This paper explores the question of how the land tenure system in the North West Region of Cameroon affects rural farmers‟ access to the National Support Program to the Maize Sub-Sector (NSPMS) in Cameroon. It does this by confronting NSPMS‟s assumptions about farmers‟ access to land with, the land tenure question existing in the Region. The paper uses an analytical framework which links land tenure institutions, processes of groupformation and social exclusion to challenge these assumptions.
The paper argues that, following the nature of the African land question, traditional chiefs do not mainly administer land for the benefit of their subjects in an era of increased land commoditization. Traditional land administration in this era is highly knitted into economic and social relations of power and status which thus suggest high risks of discrimination and exclusion. As such, the paper seeks to add to the knowledge of how mechanisms of social exclusion could be rooted in land tenure institutions but go unnoticed and, continue to further nurture other forms of disadvantage, inequality, exclusion and great vulnerability to acute poverty.
The findings of this research suggest disparities between; expectations of NSPMS in their grant making assumptions and, field realities experienced by small scale maize farmers. Instead, there was group polarization. FG‟s which had land were all made of people of similar social status in terms of their privileged position to access land while,landless groups were mostly made of socio-culturally discriminated categories of farmers. In this regard, there was no mixed group (both landless farmers and landlords) which had received grants.Ensuing from this divide therefore, this paper concludes by questioning the adoption of FG as a strategy to include majority of landless maize farmers by NSPMS. Rather, this paper is of the stance that, with the current land tenure question and, NSPMS grants conditions, there seem to be the gradual emergence of a classed rural society made up of landlords and the landless. This is because, the blurred mix of customary and statutory tenures provides for lobbying and land grabbing by the elite and, NSPMS through its grant making scheme is rather reinforcing the class situation by adding other forms of capital to the landlords while the landless are progressively being excluded from such capital accumulating programs.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Research Context and Setting
1.1 General Introduction
1.2 Problem Statement
1.3 Conceptual/Analytical Framework
1.3.1 Social Exclusion
1.3.2 Land Tenure Institutions, Asset Ownership and Processes of Group Formation
1.4 Methodology of the Research
1.4.1. Choice and location of the research site
1.4.2 Procedure for selecting groups (cases) and informants
1.4.3 Techniques of data collection
1.4.4 Secondary Sources
1.5 Field Difficulties and Limitations of the Study
Chapter 2 NSPMS: Rationale, Assumptions and Grant Conditions
2.1 Rationale of NSPMS
2.2 Conditions for access to maize grants
2.2.1 Show proof of land or permanent access to land.
2.2.2 Be a Farming Group
2.3 Situation of Grants disbursed to farmers in 2008
Chapter 3 The African Land Tenure Question and Access to Land in Tubah
3.1 A brief review of the land question in Africa
3.2 Cameroon as an example: A brief historical overview
3.2.1 Genesis of a dual but distinctively blurred land tenure system
3.3 The land tenure question and issues of access in Tubah.
3.3.1 Three cases of discrimination from access to land in Tubah
3.3.2 The land market in Tubah
Chapter 4 Confronting NSPMS Assumptions with the Land Question in Tubah
4.1 Exclusion involved in NSPMS’s assumptions about farmers’ access to land
4.1.1 Land tenure institutions as a vehicle of social exclusion
4.1.2. Processes of group formation as a mechanism of social exclusion
4.2 Which groups and categories of farmers showed higher tendencies of being excluded?
4.2. 1 The disadvantaged and deprived
4.2.2. The discriminated
Chapter 5 Conclusion and Policy Implications
5.1 Conclusion
5.2 Policy Implications
Research Objectives and Themes
The research explores how the land tenure system in the North West Region of Cameroon influences rural farmers' access to the National Support Program to the Maize Sub-Sector (NSPMS), specifically challenging the program's assumption that organization into farming groups resolves land-related barriers to aid.
- Analysis of social exclusion mechanisms within land tenure systems.
- Evaluation of NSPMS grant eligibility criteria regarding land ownership.
- Examination of land tenure issues in Tubah and their intersection with socioeconomic class.
- Investigation into how farming groups are formed and whether they effectively include or marginalize the landless.
- Identification of specific farmer categories prone to exclusion from support programs.
Excerpt from the Book
4.1.1 Land tenure institutions as a vehicle of social exclusion
In its grants conditions, NSPMS as earlier mentioned assumes that, access to land is not a problem to farmers if they organize into FG. NSPMS argues that, when organized as a FG, majority of the maize farmers who are landless or have very small pieces of land can request for land from their traditional leaders or, use a member’s plot to cultivate maize which can benefit all members of the group irrespective of their status in relation to access to land. Hence, to analyze the exclusion imbedded in this assumption, it is important to examine the different ways through [which] disadvantage work to ‘circumscribe the opportunities and life chances of individuals and groups’(Kabeer, 2005:2) in Cameroon. As such, it will be indispensable to revisit the discussion on land tenure institutions as well as, the land tenure question in Tubah.
From an analysis of the land tenure question in Tubah, one would argue that, both assumptions are very problematic and exclusionary. Firstly, the assumption that, traditional chiefs are ‘flexible’ and ‘negotiable’ in matters of land administration to give land to landless FG in an era of increased land commoditization is problematic. This is because, traditional chiefs are not ‘flexibility and negotiability’ of in land administration to benefit their subjects in a neoliberal era with privatization and land commoditization being common place ( Peters, 2004). Rather, ‘customary law can result in a form of “decentralized despotism” in which so-called traditional leaders may benefit at the cost of those in their charge’ (ibid:273). This suggestion is not different from the case illustrated in chapter three concerning land disputes (see Kedjom-keku case where chief was even burnt). Such conflicts did arise both because of the sale of native lands by traditional chiefs and cultural discrimination from access imbedded into the village patriarchal social structure leading to the exclusion of discriminated categories and migrant communities like women and the Finge people.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1 Research Context and Setting: Introduces the research problem regarding rural poverty and the NSPMS program, establishing the analytical framework based on social exclusion and land tenure.
Chapter 2 NSPMS: Rationale, Assumptions and Grant Conditions: Examines the rationale of the NSPMS initiative and critically reviews its specific eligibility conditions, particularly the requirements regarding land ownership and group registration.
Chapter 3 The African Land Tenure Question and Access to Land in Tubah: Reviews the broader African land tenure context and provides a historical and situational analysis of land administration and conflicts specifically within the Tubah region.
Chapter 4 Confronting NSPMS Assumptions with the Land Question in Tubah: Directly analyzes the exclusionary outcomes of NSPMS policies by comparing program assumptions against the actual power dynamics and land tenure realities observed in Tubah.
Chapter 5 Conclusion and Policy Implications: Summarizes the study's findings on how institutional processes exclude the poor and discusses the implications for future design of rural poverty reduction programs.
Keywords
Land question, discrimination, access, social exclusion, resources, rural poverty reduction, national food security, NSPMS, Cameroon, Tubah, land tenure, farming groups, institutional inequality, customary law, land grabbing
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The research investigates the exclusionary mechanisms of the National Support Program to the Maize Sub-Sector (NSPMS) in Cameroon, focusing on how land tenure systems in the North West Region prevent certain rural farmers from accessing program grants.
What are the central themes discussed in the paper?
The paper covers the intersection of land tenure institutions, social exclusion, the formation of farming groups (FGs), and how these factors create a divide between landed and landless farmers in the context of development aid.
What is the core research objective?
The objective is to challenge the NSPMS assumption that organizing farmers into groups automatically resolves land access barriers, thereby exposing why the program primarily benefits landlords while excluding the most vulnerable.
Which scientific methodology is used?
The research utilizes qualitative techniques, including focus group discussions (FGD) and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders such as farmers, traditional chiefs, and program officials, supplemented by an analysis of secondary sources.
What does the main body cover?
The main body systematically reviews the NSPMS program conditions, analyzes the historical and social dimensions of the land question in Africa and specifically Tubah, and confronts these institutional realities with the program's flawed assumptions.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include social exclusion, land tenure, NSPMS, rural poverty, land grabbing, customary law, and agricultural support programs in Cameroon.
How does land commoditization affect traditional land administration?
The paper argues that with the emergence of a market economy, traditional chiefs have shifted from being administrators of communal welfare to actors with economic motives, often selling land to the elite and further marginalizing the landless.
Why is the "Finge village" case significant to the study?
The Finge case illustrates how "stranger" status and protracted land disputes lead to the complete exclusion of an entire village from development programs, demonstrating that exclusion is not only individual but also socio-political.
- Quote paper
- Glory Manambowoh Lueong (Author), 2009, Land as a Pre-Condition to Access the National Maize Support Program in Cameroon, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/154063
