo de u n asolucin fcil par a los problem as d e la ten encia no significa, pu es, que n o haya qu e bu scar u nmtodo de traba jo para exam ina r e l tema y avan zar en l. En e l presente n mero del bole t n ,t ra tarem os de apor tar u na contr ibu cin a l debate , proponiend o u n it inerar io metodolgicodividido en cu atro etap as :

compren sin general del problema; diagnstico deta llado, que requ iere mecan ismos m etodolgicos idneos; e laboracin d e m edidas apropiadas, m edian te u n enfoque par t ic ipat ivo;

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progresos en el nivel de vida humano, la reforma tiene ahora el doble objetivo de servir como un

ins trum ento de equi tat iva dis t r ibucin y como u n vehculo para au men tar la produ ct ividad y obtener

aquel mejoramiento. Sin este ltimo efecto, las medidas simplemente redistributivas lograran tan

slo mod estos y tran sitorios resu ltados (Inform e d el Com it Es pecia l s obre Reform a Agra ria , FAO,

1969).

Est a idea d e la r eform a a graria, exige, por cons igu ien te, u n a visin global y sistm ica. En elartcu lo sigu ient e se d escriben las relaciones entr e la migracin y el desarr ollo. Est e art cu lo,au nqu e escr ito hace 20 a os, se reproduce aqu porqu e nos parece de u na actu al idadextraordina ria; efectivam ente, se p ona en d u da, ya des de ent onces, la visin d icotmica en trelos espacios u rban os y ru ra les . Muchos au tores establecan u na c lara diferenciacin en tre

esos dos mu ndos en los a os sesenta y se tenta , per odo en e l qu e ms inten so era e l debateen r e lacin con las reforma s a grar ias . J . du Guern y (y otros con l) ya demostrab an que n oera as y qu e se t ra tab a de as pectos complementar ios . En la ac tu al idad, s i bien p arece haberun acuerdo sobre e s te tema , e s m s n ecesa r io que nu nca poner a pun to los ins t ru mentosm etodolgicos que per m itan rea lizar un an lisis integrado de estos as pectos, teniendo encuenta que las reforma s agrar ias t ienen repercu siones concretas en e l medio llam ado u rban oo per iu rban o.

En los ar t culos s igu ientes se presen tan propuesta s de intervencin con obje to de mejorarlas estru ctura s a grar ias de c ier tos p ases . El hi lo cond u ctor es , por u na par te , la fu ncin queha n de desempe ar las dis t intas pa r tes interesada s (la b squ eda de un a concer tacin entreellas); por otra par te, la n ecesida d d e aclarar las cu estiones ju rdico-legales, con el fin detran quilizar m s a qu ienes poseen los derechos sobre la t ier ra . En esta seccin h emosdecidido dar prioridad al debate ent re los derechos cons u etu dina rios, los comu nitar ios y losindividua les, pa rticularm ente en frica (van se los artculos sobr e Benin, Zamb ia ySwaziland ia). La concerta cin escas a o nu la, ju n to con u na compren sin h istrica deficient e y


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La r form e agraire e n Am rique latine :om bres et lum ires

Lauteur soutient quavec la diffusion ces dernires annes de politiques nolibrales enAmrique latine, lre des grandes rformes agraires, qui a commenc avec la rvolutionmexicaine au dbut de ce sicle, touche sa fin sur le continent. Il est donc opportun de tenter defaire le point sur les causes et les consquences des rformes agraires mises en uvre dans laplupart des pays de la rgion. Ces rformes sont values en fonction de leur impact sur laproduction agricole, la rpartition des revenus, lemploi, la pauvret, les rapports entre les sexes,

ainsi que du point de vue social et politique. Les gouvernements ont souvent sous-estim ladifficult quil y a transformer la structure du rgime foncier et se sont fait une fausse ide desmultiples processus dynamiques que dclenchent la rforme agraire et qui, dans bien des cas,ont eu des consquences inattendues et involontaires. Les rformes agraires ont souventprovoqu des contre-rformes et no-rformes dramatiques suscites par les luttes politiques etsociales quelles ont dchanes. Cest ainsi que les rsultats de la rforme agraire en Amriquelatine ont t varis et ont donn lieu un systme agraire plus complexe et plus flou. Mme si,initialement, certaines rformes agraires avaient pour objectif le bien du paysannat, elles ont,

dans la plupart des cas, favoris linstauration dune agriculture capitaliste. La tendance rcente se tourner vers des politiques conomiques nolibrales et foncires a ultrieurement encouraglagriculture capitaliste tout en accroissant la marginalisation de lagriculture paysanne.

La re form a agraria e n Am ric a Lat ina:


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Lat in Am e ric as agrarian re form :light s and sh adows

Cristbal Kay1

Associate Professor of Rural Development, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, the Netherlands

It is argued that with the spread of neoliberal policies throughout Latin America in recent years,the era of major agrarian reforms that started with the Mexican revolution at the beginning of thetwentieth century has come to a close on the continent. It is thus opportune to attempt a generaloverview of the causes and consequences of the agrarian reforms which were implemented inmost countries of the region. The reforms are evaluated in terms of their impact on agriculturalproduction, income distribution, employment, poverty and gender relations as well as from asocial and political perspective. Governments have often underestimated the complexities oftransforming the land tenure structure and misjudged the multifarious dynamic processes set inmotion by the agrarian reforms, which frequently had unexpected and unintended consequences.Agrarian reforms often provoked dramatic counterreforms and neo-reforms following the socialand political struggles they unleashed. Thus the outcome of Latin Americas agrarian reforms hasbeen varied and has given rise to a more complex and fluid agrarian system. While initially someagrarian reforms were intended for the benefit of the peasantry, the predominant outcome hasfavoured the development of capitalist farming. The recent shift to neoliberal economic policies as


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America , bu t th at i t no longer comma nds thepolit ica l sup por t th at i t did du r ing th e 1960san d 197 0s, when cold war concern s ar is ingfrom th e Cu ban revolu t ion a nd an emergent

peas an t movemen t pu t agrarian reform firm lyon th e political agenda (de J an vry, 1994 ).Neoliberal lan d p olicies h ave sh ifted prioritiesaway from exp ropriat ion of esta tes , whichtypified th e popu list agrarian reform period,towar ds pr ivat izat ion, decollectivization , lan dregistration, titling an d land tax issu es.

Th e m ost s ignifican t s ymbol of th en eoliberal winds sweeping thr ou gh LatinAmerica h as been th e chan ge in 1992 of Article 27 of Mexicos Cons titu tion of 1917 ,which h ad opened the road to LatinAm ericas firs t agra rian reform an d wh ichensh r ined a pr incipal deman d for lan d an dliber ty by the peas an t insu rgents du r ing th eMexican revolu tion. Before 199 2 n ogovernm ent h ad dared to m odify this keyprin ciple of Mexicos Con st itu tion, bu t th eforces of globalizat ion an d n eoliberalismproved too s trong to resis t an d th egovern m ent took th e risk of tackling thishith erto sa cred cow (Rand all, 199 6). Th e new

in tran sition from a centrally plan nedeconom y to a m ark et-orient ed econom y,part icu larly th ose coun tries th at aredecollectivizin g th eir agricu ltu ra l sect or

(Spoor, 199 7), as well as for coun triescomm itted to pr ivatization of comm u n alareas as in some Afr ican contr ies an delsewh ere (Nsaba gasa n i, 19 97 ).

Th e pap er begin s b y discu ss ing LatinAm ericas dism al agricu ltur al econ omicperform an ce from th e end of th e Second

World War u n til th e begin n ing of th e agrar ianreform per iod in th e 1960s . The cau ses of this poor performa nce h ave been th e su bjectof lively debate b etween stru ctu ralists an dneoclas sical economists (Lehm an n, 1 978 ).While s tructu ra l is ts s tressed the u nequa l an dbimodal lan d tenu re system, th e neoclass icalecon omists emp ha sized pu blic policy whichin th eir view discrimina ted a gains tagriculture.

Sub sequently the pap er analyses thecau ses a n d objectives of agrarian reform .Wh ile govern m ent s often u sed a gricu ltur espoor growth record as a jus tification foragrar ian r eform legislation, th ey were ma inly


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inad equa cy of th e available sta tistical dat am ake t he evaluat ion difficu lt even in t he ca seof sp ecific cou n try stu dies.

Fin ally, th e pap er explores th e im pact of

n eoliberal lan d p olicies in th ose coun trieswher e th ey ha ve been followed for asign ifican t period. For coun tries t ha t h averecently tak en th is path , it is only poss ible tom ake inform ed guess es as to th e likelyoutcome by drawing on th e resu lts of then eoliberal pion eers.

AGRICULTURES PERFORMANCE PRIOR TOAGRARIAN REFORMLat in Am ericas a gricu ltur al growth r ecord inth e per iod followin g th e Secon d World Warwas poor, esp ecially with resp ect to dom esticfood produ ction. Agricu ltu ral produ ction2

grew at an an nu al ra te of 2 .6 percentbetween 19 34 an d 1 960 (ECLA, 196 3).3

However, owing to h igh ra tes of popu lationgrowth, agricultu ral production per capu tgrew only m ar gin ally, i.e. by only 0.3 p ercen tbetween 1 950 an d 1 964 (ECLA, 19 68). Notu nti l the la te 1950s did agr icultura lprodu ction p er capu t reach p re-war levels

a factor. Most agricultu ral growth stem medfrom an increase in area cu ltivated ra th erth an an in crease in yields . Extens ive growthwith out m ajor techn ical and s ocial

tran sforma tions clearly predomina ted overinten sificat ion of agricultu re. Th e con tra stwith th e developed world is str iking. In LatinAm erica th e area cu ltivated in creased b y 24percent an d yie lds by 7 percent b etween theper iods 1948 to 1952 an d 1957 to 1959 ,while in Eu rope th e correspond ing figures

were 3 percent a n d 24 p ercent, respectively(ECLA, 1 96 3 ).4 From the 1850s to the 1930sth e hacienda system (often referred to as th elatifundio-minifundio complex) expan dedan d a chieved a dominan t posi t ion withinLat in Am ericas agra rian s tru ctu re. Th isexpan sion was often ach ieved by displacin gthe ru ra l ind igenou s p opula t ion to m argina larea s. In th is golden age of th e ha ciend asystem , lan dlords were at th e heigh t of th eireconom ic power, political in fluen ce an dsocial pres tige. Only in Mexico was th edominan ce of the h acienda systemsu ccess fu lly cha llenged b y th e revolu tiona ryu ph eavals of 1910 to 191 7. However, it was


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late 1970 s an d 19 80s , following th eSand inis ta revolu t ion in Nicaragua an d th ecivil war in E l Salvad or, agrarian reform s werealso carried out in th ose coun tries. Only in

Argentina h as agrarian r eform beencompletely abs ent. In Brazil stron gopposition from lan dlords st alled an ysignifican t agrarian reform, bu t th ere hasbeen some m inor land redis tr ibu tion s inceth e restoration of dem ocratic ru le in th e mid-19 80 s (de Sou za Leite, 1994 ; FAO, 199 6).

Prior to agra rian reform Lat in Am ericangovern m ents h ad ad opted policiesencour aging th e modern ization of th eha ciend a system . The introdu ction of import-su bs titu tion in du st rialization policies afterth e Second World War h ad a lread y begu n totran sform th e trad itiona l ha cienda s ystem.Such governm ent meas u res as su bsidized

credits for th e pu rcha se of agricu ltura lma chinery an d equ ipm ent, im provedlivestock, fertilizers an d h igh -yielding-var ietyseeds an d technical ass is tan ce programm eswere in tend ed to stimu late the techn ologicalmoder n ization of large lan ded es tates . Thesocial relations of produ ction h ad a lso begu n

In explainin g Lat in Americas pooragricultura l performa nce, stru ctura listsemp h as ize th e high degree of lan dconcentra tion while n eoclassical and

mon etarist interpretations str ess governm entpolicy, in par ticular p rice an d t rad e policieswhich allegedly discrimina ted again stagricu ltur e (Valds a n d Siam walla, 198 8).Govern m ent price controls on som e essen tialfood comm odit ies a nd an exchan ge-ra tepolicy that overvalued th e local cu rren cy and

thu s m ade food imp orts cheaper andagricu ltura l exports less p rofitable acted asdisincen tives to a gricultu ral pr odu ction(Valds, Much nik a n d Hu rta do, 199 0). Whileit is generally accepted toda y tha t th e im port-su bst itu tion indu strialization p olicy adoptedby mos t govern m ents in Latin Am ericadiscrimina ted against agricultur e, the fact

th at large agricultu ral produ cers were oftencomp ensa ted, a t least to some extent , bycoun tervailing policies is genera lly ign ored(Kay, 19 77 ). For exam ple, land lords r eceivedhighly su bsidized credits an d b enefited fromcheap imp orts of agricultu ral mach inery an dinp u ts a s a cons equence of the ab ove-


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inegalitarian an d inefficient an d a s ha vin gdetrimen tal social and politicalconsequ ences. While stru ctu ralists ten ded tofavou r cooperat ive or ass ociat ive far m ing

organ izat ion s, libera ls cham pioned fam ilyfar m ing, althou gh some also promotedcooperatives. It was a rgued th at a grarianreform , by m odifyin g the u n even incomedistribu tion , would widen t h e domesticma rket for ind u strial com modities,str ength en th e in du str ialization effort by

increasing the s u pply of agricultu ralcomm odities an d h ave a ben eficial impa ct onforeign exch an ge.

A powerful cas e for agra rian reform wasma de by reformist an alysts who stressed th atth e high d egree of land con centra tion was aninefficient u se of resour ces. Large far ms u sedlan d in an extensive ma nn er which resu lted

in low lan d p roductivity , and mu ch landrema ined u ncu ltivated. Monocu ltu re, whichwas general ly adopted by planta t ions in areasof export agricu ltu re, ha d deleterious effectson th e environmen t. Extensive lan d u se a lsolim ited emp loym ent opportu nities an dcontribu ted t o low labou r p rodu ctivity.

disincent ive. Structu ralists argued th at priceincentives, which were emph as ized b y then eoclassical econom ists, were u nlikely toimpr ove a gricu ltur al efficiency an d growth

rate , as latifundistas react ed slowly to th eman d th ey did not often indu ce them odernization of th e enterpr ise.Min ifu nd is ta s also failed t o rea ct p ositively toprice in cent ives, bu t for differen t reas ons ,su ch as lack of resources an d technicalkn owledge. Although later stu dies sh ow that

s tru ctura l is ts m ay have un derest ima ted thepos itive effect of price incen tives, it does n otfollow tha t th ey would h ave been a betterpolicy tool th an agra rian reform for ach ievinggrowth with equ ity in th e coun tryside.Fur th ermore , ma ny studies that foun dfarm ers to be m ore responsive to ma rketmechanisms than s t ruc tura lis t s h ad

presum ed were u nder taken after agrar ianre form m easures h ad been in t roduced . Ju s tas it can be a rgued th a t s t ru c tura lis t su nderest imated th e dynam ic potentia l of lan dlords, so i t can be argued th atneoclas sical econom ists un derestimat ed then egat ive effects of Lat in Am ericas a grar ian


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Colomb ia (19 66 ), Chile (19 66 ), Ecu ad or(196 5), Gu atem ala (196 5) an d Peru (196 6).Th ese were later followed b y two or th reeother cou n try reports. The CIDA stu dies

(reviewed in Ba rra clou gh, 19 73 ; Barr acloughan d Domike, 1966) represent th e mostam bitious collective stu dy to da te of Lat inAm ericas lan d ten u re. Th ey ha d a m ajorinflu ence on sh aping a certain view of th eLatin Am erican agrarian qu estion as well ason t h e design of agrar ian reform policies.

They con veyed a bim oda l view of La tinAm ericas land t enu re system a nd were us edby govern m ents to lend scientific weight toth e case for agrar ian reform legislation.

Latin America h ad one of the m ost u nequ alagrarian s tru ctu res in the world. At oneextreme were th e minifundistas , who ownedvery sma ll lan dh oldings (minifundios ); at th e

other were the latifundistas , who owned verylarge land holdings (latifundios ) in th e form ofplanta t ions , ha ciendas an d estancias . By1960 latifundistas owned rough ly 5 percentof far m u nits a n d ab out fou r -fifth s of th elan d, wh ile minifundistas owned four -fifth s offarm u nits bu t ha d only 5 percent of the land

farm ing i t in an extensive ma nn er an d leavinga s ignifican t proportion u n cultivated. On th eothe r han d , minifundios were wast efu l oflabour, u sing too m u ch labou r on too little

land. Not s u rprisingly, while labou rprodu ctivity was m u ch h igh er on latifundiost ha n on minifundios , the reverse was the cas eregarding lan d p roductivity . In the 1 950s an dearly 196 0s , average produ ction peragricu ltura l worker was ab out five to tentimes h igh er on latifundios t ha n on

minifundios , while produ ction per h ectare ofagricu ltura l lan d was rou ghly th ree to fivetimes h igh er on minifundios t ha n onlatifundios (Barraclough, 197 3).Given th atmu ch ru ra l labou r was u nem ployed oru nd eremployed an d land was relativelyscar ce, it was m ore im portan t from adevelopm enta l perspective to ra ise lan d

produ ctivity th an to increa se labou rpr odu ctivity. Proponen ts of agra rian r eformargued th at lan d produ ctivity cou ld b eincreased m ore easily by redistribut ing lan dtha n b y making cost ly investments in m oderntechn ology, which might a lso displace labou r.Fur th erm ore, agrarian reform was likely to


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labour force and to redu ce it su bs tan tially,thereby fu rther weakening inter na l press u resfor lan d redistribut ion a nd h igher wages.

As n oted above, th e mere th reat of an

agrar ian reform can precipi ta te the breaku pan d capitalization of the ha cienda . Agrarianreform legislation genera lly exem pted far m sbelow a certain size an d in som e casesm odern a nd efficient farm s th at exceededth is limit. Lan dlords att emp ted to evad eexpropriation b y su bdividing an d

m odern izing their esta tes. Far m efficien cywas often ju dged by the pres ence ofma chinery an d th e us e of wage labou r ra th ertha n tenan t labour . Tenan cies werepar ticu larly frowned u pon, a s th ey wereconsidered pa rt of a feu dal an d oppres sivelabou r regim e.

The m edium -sized capitalist farm sector

also expan ded, especially in th ose cou nt rieswhere a grarian reform legislation a llowedland lords t o retain pa rt of th eir esta te afterexpropriation, i .e . when th ey h ad t he right toa res erve (reserva), as in Ch ile. Lan dlordsgenera lly retained th e heart of th e ha cienda ,which encompas sed the bes t land and the

form ed pa rt of the political agend a. Theu n iqu enes s of th e Argentine case is explainedin p art by th e relative importa n ce of fam ilyfar m ing and middle-sized capitalist farm s a s

well as b y th e relatively h igh degree ofu rban izat ion. Paraguay and Uru guay hadcolonization programm es bu t in n eith ercoun try has a s ignifican t agrarian reformtaken place .

Agrarian reforms h ave generally been t h eou tcom e of political chan ges from a bove.

Althou gh in s ome instan ces these wererespon ding to social press u res from b elow,few agrarian reform s in Latin Am erica werethe d irect resu lt of peasan t u pr is ings.However, a l though the p easan try was not a nimportan t social force behind th e reformlegislation, it d id significan tly in fluen ce th ereform process . Those areas where rura l

protest was stron gest tended to receive th em ost atten tion from agrarian r eform agencies.

Urban social forces a nd even inter na tion alforces, a s in th e cas e of th e Allian ce forProgress , p layed an imp ortant par t inbringing ab out agrarian reform . Techn ocratican d reform ist govern m ents s eekin g to


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in 1970 . Peasan t r ad ica l ism in tu r n pu shedAllend es dem ocratic s ocialist p rogram m e forexpropriat ion s b eyon d its origin al in ten t (Kay,197 8). The su bs equen t military coup of

1973, which repressed an d disar t icu la ted thepeasan t movemen t, re turn ed only par t of theexpropriated land to form er own ers. Despiteits political power, th e m ilitary govern m entdid not dare to u nd o the agrar ian reformcompletely.

In es pou sing agrarian reform , govern men ts

were pu rs u ing a variety of objectives. A m ajorobjective, an d th e prima ry one for m oretechn ocratic types of agrarian reform , was ahigher rat e of agricultu ral growth. Thu s on lyinefficien t est at es were to be expropr iatedan d m ore entrepreneur ia lly run esta tes wereencou raged to m odern ize fu rth er. It wasexpected th at as a resu lt less lan d would be

left idle and land wou ld be cu ltivated moreinten sely, and th at a gr icultura l outpu t wouldth erefore in creas e. An oth er economic (an dsocial) objective was equ ity. It was th ou ghtth at a fairer distr ibu tion of income wouldfacilitate th e import-su bs titut ingind u strialization p rocess by widening th e

by agra rian reform . However, this ob jectivewas m ore problema tic, as ind u strialists oftenha d c lose t ies with the land ed c lass an d werefearful th at social m obilization in th e

coun tryside could spill over int o urba n a reas .Political lin ks b etween lan dlords an d th eu rba n b ourgeoisie were far closer th ancomm only thought , a nd the b ourgeoisgenera lly placed th eir political in teres tsbefore sh ort-term econom ic gains . Th ey werewell aware tha t agrarian reform s cou ld gain

mome n tum a n d spa r k u r ba n un r es t , per ha psleadin g to worker dem an ds for h igh er wages,better working conditions a n d even th eexpropriation of u rba n en terprises. TheChilean agrarian reform experience is a goodillu stra t ion of ju st su ch a s i tuat ion. Theincreasing dema nd s an d mobilization of ru ralan d u rban workers s trengthened th e a llian ce

of the ru ra l an d u rban bourgeoisie, includingsome m iddle-class sectors . In Peru thepr ogressive m ilitary govern m en t of VelascoAlvara do u n dertook a s weeping agrarianreform in th e expectation th at it wou ld helpth e coun trys ind u strialization process.However, th e govern m en t failed to win th e


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system to strengthen peas an t organizationsan d as sist th eir social mobilization. Su pport,or lack of it , from u rba n -bas ed politicalpar t ies an d u rban socia l groups was often

cru cial in d eterm ining the outcom e of th ereform process.

SCOPE OF AGRARIAN REFORM EXPERIENCESTh e scope of agra rian reform in Lat in Am ericavar ied great ly as regards b oth th e am oun t of lan d expropr ia ted an d the n u mb er of peasan t

ben eficiar ies. Th e agra rian reform s in Boliviaan d Cu ba were the m ost extens ive withrespect to the am oun t of lan d expropr ia ted:abou t fou r -fifth s of th e coun trys agricultu ralland . In Mexico, Ch ile, Peru a n d Nicara guaalmost ha lf th e coun trys a gricultu ral lan dwas expropriated. In Colomb ia, Pan am a,El Salvad or and th e Dom inican Repu blic

between on e-sixth an d one-qua r ter of theagricu ltura l land was expropriated (Cardosoan d Helwege, 19 92 ). A sm aller proport ion ofagricultu ral land was a ffected by agrarianreform in Ecu ad or, Costa Rica, Hond u rasan d Uru gua y (ECLAC an d FAO, 19 86 ). InVenezuela a bou t on e-fifth of th e land was

widest scope were th e ou tcome of revolu tion sindicates th e imp ortan ce of th e question ofpolitical power. Where lan dlords weredefeated a nd displaced from p ower, th e

agrarian reform was wide in scope. In s omeinsta n ces, however, lan dlords ha ve been a bleto reverse som e or all of th e gains of th eagra rian reform followin g a m ajor politicalu ph eaval su ch as a coun terrevolu t ion ormilitary coup d tat.

Once the agrar ian reform process ha s b een

ini t ia ted peasa nts ha ve sometimes been ab leto pus h i t fu r ther th an inten ded or to redirectit according to th eir interest s. For exam ple,peasant comm un it ie s (comuneros )in Peruwhich ha d been exclu ded from land in thereform ed s ector, an d wh ich could on ly ben efitfrom th e profits gen erated b y the r eform edenterp rises, later gained direct access to lan d

from th e reform ed s ector. As few reform edenterp rises ma de an y profits, and given th esh or tage of lan d in peasan t comm u nit ies an dth e peas an ts historical claims (real orimagined) to th e lan d of th e expropriatedha cienda s, the peas an ts c la im to a sh are of th e former esta tes is un dersta n dab le. After


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an d th e resu lting economic deterioration ofth e coun try, peas an ts still faced a difficu lts i tuat ion. In Colombia , Ecua dor an dcur rently in Bra zil, peasa nt s h ave also

resorted to lan d invasions which resu lted inexpropriation an d access to land (Petras ,19 97 ; Veltmeyer, 1997 ). Neverth eless th eselan d invasions lacked the s cope an dsignifican ce of th ose in Mexico, Ch ile an dPeru.

In m an y Latin Am erican cou n tries, however,

peasan ts were not able to extend th eexpropriation pr ocess or to prevent lan dlordsfrom b lockin g or reversing th e process . Inmos t Latin Am erican coun tries the scope ofagrarian r eform rema ined limited in term s oflan d expropriated an d peas an t beneficiaries.Despite an explicit comm itment to agrarianreform a n d peas an t farm ing, a large m ajority

of Latin Am erican govern m ent s implemen tedtimid agrarian reform s an d failed to su pportpeasa nt far ming to an y significan t extent.Rhetoric prevailed a s govern men ts wereeither too weak to imp lement a su bsta ntia lagrar ian reform or had the u nder lyinginten tion of prom oting cap italist farm ing.

domina nt far m organization in Chilesreformed sector du ring th e governm ents ofFrei and Allend e (196 4 to 1 973 ). Th is was a lsoth e cas e in Per u following Velas co Alva ra dos

agrarian reform of 1969 u ntil the gradu aldissolut ion of th e collectives in th e 19 80s , inNicara gua from th e San dinista revolu tion of1979 u nt il 1990 , and in El Salvador du ringthe Christian Democrat regime of 1980 to198 9. Only a sm all proportion of th eexpropriated land was d istribu ted directly as

private p easa nt fam ily far ms .An importa nt explana tion for the stat ist andcollectivist cha ra cter of Lat in Americas m ostim portan t agrarian reforms lies in th eirinh erited agrarian stru ctur e. Prior to reform ,large-scale far m ing prevailed in th e form ofplanta t ions , haciendas a nd estancias .Govern men ts feared tha t su bdividing these

large lan ded esta tes into peasa n t fam ilyfar m s m ight lead to a loss of econ omies ofscale, reduce foreign exchan ge ear nings a speas an t far m ers would switch from export-crop to food-crop p rodu ction, imp airtechn ological im provemen ts , limit thenu mb er of benefic iar ies an d reprodu ce the

i if di


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econom y). Th is led policy-ma kers tou n derest imat e th e difficu lties of organizin gcollective far m in g an d th e pressu re tha tben eficiaries would exercise within t h e

collective ent erpr ise for th e expan sion of th eirown fam ily enterprises. Th e new m an agers ofth e collective reform ed en terpr ises, genera llyappointed by the Sta te , ha d far less au thor i tyover the b enefic iar ies t ha n lan dlords ha d a ndwere u na ble to prevent th e grad u al erosion ofth e collective en terpr ise from with in.

Th e end u ring influence of the p re-reformlarge lan ded enterp rises on the situ ation afterreform is st artling. In t his s ens e thecollectivist cha ra cter of th e reform ed s ectorsh ould n ot be overst ated, as it was oftenmore app arent tha n real. For example , inPeru abou t h alf the a gr icultura l lan d of thereform ed sector (collective an d Sta te far m s)

was cu ltivated on an in dividu al bas is. InChile an d El Salvad or the figure was abou tone-fifth , an d on ly in Cu ba was itinsignifican t. This reflects th e varyin g degreesof capitalist developm ent an dproletarian izat ion of th e agricu ltur al lab ou rforce in each of th ese coun tries before th e

domina ted by su gar p lan ta t ions an d th eagricultu ra l labou r force was lar gelyproletarian . A large proportion of seas ona lsu gar -cane cu t te r s came from urban a reas .

The p lan ta t ion sector was taken over by theState with out mu ch difficu lty. Over time St atefarm s were am algam ated into even largeru nits, becoming gian t agro-indu strialcomplexes u nd er th e direct contr ol of eith erth e Min istry of Agricu ltu re or th e Min istry ofSu gar. Cuba n policy-ma kers were great

believers in th e ten et large is bea u tifu l. Itwas n ot un til a lmost two decades af ter th erevolu tion th at th e Cuban leadershiplau nch ed a camp aign for thecooperativization of pea sa n t far m ers.Peasa nt s were encou raged to formagricultu ral an d livestock produ ctioncooperat ives (cooperativas de produccinagropecuaria or CPA), h aving res isted joiningStat e far ms , and with in a decade over two-thirds of a l l peasa nt farm ers h ad d one so.CPAs were clearly ou tp erform ing Stat e far m s(Kay, 1988 b) an d th ey becam e an exam ple toState far m s, event u ally leading to th eirtran sform ation as will be discus sed later.


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Agrar ian reforms can be as sessed in na rroweconomic term s or in broader systemic andinstitu tiona l term s. Th ey can b e evalua ted interm s of th eir impa ct on growth , employmen t,

in come distr ibu tion , poverty an d s ocio-political pa rticipa tion as well as on th e widerdevelopm en t context. More recentevaluat ions ha ve inclu ded th e impact of agrarian r eform s on gender divisions a n d onthe en vironmen t.

Wh ile agrarian reform ma y be a

precondition for su sta inable developm ent, itis not a su fficient con dition. Agrarian reformsh ould not be regarded a s a pan acea for a llth e ills a fflicting Latin Am erican ru raleconom ies a n d s ocieties, yet th e initialcam paigns an d proposa ls for agrarian r eformwere often s een in th is enth u siastic light.Agrarian reform was p erceived a s a way of

liberating th e peas an try from lan dlordismwith its as sociated feu dal an d exploitativecondition s. I t was s een a s a way of ach ievingequitable ru ral developmen t which wouldredu ce rur al poverty. It was also consideredimp orta n t for facilitat ing Lat in Am ericasstru ggling indu strialization process by

lan dlords, som etimes with the s u ppor t of sectors of the b ourgeoisie, restricted t hereforms.

Agricultural productionThe imp act of agrarian reform on a gricultu ralproduction ha s been mixed. Most an alystsagree th at r esu lts fall well below expectat ion s.In Mexico, agricu ltu ral produ ction in creasedby 325 percent from 193 4 to 1965, th ehighest ra te in Latin Am erica du ring this

period. Th is growth , however, was th e resu ltof th e im petu s given to agrar ian reform by theCrdenas governm ent an d th e sup por t ivemea su res for agricultu ral developmen t; sinceth at p eriod Mexican agricultu ral perform an ceha s been poor (Thiesenhu sen, 19 95a).Never theless , research h as sh own tha t farm swithin the ejido reform sector, which a re

predom in an tly far m ed as individua l fam ilyplots , a re a s p roductive as farm s of equivalent size in t he private sector (Heath ,199 2). However, the m ost d ynam ic sector inMexican agricu lture is th at of private m iddle-sized an d large-scale far m ers. Du ring the lastfew decades these farmers ha ve been th e


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designed to boost comm ercial far m ing an dexport agricultu re.

In Chile, agrarian reform u nd er Frei (196 4to 19 70 ) initially ha d a very favou ra ble

impact on agricultu ral production.Produ ction increased by an a nn u al averagerate of 4 .6 percent between 19 65 an d 196 8,three t imes faster th an in the p revious twodeca des (Kay, 1 97 8). However, growth sloweddown in th e las t two years of th e Freiadm inistra tion. Under t he Allende

govern men t produ ction increasedsignifican tly in th e first year, st agn ated d u ringthe s econd year an d declined s ha rply in 1 973as a res u lt of socio-political up hea vals an dinp u t sh or tages. It is est imated th at m u ch of th e initial increase in agricultu ral outpu tcam e from t he comm ercial far m sector,esp ecially th e reservas . This is not s u rpr is ing

given th at lan dlords often k ept th e best landan d farm equipment which ena bled them tointens ify produ ction. The reform ed s ectorper form ed rea son ab ly well at first, receivingmu ch governm ent su ppor t in th e form of credits, techn ical assistan ce, ma rketingfacilities, m echa nization an d s o on. This is

inter n al conflicts between govern m ent -app oin ted ma n agers an d beneficiaries, waspar tly respon sible for th is poor perform an ce.The Sta te exacerbated m atters by its failure

to provide resou rces or adequa te techn icaltrain ing to beneficiaries an d by its continu edad heren ce to a cheap -food policy wh ichredu ced th e reform ed s ectors p rofitability.Furth erm ore, reformed en terprisesexperienced lan d invasion s by highlandpeasa nt comm u nit ies as well as th e violent

activities of th e Sh ining Path guerr illamovemen t in th e 1980s.In Nicara gua a series of factors consp ired

agains t th e econom ic su ccess of the 19 79agrarian reform . In t he decad e before theagrarian reform a gricultu re ha d beensta gnan t. After agrarian reform in th e 1980 sagricu ltura l out pu t declin ed on average by

0.9 percen t yearly (IDB, 199 3). Arm edconflict between th e con tras an d th egovern men t severely disru pted pr odu ction.Other cont ribu ting factors were the ins ecurityof tenu re which inh ibited investm ent b ypr ivate farm ers , the m ass s laughter of livestock b y far m ers fear fu l of being


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paid out in comp ensa tion to lan dlords a ndth e less th e ben eficiaries h ave to pay for th elan d, esp ecially if th ey in clud e a large par t ofth e ru ral poor, th e greater will be th e

redistribu tive im pa ct. Sim ilarly, an agrarianreform h as a great er redist ribu tive effect incoun tries with a relatively large ru ra leconom y and popu lation. Th e redistribu tiveimpa ct is also mu ch influen ced by socialpolicy and by the per form an ce of th eecon omy as a wh ole. In Cub a, for examp le,

th e redistribu tive im pa ct of agra rian reformwas mu ch higher tha n in Ecua dor, not onlybecaus e the a grar ian reform was far lesssignificant in Ecua dor bu t becau se h ealthan d edu cation polic ies in Cu ba targeted th eru ra l poor. In Peru , Velascos a grarian reformredistr ibuted only an est ima ted 1 to 2percent of na tion al in come throu gh lan d

tran sfers to abou t one- third of peasan tfam ilies (Figu eroa, 19 77 ). Su gar workers onthe coast , a lready the best pa id ru ra lworkers, ben efited most wh ile comuneros , thelargest an d poorest grou p am ong thepea sa n try, ben efited leas t (Kay, 198 3).

Th e in itial positive redist ribu tive im pa ct of

Th e in come d istribu tion effect of agra rianreform also depen ds on th e reform sinfluen ce on em ploymen t. In Peru it isest ima ted th at th e ra te of ma le agr icultura l

emp loyment trebled in t h e decade followingthe Peruvian agrar ian reform bu t i t was s t illgrowin g only at a m odest 0.9 percent p er year(Kay, 19 82 ). Th e n et em ploymen t effects ofth e Chilean agrarian reform were also modes tas ru ra l ou tmigrat ion continu ed un abated.Th e reservas u sed less labour per h ectare

tha n th e former h acienda s becau se of theirh igh er degree of cap italization. In con tra st ,th e reform ed sector employed m ore labou rper h ectare, part icularly fam ily labou r, tha nth e form er est ates. However, in som e reformenterpr ises th e am oun t of lan d cu lt ivateddeclined becau se of capital and inp u tsh or tages, and th is redu ced th e employmen t

effect.Given th e disap pointing record of agrarian

reforms with respect to agricu ltu ralprodu ction, incom e distr ibut ion an demp loym ent, th eir impact on povertyalleviation is likely to be m ar gin al. Whilest an da rds of livin g gener ally impr oved for


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emp loyed. At bes t, ru ral poverty rema inedcons tan t du r ing the 1980s , theimprovem ents of th e previou s decad es ha vingbeen arres ted (Feres an d Len, 19 90), wh ile

th e inciden ce of destitu tion increased from28 to 31 percent of ru ral h ous eholds (Altim ir,19 94 ). At worst, ru ra l poverty rose from 45percen t to over ha lf of Lat in Am ericas r u ra lpopu la t ion (The Econom ist, 19 93).

Gender relations

In term s of reduction of gend er inequ alitiesthe a ssess men t is ra th er negative . Most landreform legislation ign ored th e position ofwomen , failin g to in clud e th em exp licitly asben eficiar ies, to give th em lan d titles or toincorporate them int o key adm inistra tive anddecision-ma king processes in th ecooperatives, State far ms an d other

organization s em ergin g from th e reformprocess . Even in Cu ba, women ma de up onlyone-qua rter of production cooperativemem bers a nd were even fewer on Sta te farm s.In Mexico 15 p ercen t ofejido mem bers werewomen, while in Nicara gua a n d Peru womenaccou nted for only 6 percent an d 5 percent of

cons iderab le degree of integra tion of th epeas an try int o the n ational econom y, societyan d polity. Prior to reform , in su rm oun tab leobsta cles blocked peasa nt s from creating

th eir own organ izations . With th e agrarianreform s, political par ties began to vie for th epeasa nt vote and extended th eir networks toru ra l areas where in th e past reformist an dleft-win g political par ties in pa rticu lar h adoften been excluded by th e lan ded oligarchy.Peas an t pa rticipation in civil society was

mu ch enha nced . Many peasants , whengran ted a land title, felt th at on ly then h adth ey becom e citizens of th e coun try. Byweakenin g th e power of land lords a n d otherdominan t grou ps in the coun tryside , agrar ianreform s en couraged a greater organizationalan d part icipat ory presen ce for the peasan tryin local an d n at ion al affairs . However, this

greater voice was n ot sh ared by all categoriesof peas an ts or all regions of coun tries. Th erewere also setba cks from which, in som eins tan ces , peasan ts have been u nable torecover u n til toda y.

Agrarian reform programm es were usu allyaccomp an ied b y legislation or oth er


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Castro regime, as the reform was popu laran d ben efited a large proportion of th e ru rallabou r force. In Bolivia th e agrar ian r eform ,by gran ting land to Amerindian peas an ts ,

redu ced social conflicts in t h e coun tryside.Th e th reat to political sta bility lar gely cam efrom oth er social forces.

In th e sh ort term , however, agrarianreform s h ave tended to intens ify socialconflicts in th e coun tryside an d in s ociety atlarge. In Chile, str ikes an d land seizu res by

farm workers escala ted as p easan ts becameorgan ized, gained in self-con fidence an d ha dless to fear from repress ion . Lan dlords cou ldno longer so eas ily dismiss str iking far mworkers n or coun t on swift retribu tion fromthe Sta te agains t a peasa nt m ovement whichwas dema nding an a ccelera t ion an dextension of th e expropriation p rocess. The

inten sified conflicts in th e cou n trysidecontribu ted to the militar y coup dta twhichled to th e violen t overth row of th e Allen degovernm ent and brought an end to thedemocratic system which ha d distingu ish edChile from m ost oth er Lat in Am ericancountries.

rad ical expropriation process a n d a greatersay in th e ru nn ing of the reformed enterpr iseswhich were largely m an aged by th e Stat e. Asa res u lt of CNAs growing in dep en den ce an d

str ength (at one poin t CNA ha d twice as m an ym emb ers a s CCP), th e govern men t dissolvedit in 197 8. Conflicts between a grarian reformbeneficiaries an d peas an t com mu nities, inwhich comuneros invaded th e lan d of th ereformed sector , sub sided when th egovern men t tran sferred som e of th e

reformed-sector land to the peas an tcommu nities. Alth ough t he Sh ining Pathguerrilla movemen t was pa rtly sp awned b yth e agrarian reform , it failed to ta ke root inth e coun tryside, especially in th ose regionswith th e greates t agrar ian reform activity.

In Nicaragu a th e Sand inista a grarianreform also pr ovoked a m ajor effort to

organ ize th e peas an try (En rquez, 1997). Th egovernm ent h elped to se t u p th e UninNaciona l de Agricu ltores y Gan ad eros(UNAG) in 1 98 1, a n d b y 198 7 on e-fifth of allagricu ltu ral workers h ad join ed (Blokland,199 2). UNAG also m an aged to wrench agreater degree of au tonom y from t he St ate


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growth, equity an d su sta inable developmen tin ru ral society only when a ccom pa nied bycomplement ary policies an d app ropriatema croeconomic meas u res. While agrarian

reform s a re clearly facilita ted b y a favou ra bleexterna l environm ent, interna ltra n sform ations rem ain critical fordeterm ining their ou tcome. Rath er thanregarding agrarian reform as a pan acea, it isbest to see it as an ins tru men t of tran sforma tion, a lbeit an imp ortan t one, for

th e ach ievem ent of th ese objectives.

LAND POLICY IN THE NEOLIBERAL PERIODThe neoliberal wind s sweepin g th rough LatinAm erica (an d ind eed th e world) sin ce th e1980s ha ve had m ajor cons equences for theru ral sector. Agro-indu st rial, m ark eting,techn ical ass is tan ce, ban king an d other Sta te

enterp rises which ha d provided a series ofsu bsidized services to farm ers an d peas an tsh ave been p rivat ized. Reform s in t h e foreigntrad e regime an d rem oval of price cont rolsch an ged relative prices, givin g an incen tive toagricultu ral exports. Comm ercial farm erswere best able to adapt to th e chan ging

programm es of lan d registra tion an d titlingth rou ghou t Lat in Am erica (Sta n field, 19 85 ). Itwas a rgued tha t secure an d t r anspa ren tprop erty righ ts wou ld facilitate lan d

tran sact ions an d give producers access tocredit in t he form al finan cial ma rket, as t heycould u se th eir property as collatera l.

Neoliberals a lso favou r individu al proper tyright s over collective or comm u na l systems ,as th ey are s een t o lead to greater efficiencyan d ma rket tran spa rency. The neoliberals

thu s encouraged governm ents to introdu cem easu res to facilitate th e privatization of thecomm u na lly held land of ind igenou s peas an tcomm u nit ies as well as the breaku p of thecollective reform ed s ector (Bretn , 19 97 ;Zoomers, 19 97). In s ome cases t h esen eoliberal m easu res form alized a n ongoingu n ra velling of th e collectivist r eform ed s ector

(an d of comm u na l arra ngemen ts with inpeasa nt comm u nit ies). As a resu lt of misma nagement and ina dequate Sta tesu pport, t he ben eficiaries b egan to look forind ividu al solution s to th e collectivesproblems. This generally mean t th at th eyexpan ded th eir own peas an t economy within


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an d th e par cellation of th e reform ed sector,the former haciend a peasan ts who hadbecome lan d r eform ben eficiaries n owbecam e th e new owners of plots of land . The

growth of th is n ew grou p, kn own a sparce leros after th e pa rcel of land (parce la ),ha s great ly expand ed the peasa nt farm sectorin m an y Latin American coun tries. Chile wasth e first to initiate th is process, in late 197 3;Peru ha s followed in a more gradu al man nersince 1980, Nicaragua s ince 1990 a nd

Mexico and El Salvador s ince 1992 . Someexpropr ia ted lan d ha s been re tur ned toform er owners (pa rticu larly in Ch ile), bu tmost h as been dis tr ibuted as pa rcels of private pr operty to mem bers of th e reform edsector . In some coun tr ies m an y memb ers of th e reform ed sector were un able to secu re aparcel an d joined th e rank s of the ru ra l

proletar iat. The p arcellation p rocess d oub ledor even trebled th e lan d area u nder th eown ersh ip of th e peasa n t far m s ector. Theextent to which t h is process will lead t o thedevelopm ent of a peas an t road to agrariancapita l ism remains to be seen. A nu mb er of peas an ts wh o in itially gained a ccess to a

Parcels were, on average, rou ghly nine timeslarger tha n minifundias . In t h e allocation ofpar cels t h ere was clear politicaldiscrimina tion a gains t peasa nt a ctivists who

were expelled from th e reform ed s ector. Th eparce leros ha d to buy the lan d from th e Sta te ,at a price of ab out h alf its ma rket valu e.Fur th ermore , in su bsequent years abou th alf of th eparce leros lost their lan d becau sethey were un able to repay the d ebts th eyincu rred to pu rchas e a parcel or becau se

they lacked capita l , ma na gemen t an d m arketexperience.A n otab le differen ce between pr e-reform

(196 5) an d post -cou n terreform (198 6) landtenu re s tru cture in Chile is th at th e 5 to20 b. i .h . farm sector ha s m ore tha n d oubled,while th e large-far m s ector (m ore tha n80 b. i .h . ) ha s been redu ced by more tha n h alf

(Kay, 19 93 ). Th e st riking growth of the 5 to20 b .i.h. far m sector, which presen tlycomprises a bou t one-qua rter of th e cou nt rysagricu ltu ral land, was largely the resu lt ofpar cellation. The s ector is com posed ofmiddle-sized an d r ich peasa nt farm ers aswell as s ma ll capitalist farm ers. The


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In Peru , agricultu ral produ ctioncooperat ives on th e coast, with th e exceptionof th e su gar cooperatives, were su bdividedinto parcels or fam ily far ms an d tra ns ferred

to m emb ers of the cooperative. Th e par celswere typically between 3 a n d 6 h a in s ize an daveraged 4.5 ha . In the h ighlan ds p ar t of theland of th e cooperat ives was tran sferredcollectively to ad jacent p easa nt comm u n ities(a process referred to as redimensionamiento)an d par t was dis tr ibu ted as parcels to

individua l mem bers of th e cooperative.7

Itha s ta ken m an y years to legalize this landtran sfer an d t i t ling process an d th e process isst ill ongoin g. Th e Peru vian pa rcellat ionprocess is th e largest to da te in LatinAm erica. Th e sector com pr ising far m s of lessth an 10h a, of which a s ign ifican t pa rt ispar cels, cu rrent ly controls ab out on e-half of

Perus agricu ltu ral lan d an d abou t two-thirdsof th e coun trys livestock (Egu ren , 199 7). Butlack of fina n ce, am ong oth er factors , greatlyha mp ers th e development of the parce lerofar m s ector.

Agrar ian reform a nd the su bsequen tu n ravelling of th e reform ed sector has th u s

agricultu ral policy ens u re tha t th ey are m oreab le to exploit th e new ma rket opportu n itiesthan peasant fa rmers .

Cuba ha s n ot rema ined u na ffected by the

n eoliberal consen su s. With th e demise of th eSoviet Union an d th e tran sition of th e form ersocialist cou n tries from a plan ned t o amarke t sys tem, Cuba h as a lso had to makesom e adjust men ts, althou gh still with in itssocialist s ystem. Greater opportu n ities an deconom ic incen tives h ave been p rovided for

peasan t farm ers an d produ cer cooperat ives.In 19 94 private agricu ltu ral mark ets wereintrodu ced where prices are n ot cont rolled bythe Sta te an d where produ cers can se ll an ysu rp lus produc t ion tha t r emains when theyha ve met th eir qu ota for the Sta te m arket(Dou zan t-Rosen feld, 199 7). As a r esu lt of th eincrease in th e achievemen t of th e

cooperat ive sector since late 19 93, th eenorm ous Sta te-farm sector is beingdecen tra lized into coopera tive-typema na gemen t un its th rough the creat ion of ba sic u n its of cooperat ive pr odu ction(un idad es b s icas d e produ ccin cooperativa ,UBPC). Th e UBPC mem bers n egotiat e th eir


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sector in ha sten ing the dem ise of th e lan dedoligarch y an d in clearing away th eins titutional debris wh ich pr evented th edevelopm ent of m ark ets an d th e fu ll

comm ercialization of agricultu re. Th u s th ema in winn ers h ave been th e capita l is tfar m ers. Alth ough a m inority ofcampesinosgain ed som e ben efits, for th e m ajority thepromise of agrarian reform rema insunfulfilled.

Poverty, exclus ion a nd lan dlessn ess or nea r

land less nes s a re still far too comm on in LatinAm erica. Lan d issu es h ave not yet beenresolved, as is so clearly illus trat ed by th eChiapa s u prising in Mexico (Bur ba ch, 199 4;Barkin, 1996) and the contem porary s tru gglefor a p iece of land by lan dless p easa n ts inBrazil, sp earh eaded by th eMov em ento s emTerra (MST) (Petra s, 19 97 ). The Card oso

governm ent h as pr omised to grant land to280000 peasa nt hou seholds in Brazil. Todate land h as been dis tr ibu ted to over100 000 of these hou seholds un der pressurefrom th e MST an d as a resu lt of its cam pa ignof selective seizu re of esta tes an d m as sivedemonstra t ions (The Economis t, 199 7).

h ou seh olds lack lan d titles (Vogelgesa n g,199 6), th e economic an d s ocio-politicalcontext in wh ich sm all far mers operateconsp ires a gains t th em. The evidence

gath ered so far s hows th at all th at is ach ievedis a m odern izing of insecu rity (J an sen an dRoqu as , 1998 ; Thorp e, 1997). It h as t o berecognized th at cu stom-bas ed land t it les aswell as renta l ar rangemen ts in ru ra lcomm u n ities often offer great er secu rity an dflexibility to peasa nt s th an World Ban k-type

lan d t i t ling schemes. In the end peas an ts areth e losers from th ese land titlin g projectsbecau se of th eir weak position in th e ma rketas well as in th e political system which isu na ble to protect their lan d right s (Shea rer,Lasta rr ia-Corn hie l and Mesbah , 199 0;Stan fie ld, 1992 ; Car ter an d Mesbah, 1 993;Vogelgesa n g, 19 97 ).

Wh ile the s earch for agrarian reformcontinu es (Thiesenh u sen , 198 9), factorssu ch a s pr ices , markets , c redit , technicalas sista n ce, wages, regiona lization an dglobalizat ion cu rren tly exercise a m ajorinfluence on agricultu res p erform an ce an dth e pea sa n ts well-bein g. It is vita l for


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Land iss ue s an d violen c e in Africa:preve nt ion of con flict s, drawing from th e c ase of

North Kivu (1940 to 1994)Since 1993, northern Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire) has beenthe scene of large-scale violent fighting between rural groups of differing socio-ethnic origin.Between March 1993 and early 1996, tens of thousands of civilians were killed and hundreds ofthousands displaced. This slaughter is the culmination of a long process of escalating conflictfuelled by a number of factors: the demographic and ethnic imbalances resulting from migration,

the expropriation of smallholders, the uncertainties and confusion of nationality and, finally,political manipulation. This article summarizes the causes of this escalation of tension and itsviolent polarization. It suggests lines of action that might prevent or at least restrain theemergence of similar conflicts, concentrating on three intervention areas: rural development, landmanagement and governance.

Problem as de te ne nc ia y violenc ia en frica:la preve nc in de los c on flict os a partir del cas odel norte de Kivu (1 9 4 0 -1 9 9 4 )

A partir de 1993, en la parte septentrional de Kivu (al este de la Repblica Democrtica delCongo, antiguo Zaire) se han registrado enfrentamientos violentos entre grupos de campesinos


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Enjeux fon cie rs et v iolenc es enAfrique: la prvention des conflits en

s e s e rvant du c as du Nord-Kivu(1940-1994)

P. Mathieu

Institut dtudes du dveloppement, Universit catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiqueS. Mugangu Matabaro

Facult de droit, Universit de Bukavu, Rpublique dmocratique du Congo

A. Mafikiri Tsongo

Facult dagronomie, Universit de Butembo, Rpublique dmocratique du Congo

Depuis 1993, la partie nord du Kivu (est de la Rpublique dmocratique du Congo, ex-Zare) at le lieu daffrontements massifs et violents entre groupes de paysans dorigines socioethniquesdiffrentes. Ces violences ont fait des dizaines de milliers de morts civils et des centaines demilliers de personnes dplaces entre mars 1993 et dbut 1996. Ces massacres sont le rsultatdun processus historique descalade conflictuelle attise par plusieurs facteurs de tension: lesdsquilibres dmographiques et ethniques rsultant des migrations; la dpossession foncire de


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concu rrence ne dbouch e pasncessairemen t su r des conflits . Un aspectpa rticu lier du contexte dm ograp hiqu ees t , sans doute p lus impor tan t :

lau gmenta tion des d placemen ts m as sifsde popu la t ion. Les ra ppor ts en trepopula t ions au tochtones e t a l lochtonesdevienn ent d onc plus frquents , a lors qu e,bien souvent , les grou pes qu i entren t a insien contac t se conn a issen t p eu ou mal , nepar ta gent p as u ne h is toire e t des valeu rs

comm u nes, e t ne se rfrent pas au xm mes au torits politiques locales. Lemb otemen t et la su perposition d e

droits fonciers mu lt iples s u r u n mm eespace sont u ne caractr is t iqu eimportan te des systm es foncierstra dition n els a fricain s: diffrents acteu rsont en effet des d roits fon ciers s pcifiques ,

ventu ellement pour des a c t ivits e t / oupou r des horizons temp orels d iffrents ,su r les mm es ter res . Ces systmescomplexes reposen t su r un e dispon ibilitsu ffisan te des ressources e t sur tou t su ru n cons ensu s s ocia l rciproque entre lesdivers aya n ts dr oits fon ciers . Les d ivers

Ces in certitu des ou inqu itu des fonciresau gmenten t au ss i lorsqu u n e articulationconfu se et ins tab le entr e les troisprin cipales logiqu es de rgu lation foncire

(la cou tu m e, le ma rch, les lois m odern es)les rend toutes t rois galemen t inaptes coordon ner la concu rren ce et ar bitrer lessitu ations conflictu elles (Math ieu , 199 6).Les relations de comptition pou r la terredevienn ent ce moment plus tendu es, etces tens ion s s exprim ent divers n iveau x

des relations sociales: lintr ieur d e lafam ille (entre ans et cadets , rsidents etmigrs, h omm es et femm es, etc.), entrevillages, en tre cat gories s ociales ou en tregrou pes eth n iqu es. La confu sion desrgulations ins titut ion n elles accrotsu r tout la prcar it des droits des ac teurspaysan s les plus p au vres. Dans les

si tuat ions de cohabita t ion e th niquedifficile, cett e pr ca rit globa le (fon cire,ma is au ss i conomique) renforce souventles ra ctions de m fiance et deressen timent qu i alimenten t pa rfois lesconflits eth niqu es.

Les dplacemen ts ra pides e t importan ts d e


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technique ou modifica t ion ra pide du rappor tpopula t ions/ ressources entra ne a insi desimplications s ociales et des en jeu x depouvoir.

En fa it , au cun e des sources de tensionsmen tionn es c i-dessu s n e cons t itu e e l leseu le un e caus e ncessaire et su ffisan te deconflits fonciers gra ves. Les p rocess u sconflictuels s ar ticulen t selon d esench anemen ts variables en tre diversessources de tensions qui aboutissent la

remise en cau se des rgles au paravantreconn u es comm e lgitimes p our lattr ibu tiondes d iffren ts d roits fonciers. En ou tre, lescau ses et les dimen sions foncires et nonfoncires, lies lenvironn emen tcon omique et p olitiqu e, doivent tregalement pr ises en considration pou rrend re com pte des d iffrents types de

conflits.

COMPTITION FONCIRE ET TENSIONS POLITICO-ETHNIQUES DANS LE MASISI (KIVU), 1940-1994Le Mas isi est u ne zone de 4 70 0 km 2 a un ord-ouest de Goma , chef-lieu de la provincedu Nord-Kivu. Ces collin es fertiles, en core

au ssi bien zarois que m igrants rcentsdorigine rwan da ise) occup aient , avec destitres fonciers officiels, de gran ds dom ain esde p lanta tions et dlevage extensif obtenu s

bien s ouvent en expu lsan t les paysan s qu i,au para van t, exploitaient ces terres.

Depu is 199 1 e t en par t icul ier mars 1993(don c bien a van t lar rive ma ss ive desrfu gis du Rwan da en juillet 199 4), un egran de pa rtie de cette rgion du Nord-Kivu ,au tour de la zone du Masisi au n ord de

Goma, a t le thtre daffrontem entsmeu rtr iers entre groupes locauxan cienn emen t im plants (Hun de, Nyanga,Temb o) et m emb res d e divers group esBanyarwanda1 . Parm i ceux-ci, certainstaient ta blis d e longu e date a u Nord-Kivu,par t icu liremen t les h abitants du cantontra ditionn el du Bwish a, la lisire est d u

Nord-Kivu , inclu s d an s le Congo depu is lesdcoup ages d es fron tires coloniales de1885 -1910, m ais qu i fa isa it pa r t ie desroyau mes his tor iques du Rwan da lpoqu eprcoloniale. La plu par t des Ban yarwand adu Nord-Kivu s ont cepend an t arrivs auMasisi par t i r de 1937, da ns les


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in stitu tions politiqu es rgiona les, et deslitiges locau x dorigin e fon cire en tr epaysa ns . Ces litiges ta ien t violents , sou ventavec m ort dh omm es, et ils on t t de plus en

plus nom breu x dan s tou t le Nord-Kivu (pasu niquement en tre les groupes au tochtonesles plus an ciens e t les Ban yarwan da) par t i rde 19 79 (Katu ala-Kab ala, 198 4).

A par t ir des an nes 60 , tensions e tincer t itu des ont cr u n s entiment deprca rit conom ique et dinscu risa tion

foncire parm i les pet its p aysan s en bu tteau x vexation s et larb itraire tant des ch efscou tu miers locau x que des a u tor itsadm in istr atives zaroises. Les discou rs despoliticiens des d eu x bords, m obilisan t leu rlectorat su r u ne ba se identitaire et cultivan tles in qu itu des et le ress entimen t rciproqu ede pa ysan neries au bord de ltouffemen t

con omique et foncier, ont exacerb u nean goisse socioconom iqu e croissan te et deslogiqu es pers cu trices2 qui se sontcrista llises su r deu x facteu rs cent rau x: later re (la s cu rit foncire) et liden tit (le dr oit la n ationa lit zaroise d es d ivers grou pesqu alifis d e Ban yarwand a). Au term e de la

n ou velle guer re du Masisi repr en d etstend ra pidemen t au x zones avoisina nt es(Ruts h u ru , Walika le), aprs qu e des mem bresdes FAR et ex-In terh am we arrivs avec les

rfu gis aient comm enc intervenir dan s leszones au n ord de Goma (vols de btail desleveur s tu tsis, atta qu es de villages hu n de).En m ai 1996, les ass ociations locales dedroits de lh omm e estimaient le nom bre totalde morts 70000 e t ce lu i des personn esdplaces 250000 3 . Cette escalade d e la

violen ce sest p our su ivie et ten du e ens u itedan s tou t le Kivu jusqu lentr e en scn e delAFDL (Allian ce des forces dm ocra tiqu es d elibra tion d u Congo) et d e ses allis finoctobre 199 6.

On ob serve ici u n ca s d e conflit com plexe etm u ltidimen sionn el (Pour tier, 1 99 6). Pa rm iles ca u ses de lescalade d es ten sions, il y a

u n m alenten du foncier origin el et un ecomp tition la fois foncire et politiqu eentre les groupes. Un au tre fac teur estlinscu risation foncire str u ctu relle etcroissa nte pa r t ir des an nes 70, inscur i tqu i sest exprim e pa r d e m u ltiples con flitsfonciers locau x et violen ts, par tir de 197 9.


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de situ ations de rar et foncire etdincertitudes ins titutionn elles qui r isqu entde devenir plu s f rquen tes . De nombreu seszones dAfrique s ont au jou rdh u i, ou peu vent

tre demain, dan s des s i tuat ions an alogues celle du Kivu depu is u n e vingtaine dan nes:forte pres sion fon cire, coh ab itationsethn iqu es d ifficiles entr e des grou pesdiversifis, a dm inistra tions et Eta ts affaibliset ins tables.

LENCHEVTREMENT DES CAUSES DELESCALADE DES CONFLITS: ETHNICIT,NATIONALIT ET INSCURISATION FONCIRELes processu s h istoriqu es descalade dun iveau de violence da ns les con flits au Nord-Kivu rsu ltent de caus es mu lt iples e tcomplexes. Deux principau x facteu rsdinqu itu de et daccroiss emen t des tens ion s

ont jou un rle dterm ina nt du ran t ces 25an n es: la qu est ion foncire et celle de lanationalit.

La qu estion foncire peu t se rsu mer enquelques m ots:

rtrciss emen t de lespa ce dispon ible pourdes paysan ner ies de plu s en plus

La qu estion de la n ationa lit a t ma rqu epa r deu x lgislations su ccessives etcontra dictoires promu lgues 10 an sdint ervalle (Pab an el, 19 91 ).

En janvier 1972 , dap rs la loi 72-00 2,les person nes originaires du Rua n da-Urun di , qu i ta ient tablies da ns laprovin ce du Kivu a van t le prem ier jan vier195 0 la su ite du ne dcision delau torit coloniale, et qui ont con tinu rsider depu is lors dan s la Rpublique

ju squ len tre en vigu eu r de la p rs en teloi, ont acqu is la n at ion alit zaroise le 30ju in 1960.

En 1 981 , de nou veau x textes lgislatifsan nu lent cette premire loi et dfinissentdes condition s beau coup plu s restrictivespou r laccs la nat iona lit, imposa n t u n edm arch e ind ividu elle de n atu ralisa tion

pou r obtenir la na tion alit qui avait taccorde 10 an s au paravant de faoncollective et au toma tique. Une ordonn an cede ma i 1982 prcise qu e sont n u ls e t n onavenu s 1es certificats de la na tion alitzaroise ou tou t au tre docum ent d identitdlivr en a pp lication de lar ticle 15 de la


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qu estion de la n ationa lit, il y en avait doncdeu x au tres: celle de la comptition pou r lepou voir politiqu e rgion al, et celle de lalgitim it sociale de limp lan ta tion des

m igra n ts (anciens ou rcen ts ) doriginerwan da ise. Cette lgitimit tait elle-mm eaffaire de p erceptions sociales et constitu aitlenjeu des d iscou rs et des pr ocess u s dereprsen tation idologiqu e du grou pe rival.Ains i, la com ptition p olitiqu e etlins cu risat ion foncire sas sociaient d an su n contexte de clien tlisme, de corru ptionins titutionn elle et de pau prisation ru raleinten se pou r crer u n ter ra in favorable auxap pels lextrm ism e et la violen ce de lapar t des p oliticiens lis au x deux group esethniques.

Trois au tres facteu rs ont fortemen tcontr ibu au x dynam iques descalade

conflictu elle entra na nt u ne m onte enpu issan ce des form es de violence et un erad icalisa tion progressive des oppositionsentre grou pes socioethn iqu es.

Absence despaces de communication entre groupessociaux sur la comptition sociale et foncire

n i la lgitimit, n i la volont , ni les res sou rceshu ma in es et techn iqu es pou r le faire. Lesagents de lEta t accorda ient des t itresfonciers en contrepa rtie de paiemen ts

inform els et en collu sion a vec les pou voirsfonciers coutu m iers. Ceu x-ci ne cont rlaientplus u ne comptit ion pou r la ter re quimetta i t en jeu des s omm es dargent e t desniveau x de pouvoir qu i les dpa ss aient. Bonnom bre de chefs coutu miers locau x (bami) seson t disqu alifis p ar leu r vnalit et leurdpen dan ce lgard du politique moder n e.En fin, le ma rch foncier (qu i est a u ss i un eform e poss ible de r gu lation de laconcu rrence pou r les ressou rces) taitofficiellem en t ab sen t, m ais en fait prs ent (oumergent) sou s u ne form e largemen t occu lte,impa rfaite, opa qu e et tr ibu taire du politiqu e, t ra vers les mcan ism es de corrup tion e t les

relations clientlistes.Cette situ ation prem ire vu e ch aotique

bn ficiait en fait au x acteu rs les plus rich eset les plus pu issa nts . Ceu x-ci ont obtenude vas tes su perficies de terres sou s lergim e ju ridique de la con cess ion fon cire par t ir du milieu des a nn es 70. Une


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Lorsqu e des group es sociau x ent iers ont eula conviction d tre men acs d an s leur su rviem at rielle (lac cs la t err e) et s ociale (lacc sau pou voir politiqu e), la vise d u n e

lim ina tion s cu rita ire et violent e de lau tr egroupe a t facilemen t lgitim e com m e u n esolution viden te et ncess aire par lesdiscours de certains politiciens etintellectuels d s 19 91. A partir de cemom ent, la violence du ma ssa cre popula ireest d even u e loption la plu s facile pou rap aiser lan goisse, d fau t de rs oud re lesvrais problmes ayan t provoqu celle-ci.

RECOMMANDATIONS POUR LA PRVENTION DESCONFLITS AGRAIRES ET FONCIERSActions structurelles en matire de politiques dedveloppement ruralUne des cau ses p rimordiales favorisa n t les

conflits fon ciers locau x est la pa u vret, lednu ement,

fao reformagraria kay

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