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Handbook of Land and Water Grabs in Africa: Foreign Direct Investment and Food and Water Security
... The rush for land is not necessarily a new phenomenon. Large-scale land enclosures and privatization of land rights have occurred historically all over the world (Cotula, 2012;White et al., 2012;Baumgartner, 2013;Franco et al., 2013b;Wily, 2013). However, the scale and the pace at which the current global land rush is taking place distinguish it from the past. ...
... So, land is acquired not only for direct agricultural production but for speculative purposes (Cotula, 2012;White et al., 2012). In accordance with all these factors, large-scale land acquisitions experienced a global surge following the 2007-2008 food price crisis (Anseeuw et al., 2012;Baumgartner, 2013). ...
... carbon trading policies, energy policies promoting renewable energy production and/or energy security, bi-lateral or multi-lateral trade agreements, policies oriented to ensure national food security (Cotula, 2012;White et al., 2012). National policies in the targeted country may also play a major role in attracting private capital by creating a "desirable" investment environment, as it is the case or Ethiopia (Cotula, 2012;Lavers, 2012;Baumgartner, 2013). ...
The phenomenon of large-scale land investments for agricultural production – also referred to as land grabbing – has grown in recent years all over the world, especially after the 2007-2008 international food price crisis. Ethiopia is among the most targeted countries by foreign investors concerning farmland demand. But not only that, the Ethiopian Government is actively promoting and encouraging private sector participation in large-scale farming, especially in the low land border areas of the country that are part of the Ethiopian Nile River basin. The development of land transferred to investors in these areas will necessarily result in an increase of Ethiopia’s Nile waters use. The intensification of Nile waters consumption in Ethiopia, in turn, may challenge the existing arrangement at the basin level, where Egypt has historically acted as the hydro-hegemon opposing any water resources development in the upstream countries. Thus, in this research I explore the implications of land grabbing on water resources as well as the ways in which specific ideas about water configure different power geometries at different scales. By using the agronomic model CROPWAT, I estimate the amount of water required to bring into production all the land that has been transferred to investors in the Ethiopian Nile River basin. Results from CROPWAT show that large-scale farming development could increase the pressure on water resources in some areas to unsustainable levels, as it is the case of the Pibor – Akabo – Sobat sub-basin. It could represent as well, a decline up to 3.4 % of Egypt’s Nile waters share – up to 10.2% in the case of Sudan – clearly challenging the existing hydro-hegemony in the basin. Furthermore, by interrogating different notions of water – those of the state, private investors and local communities – through the hydrosocial cycle framework, this research reveals how water discourses configure social structures and power relations at different scales; and how water injustices reveal or conceal themselves depending on the scale of inquiry.
... economies (Allan et al., 2013;Munjal et al., 2022;Prasenjit & Perry, 2020), it is also relevant to examine whether investors from the Global South 2 are driven by different motives compared with investors from the Global North. ...
... While both types of investors are mainly attracted by the market potential that African countries represent, investors from the Global North are also attracted by land availability, infrastructure and democracy in the host countries. In contrast with the debates on land grabs by investors from the Global South, including Gulf countries and China (see, e.g., the discussion in Allan et al., 2013), the figures in Table 1 do not offer evidence that these investors are motivated by access to land. It is important to note, however, that the variance of FDI inflows from the Global South is only half of the variance of FDI inflows from the Global North, which can affect how precise the estimates are. ...
Using a novel dataset on foreign direct investment (FDI), this paper analyzes the correlates of planned FDI in the food and beverages sector in 49 African countries over the period 2003–2017. It applies the random effects model and augments the standard specification of FDI determinants with a set of factors related to the agricultural sector performance, hypothesized to be essential from the perspective of supply chain linkages and access to raw materials. The results indicate that well-performing and well‐capitalized agricultural sector of the host country is a key factor associated with the choice of investment location by foreign investors, especially those from the Global North. Capital investment in agriculture, as proxied by agricultural gross fixed capital formation and net capital stock, is particularly important. Public investment in agriculture, in the form of government expenditure and official development assistance, is also associated with higher FDI. These factors, however, are not significant in case of the least developed countries where only market potential appears to matter for foreign investors. The results suggest that complementarities may exist between different types of investments and that policy‐makers willing to attract food and beverages FDI should prioritize agricultural sector development.
... This study investigates the impacts of medium-scale forestland transfers for coffee production on local livelihoods and forest conservation in southwestern Ethiopia and their implications for 1 There are no universal definitions of small-, medium-, large-and mega-scale land appropriations. Here, this classification is preferred because to some extent it highlights the trend in land appropriations since the mid-1990s that culminated in mega-scale land grabbing around 2007-2008, at least in Ethiopia (cf., [3,4]). deforestation in southwest Ethiopia [38]. ...
... 2 They were expecting the first coffee harvest at the end of 2013. 3 Unable to enter the international market to generate foreign currency. 4 Inactive in October 2013 as the owner had died and the company was also held by a bank for loan default. 5 Bankrupt and closed. ...
Tropical forest provides a crucial portion of sustenance in many rural communities, although it is increasingly under pressure from appropriations of various scales. This study investigated the impacts of medium-scale forestland grabbing on local livelihoods and forest conservation in the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia. Data were generated through interviews, discussions and document review. The results indicate that state transfer of part of the forestland since the late 1990s to investors for coffee production created in situ displacement- a situation where farmers remained in place but had fully or partially lost access to forest- that disrupted farmers' livelihoods and caused conflicts between them and the investors. Court cases about the appropriated land and related imprisonment, inflicted financial and opportunity costs on farmers. Farmers considered the livelihood opportunities created by the companies insufficient to compensate for loss of forest access. Companies' technology transfers to farmers and contributions to foreign currency earnings from coffee exports have not yet materialized. Forest conservation efforts have been negatively affected by deforestation caused by conversion to coffee plantations and by farmers' efforts to secure rights to forestland by more intensive use. The medium-scale forestland grabbing has been detrimental to farmers' livelihoods and forest conservation in a way that recalls criticism of large- and mega-scale land grabbing since 2007-2008. The overall failure to achieve the objectives of transferring forestland to investors highlights a critical need to shift institutional supports to smallholders' informal forest access and management practices for better development and conservation outcomes.
... Land users in regions where commercial agriculture is not yet significant, or where water is abundant, have proven to be particularly vulnerable to land grabbing (Allan et al, 2013). Firms and other actors promise jobs and technological transfer to local populations in exchange for access to their land through purchase or leases, but as the chapter will show, the gains are often fleeting or absent, and in many cases, they do not 'trickle down' to the local communities (Anseeuw, 2013;O'Brien, 2011). ...
... According to Borras and Franco (2012) a 'land grab' is the power to control large quantities of land and landed resources for capital accumulation in response to food security crises, short-or long-term climate change impacts, and financial exigencies. A 'land grab' does not include acquisition for subsurface mining or infrastructure, but is often situated to benefit from adequate water supply (Allan et al, 2013). 'Large-scale land acquisition' or LSLA is a more accurate term and we will use it here, but it has proven less appealing in media reporting. ...
Large-scale land acquisitions are widespread in Africa. In the 2000s, Africa became a 'grabbers’ hotspot', following global concerns over food security and fuel supplies. Land, with its available water potential, was acquired by a wide range of private and public actors, including sovereign governments, on African soil. Ineffective legal, political and institutional processes have permitted large-scale land acquisition to the detriment of local communities. There are increasing tensions with local communities who suffer from dispossession of land and natural resources and lack power, made worse where there are no mechanisms for relocation or compensation. Rural populations do, however, mobilize grass-roots agency to contest ‘dispossession’. In Cameroon, corporate accumulation of land is supported for its national-level benefits, but this pits government against local communities with women often being the biggest losers from loss of farmland. 'Green grabbing', justified on environmental grounds, also affects local livelihoods. Communities are not necessarily adverse to commercial agriculture if they are able to exercise more control over it.
... The belief that biofuels will take food out of the mouths of hungry people or steal their land has brought an ethically powerful argument against the entire spectrum of biofuel technologies [105][106][107]. 8 These have often been framed by NGOs in the rather catchy narratives of "food vs fuel" and "land-grabbing" [83,[101][102][103][104]. ...
... This complex debate on land tenure and loss of access to land due to irregularities in the land acquisition process (often described as "land-grabbing"), is not only a feature of biofuel investments, but of practically every large-scale land acquisition in such problematic contexts[106].16 Land Banks are quasi-governmental entities created by national or local authorities to effectively develop an inventory of all land available for future sale to prospective investors or private owners. ...
... Consequently, (large) land acquisitions are frequently accompanied by the securing of water rights. The global rush for land is thus -implicitly or explicitly -a rush for the blue gold (Allan et al. 2013). This perspective forms the background for this chapter, in which we explore competition for land as seen through the lens of water. ...
... Large scale land acquisitions are both a phenomenon and a driver of land competition and are an increasingly documented global issue White et al. 2012). Yet the underlying driving forces for this development are manifold (population growth; dietary changes; political incentives for bioenergy crops) whereas the pace and scale of resource competition has markedly accelerated during the global credit crisis which manifesting itself in 2007 (Allan et al. 2013). Although there is no globally reliable data on the extent of large land deals and the methodologies used to quantify them, "there is a consensus that land grabbing is underway and that is significant" (Borras et al. 2012: 2). ...
This chapter reflects on land competition from a water perspective. Conceptual thoughts are enriched with evidence drawn from case studies as well as other published studies about both land and water. At the same time, it lays down an analytical framework for these case studies. Starting with a discussion of the inherent relationship between land and water, we explore recent disconnects in land and water studies that make it difficult to collate empirical evidence and comprehensive understanding of how competition between water and land are inherently linked. For us the term competition refers to gaining access to or control over—either land or water—and thus simultaneously captures social and material dimensions. To address these linkages, we employ the concept of waterscapes. One way of seeing waterscapes is through the lens of the competition that occurs at specific places, in various positions and on/across various scales, thereby capturing a combined view of land and water. The notion of waterscapes is mainly used by scholars from the fields of political ecology and critical geography thinking to explore how power is wielded, and in determining when and where who or what gets how much water/land. We briefly review the different notions of competition in disconnected literature concerning land and water in order to instil a further analytical dimension: whilst the term “competition” is increasingly used in land change science to refer to the global rush for land, water scholars refer rather to the various means of water governance.
... Specifcally, the SDGs do not address property rights issues, the dismantling of common-property systems and institutions and their transformation into state and private property since colonial times. Furthermore, the SDGs do not engage with continued multiple resource grabs (Allan et al. 2012) by states and companies, legitimated as benefcial development based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schemes since the global food, fnance, and fuel crisis of , and worsening underlying poverty and environmental degradation. Last but not least, there are no gender and local-level minority-specifc refections in the SDGs on involving local innovations or crafting innovative local institutions for resource governance (see . ...
... Specifcally, the SDGs do not address property rights issues, the dismantling of common-property systems and institutions and their transformation into state and private property since colonial times. Furthermore, the SDGs do not engage with continued multiple resource grabs (Allan et al. 2012) by states and companies, legitimated as benefcial development based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) schemes since the global food, fnance, and fuel crisis of , and worsening underlying poverty and environmental degradation. Last but not least, there are no gender and local-level minority-specifc refections in the SDGs on involving local innovations or crafting innovative local institutions for resource governance (see . ...
This edited volume examines the changes that arise from the entanglement of global interests and narratives with the local struggles that have always existed in the drylands of Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia/Inner Asia. Changes in drylands are happening in an overwhelming manner. Climate change, growing political instability, and increasing enclosures of large expanses of often common land are some of the changes with far-reaching consequences for those who make their living in the drylands. At the same time, powerful narratives about the drylands as 'wastelands' and their 'backward' inhabitants continue to hold sway, legitimizing interventions for development, security, and conservation, informing re-emerging frontiers of investment (for agriculture, extraction, infrastructure), and shaping new dryland identities. The chapters in this volume discuss the politics of change triggered by forces as diverse as the global land and resource rush, the expansion of new Information and Communication Technologies, urbanization, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the spread of violent extremism. While recognizing that changes are co-produced by differently positioned actors from within and outside the drylands, this volume presents the dryland's point of view. It therefore takes the views, experiences, and agencies of dryland dwellers as the point of departure to not only understand the changes that are transforming their lives, livelihoods, and future aspirations, but also to highlight the unexpected spaces of contestation and innovation that have hitherto remained understudied. This edited volume will be of much interest to students, researchers, and scholars of natural resource management, land and resource grabbing, political ecology, sustainable development, and drylands in general.
... The consequences of these programmes vary from land grabs, forced evictions and displacement impacting African countries (Allan et al. 2013). For example, in Ethiopia's Gambella region, agribusiness in the name of villagisation programme (land grabbing) has caused the invasion of indigenous peoples' lands and evicted indigenous communities from their ancestral lands (HRW 2012a, b ...
Cultural or indigenous practices refer to long-standing traditions and ways of life of specific communities or locales. These practices are place-based and often location- and culture-specific. Plants are integral to livelihood especially in indigenous communities within the Global South. Ethnologists including ethnobotanists continue to enumerate the interface between nature and culture, which addresses the need to provide quality information for plant conservation and their sustainable utilization. Plant conservation is the wise use of plant resources by the present generation so that future generations can benefit. Traditional conservation ethics protect plant diversity and natural resources because local communities consider themselves as the major stakeholders. Globally, support for contemporary plant conservation approaches exists whereas none exists for traditional methods. Some traditional systems used for plant conservation through their utilization include taboos, totemism, rituals, domestication, reserves, secrecy, selective harvesting, sacred groves, etc. Totemism is the practice-based consciousness of the supernatural link that exists between people and specific objects including plant species, natural resources and or objects made from these items whereas taboo is the forbidden practice of using or consuming some plant species, natural resources and objects or their parts (totems). Sacred groves are described as patches of land considered sacred and conserved by indigenes through sociocultural, economic and religious observances and include traditional sacred groves, temple groves, burial and cremation grounds, etc. like the Asanting Ibiono sacred forest, Nigeria; Anweam sacred grove within the Esukawkaw forest reserve, Ghana; sacred Mijikenda kaya forest, Kenya; Kpaa Mende sacred grove, Sierra Leone; Thathe Vondo holy forest Limpopo, South Africa and Kwedivikilo sacred forest, Tanzania. These largely informal conservation and utilization practices have several ecological, sociocultural and economic relevance. They have contributed towards the protection of plant species like Lippia javanica, Milicia excelsa, Adansonia digitata, Spathodea campanulata, Ziziphus mucronata and Ficus thonningii. However, growing pressures from human population boom, reduced environmental quality, and neglect of sociocultural norms and traditional belief systems are undermining the relevance of these practices. Therefore, it is essential to document these practices, enlighten future generations of their importance and institute legal instruments to promote the sustainable management and application of these cultural heritage and natural resources for societal development.KeywordsCultural practicesEthnobotanyPlant conservationTaboos and totemsGlobal SouthSustainable development
... The development process of capitalist farming has also affected Zambia, where the land presented by the World Bank (Deininger and Byerlee 2012) as being "available" 4 is vast. Capitalist forms of farming have existed there since the colonial period, within designated farm blocks of several thousands of hectares (Laske 2014, Chu 2012, Chu 2013, Here 2013. This type of capitalist farming was later expanded from the 1990s onwards through the settlement of South African or Zimbabwean farmers and was stimulated again since the end of the 2000s by the international context (Chu 2013;Chu et al. 2015: Nolte andSubakanya 2016). ...
For fear of being accused of land grabbing, investors, the governments of host countries and international donors have sought to develop jointly capitalist farming and family farming by seeking synergies from “win-win” projects. The Irrigation Development Support Project (IDSP), established under the supervision of the Zambian government and financed by the World Bank, constitutes one of the prototypes of this new generation of projects. The aim of this article is to examine the conception and implementation of this project and to question its likely impact. By relying on the professional experience of one of the authors of this article on three of the sites of the project, on the critical reading of the project’s documents put at our disposal and, finally, on qualitative surveys carried out in 2017, 2018 and 2019, we highlight the contradictions inherent to the project, implementation difficulties and the foreseeable impact of the project on family farming, as well as in terms of national benefit.
... The impacts of such 'land grabs' have been extensively documented, gradually also bringing in the nuances (see e.g. Borras et al., 2011;Borras and Franco, 2012;GRAIN, 2008;Kaag and Zoomers, 2014;Allan et al., 2013). The perpetrators of land grabs are neither all foreign, nor always private companies from 'the North'. ...
In this article, we critically review the developmental claims made for the construction of the Rampal power plant in southwestern Bangladesh, in the light of evidence about transformations of land control related to this construction project. Land has become a heavily contested resource in the salinity-intruded southwestern coastal area of Bangladesh. Changes in land control for the construction of the Rampal power plant and similar projects have intensified decades of struggles over rights and access to land. The Rampal project is labelled as "devel-opment" and claims to contribute to the elimination of poverty. However, we find that, in reality, this project leads to a reorganization of land control, rights and access in ways that perpetuate and intensify waves of eviction and exclusion of small landholders and landless laborers, thus threatening agriculture-based rural livelihoods. We analyze how four actor groups involved in land control are differently affected by the project interventions, embedded in the context of historical land tenure developments. We find that the benefits of this "development", primarily favoring rich and powerful social groups and investors, necessitates a critical rethinking of Bangladesh's development and its claims of poverty elimination in the light of related land control practices.
... Environmental impacts of agrarian change processes have direct effects on the livelihoods of rural populations. One factor with wide-reaching implications is the so-called water grab (Allan, Keulertz, Sojamo, & Warner, 2013). Artificial irrigation systems contribute to augmenting productivity levels, but also create serious ecological and social concerns. ...
Global food security challenges give rise to contentious debates. Conventional approaches to agricultural development call for capital-intensive industrial-scale farming to increase global productivity. Sub-Saharan Africa is the main target for agro-industrial farmland investments. Critical scholars oppose these trends in the region, arguing that the large-scale farming model causes a devastating loss of land resources and harms rural livelihoods. Critical development scholars and critical globalization scholars generally intersect in their candid rejection of global capitalism and the commodification of agri-food resources. This paper adds to existing critiques by advancing a governance approach. In reviewing case study evidence from eight countries, it highlights the crucial role of governments, who ultimately wield sovereign authority to regulate the agricultural sector. This analysis represents a fusion of critical development studies and critical globalization studies. Rather than rejecting the global capitalist system, it sheds light on the need for effective regulation and identifies key actors and policy areas.
... Desde esta mirada vertical sobre la valorización capitalista de la tierra dirigiremos nuestra atención sobre sus características edáficas, agro-climáticas e incluso paisajísticas, pero haremos especial hincapié en el control de las aguas subterráneas (Hoogesteger, Wester, 2015). En este sentido, para caracterizar la problemática del uso del agua que suponen ciertos acaparamientos de tierras nos remetimos a lo que se ha denominado como el water o blue grabbing (Mehta, Veldwisch, Franco, 2012;Allan, Keulertz, Sojamo, Warner, 2013). Lo entendemos más específicamente como "la captación del control no sólo del agua en sí, sino también de la capacidad de decidir cómo se utilizará, por quién, cuándo, durante cuánto tiempo y para qué fines […]". ...
... Desde esta mirada vertical sobre la valorización capitalista de la tierra dirigiremos nuestra atención sobre sus características edáficas, agro-climáticas e incluso paisajísticas, pero haremos especial hincapié en el control de las aguas subterráneas (Hoogesteger, Wester, 2015). En este sentido, para caracterizar la problemática del uso del agua que suponen ciertos acaparamientos de tierras nos remetimos a lo que se ha denominado como el water o blue grabbing (Mehta, Veldwisch, Franco, 2012;Allan, Keulertz, Sojamo, Warner, 2013). Lo entendemos más específicamente como "la captación del control no sólo del agua en sí, sino también de la capacidad de decidir cómo se utilizará, por quién, cuándo, durante cuánto tiempo y para qué fines […]". ...
The margins of the oases of the Mendoza province have acquired in the last two decades
special relevance as a focus of investment of the so-called “agribusiness model.” The latter has been the protagonist of a real conquest in peripheral areas of the oasis, expanding the agricultural frontier based on the acquisition of land selected for its edaphic characteristics, the exploitation of groundwater, and the application of modern irrigation systems. Starting with the so-called new vitiviniculture –characterized by the production of high-quality wine destined for export–this dynamic was also evident in other fruit or horticultural sectors. In this article, from a vertical and multidimensional perspective, we analyze the processes that enable control over certain rural spaces and their water resources by agribusiness corporations located on the margins of the Uco Valley oasis. We argue that a singular logic of production-consumption underlies these grabbing processes. Firstly, we argue that this logic works in several practices of
precision agriculture, and we will give an account of the relationship between the expanding of peripheral lands for agro-productive purposes, the implementation of technologies to irrigate and put them into production, and the targeted markets. We will focus more specifically on vitivinicultural projects and agro-industrial potatoes production. Secondly, we argue that this logic also operates in relation to the growing conversion of new productive rural spaces into enclaves of tourist and real estate consumption, related to viticulture.
... For case studies that highlight these commonalities in emerging countries' engagement with Africa, see in general Cheru and Obi (2010),Carmody (2013Carmody ( , 2016,Allan et al. (2013), andVan der Merwe et al. (2016).nikolapijovic@gmail.com ...
Pijović offers a historical overview of Australia’s engagement with Africa from its earliest days to the end of apartheid in South Africa. The chapter firstly explores Australia’s ‘flawed’ history of supporting colonialism and sympathy for apartheid, and then turns towards examining the country’s role in the anti-apartheid struggle between the 1970s and 1990s. Detailing engagement with Africa through successive Australian governments between the late 1940s and early 1990s, Pijović highlights how Australia’s engagement with the continent came to be so centrally focused on racism in Southern Africa (South Africa and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe) and the anti-apartheid struggle, and why that engagement mostly came through multilateral settings such as the Commonwealth—Australia’s traditional ‘window’ into Africa.
... For case studies that highlight these commonalities in emerging countries' engagement with Africa, see in general Cheru and Obi (2010),Carmody (2013Carmody ( , 2016,Allan et al. (2013), andVan der Merwe et al. (2016).nikolapijovic@gmail.com ...
Pijovic examines Australia’s ‘episodic’ engagement with Africa during the reign of Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government (1996–2007), arguing that Australia during this time for the most part tried to forget about Africa. Pijovic also outlines the structural issues—termed the ‘Decline of Africa’—which underpinned engagement with Africa in the 1990s, before arguing that it was the agency of the Howard government that ultimately determined Australia’s disengagement from the continent. The most high-profile episode of Australia’s engagement with Africa during this time revolved around Prime Minister Howard’s bruising encounter with African leaders during the 2002/03 Commonwealth suspension of Zimbabwe, and particularly his falling out with South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki.
... It initially tackled the link between water and large land acquisitions only in terms of international law (Smaller and Mann 2009). Later attempts at exploring this link within African agricultural transformations maintained this international focus (Allan et al. 2013). Few tried to explore or theorize how small-scale farmer-driven processes interact with globally driven processes. ...
In agricultural transformations, small scale farmer driven processes interact with globally driven processes. Donor-led or foreign investor-led irrigation development systematically interacts with local, farmer-led irrigation development. This article harnesses Kopytoff's concept of 'interstitial frontier' to study such interactions. It discusses the shape an agricultural frontier may have and its interactions with local forms of water and land tenure. It discusses the manner in which changing access to water may spur the development of agricultural pioneer fronts. It distinguishes surface water driven, groundwater driven and wastewater driven agricultural frontiers. It then explores the manner such frontiers are transforming water tenure in the West Bank. This is an important aspect of the globalization of Palestinian society. The method this article develops is applicable elsewhere. Within interstitial frontiers, investors, whether local farmers or outsiders, enroll a globally maintained scientific discourse of efficient water use to secure donor funding. Meanwhile, they try developing clientelist ties with the authorities to secure their new access to water. The impacts on neighbouring, peasant-run irrigated systems, food security, housing security and many other mechanisms that sustain a society, are important and too often neglected.
... Widespread agribusiness developments in Africa, often referred to as land grabbing by a variety of foreign actors, and related concerns revive issues of land and property rights and land economy on the continent. Increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) and supporting policy and legislative reforms are ongoing at both the continental and national levels of government to support land-based economic activities (Allan et al., 2013;Obeng-Odoom 2013a). External entities such as the World Bank (WB), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) drive a market-led approach for private sector development. ...
This paper deals with the disjuncture between recognition of the important role of culture in sustainable development discourse embedded in African regional and state policies and legal instruments and the reality of externally driven neoliberal land-based development agendas in African nations. Using postcolonial theoretical notions of identity, subalterns and representation, and the centuries-old African landlord-stranger institution as an important customary land management system operating at the local level, I explore some inherent conflicts between the landlord-stranger institution and state land governance. I interrogate this dilemma in the context of agribusiness development projects and land grabbing claims in Sierra Leone, West Africa highlighting the issue of scale and institutions in land development and land rights debates. I reveal the challenges African countries face in reconciling the inconsistencies between respect for customary institutions inscribed in policy and laws, and economic growth and development within a global capitalist system.
... However, the 1959 Agreement has actually served Ethiopia's long-term interests in one important respect: it explicitly con- strained Sudan's water withdrawals to 18.5 bcm. Because Sudan has the land resources to expand irrigation and use much more water than the 18.5 bcm ( Allan et al., 2013), Ethiopia is better off having Sudan facing a legal constraint on its water withdrawals than a situation in which Sudanese water use was not constrained by international law. By pegging Sudan's water use to 18.5 bcm, the 1959 Agreement makes it harder for Sudan to argue successfully for a substantially larger water allocation based on potential use, and this gives Ethiopia more negotiating room with Egypt and Sudan over its own future claims. ...
The escalation of tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt over the construction of the Grand Renaissance is at least partly based on a misunderstanding of the nature of the risks this dam poses to Egypt. There is a two-part, win–win deal that can defuse tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia. First, Ethiopia needs to agree with Egypt and Sudan on rules for filling the Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD) reservoir and on operating rules during periods of drought. Second, Egypt needs to acknowledge that Ethiopia has a right to develop its water resources infrastructure for the benefit of its people based on the principle of equitable use, and agree not to block the power trade agreements that Ethiopia needs with Sudan to make the GRD financially viable. Sudan has a big stake in Egyptian–Ethiopian reconciliation over the use of the Nile. Although Sudan's agricultural and hydropower interests now align with those of Ethiopia, there does not seem to be a formal agreement between Ethiopia and Sudan for the sale of hydropower from the GRD. Because the economic feasibility of the GRD and other Ethiopian hydropower projects will depend on such agreements, Sudan has leverage with both Ethiopia and Egypt to encourage this win–win deal.
... Firstly, such an approach would allow me to have a holistic grasp of the multidimensional drivers of the post-2008 land rush as well as the differentiated and gendered outcomes of the selected land deals after seven to ten years of their starting their operations, and implications for agrarian change. This contrastive approach was key to proving the irrelevance of the main binaries replete in the current land grab literature: large vs small; foreign vs domestic; winners vs losers, etc.; and unsegregated and gender-less categories such as 'the peasants'; 'the local population' 'the investors' (White et al. 2012;Moyo et al. 2012;Allan et al. 2013;Oya 2013;Cotula 2013;Kaag and Zoomers 2014;Edelman et al. 2015;Gilfoy 2015). Finally, the three cases would provide me with a practical picture of the multiplicity of actors/social groups linked to each project such as the state's, religious and traditional leaders' role in each scenario and the interactions between them and with the 'beneficiaries' to appreciate the dynamics at play. ...
Positionality and intersectional gender identities are critical to the experience and outcomes of research. Van den Boogaard argues for a more reflexive and self-critical approach to research design and fieldwork, drawing on her research experiences in Ghana and Sierra Leone. She describes how gender identity may be both a limiting factor and an opportunity for female researchers, and addresses two ethical considerations that are insufficiently addressed by the current methodological literature. First, what are the implications of remaining passive in the face of dynamics between a researcher and research participant that reinforce inequality and a conventional gender hierarchy? Second, can a research participant give informed consent while at the same time believing that the researcher is powerless on account of their position and/or gender identity? She further argues for more reflexive research methods as a manner to improve research outcomes and the personal safety of researchers in the field.
... Among the studies on LSLAs and land grabbing, an alternative hypothesis has developed: what if the main driver of the contemporary global land rush were the need for water rather than for land? (Allan et al., 2012;Franco & Borras Jr, 2013;GRAIN, 2012;Mehta et al., 2012;Skinner & Cotula, 2011;Woodhouse, 2012aWoodhouse, , 2012b. Dell'Angelo et al. (2018) have described a "global water grabbing syndrome" to take into account the increasing dynamics of freshwater appropriation occurring as a result of globalization. ...
Water availability is a major factor constraining humanity's ability to meet the future food and energy needs of a growing and increasingly affluent human population. Water plays an important role in the production of energy, including renewable energy sources and the extraction of unconventional fossil fuels that are expected to become important players in future energy security. The emergent competition for water between the food and energy systems is increasingly recognized in the concept of the “food‐energy‐water nexus.” The nexus between food and water is made even more complex by the globalization of agriculture and rapid growth in food trade, which results in a massive virtual transfer of water among regions and plays an important role in the food and water security of some regions. This review explores multiple components of the food‐energy‐water nexus and highlights possible approaches that could be used to meet food and energy security with the limited renewable water resources of the planet. Despite clear tensions inherent in meeting the growing and changing demand for food and energy in the 21st century, the inherent linkages among food, water, and energy systems can offer an opportunity for synergistic strategies aimed at resilient food, water, and energy security, such as the circular economy.
... Today it is clear that rather than being about land grabbing or water grabbing, the phenomenon of large-scale transnational deals is equally about both resources (Allan et al., 2012;Rulli et al., 2013;Woodhouse and Ganho, 2011). Focusing on either of two resources, while ignoring the other, loses sight of important dimensions of this complex phenomenon which, if current trends continue, will lead to a radical redistribution of water and land assets. ...
... This is particularly the case for semi-arid regions or where crops with intensive water needs are grown. Land deals can lead to a change of land use rights, which in turn can impact on the availability of irrigation water and water governance [6,8,10,11] or on water quality in terms of e.g., water pollution [12]. Land rush is not unique to large-scale, international land acquisition, it can also result from a sudden and quick change in land property structures, as has happened in many transition countries. ...
To date, the land–water–food nexus has been primarily addressed from an ecological, hydrological or agronomic angle, with limited response to the governance interface between the input resources. Likewise, in widely used heuristic frameworks, such as the social–ecological system (SES) framework, governance interactions between resources are not sufficiently addressed. We address this gap empirically, using the case of Tajikistan, based on a farm household survey analysis of 306 farmers. The results indicate that land system variables contribute to the willingness to cooperate in irrigation management. Specifically, formal land tenure has a positive effect on farmers paying for water as well as on the likelihood of their investing time and effort in irrigation infrastructure, which is decisive for Tajikistan's food and fiber production. Irrigation system variables show that, e.g., being an upstream user increases the likelihood to contribute to labor maintenance efforts. We further discuss how decisions with respect to the land sector could be designed in the future to facilitate cooperation in other resource sectors. Further, we conclude from a conceptual perspective that the SES framework integrating a nexus perspective can be adapted: either (1) by adding a second-tier " governance nexus " variable inside the governance variable of an irrigation system; or (2) by adding a land resource unit and system outside the irrigation system.
... In the arena of studies on large-scale land acquisitions and land grabbing an alternative hypothesis has been investigated: what if the fundamental driver of the global land rush were the need for water rather than for land itself? (Skinner and Cotula, 2011;Allan et al., 2012;GRAIN, 2012;Mehta et al., 2012;Woodhouse, 2012;Franco et al., 2013). Water is a natural resource that is key to the economic development and many rural and industrial societies. ...
Large-scale acquisitions of agricultural land in developing countries have been rapidly increasing in the last 10 years, contributing to a major agrarian transition from subsistence or small scale farming to large-scale commercial agriculture by agribusiness transnational corporations. Likely driven by recent food crises, new bioenergy policies, and financial speculations, this phenomenon has been often investigated from the economic development, human right, land tenure and food security perspectives, while its hydrologic implications have remained understudied. It has been suggested that a major driver of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) is the quest for water resources that can be used (locally) to sustain agricultural production in the acquired land. The appropriation of water resources associated with LSLAs has often been termed ‘water grabbing’, though to date a formal definition of such a normative and inherently pejorative term is missing. The intrinsic assumption is that the acquisition of water undergoes the same dynamics of unbalanced power relationships that underlie many LSLAs. Here we invoke hydrological theories of “green” and “blue” water flows to stress the extent to which water appropriations are inherently coupled to land acquisitions and specifically focus on blue water. We then propose a formal definition of blue water grabbing based both on biophysical conditions (water scarcity) and ethical implications (human right to food). Blue water grabs are appropriations of irrigation (i.e., blue) water in regions affected by undernourishment and where agricultural production is constrained by blue water availability. We use this framework to provide a global assessment of the likelihood that LSLAs entail blue water grabbing.
... Until recently, the lead corporations have mostly been Western conglomerates (Lawrence 2011, Murphy, Burch et al. 2012. Sparked by commodity price spikes, collapse of financial markets and growing water and food insecurity, they have been challenged, however, on the one hand by investors gambling with land with water resources, on the other by new commodity giants and parastatals from Asia and the Gulf countries aggressively investing also in thus far non-commercialised regions (Allan, Keulertz et al. 2012, Mehta, Veldwisch et al. 2012. Even though the players and arenas are changing, the global agro-food system nevertheless continues to be corporate dominated, and due to the water-intensity of the system, the agro-food corporations stand out as important actors of water security, management and governance. ...
This dissertation explores the largest water-using corporations as agents of water security, management and governance. An analytical framework is constructed to investigate different forms of corporate power and strategies, their drivers and legitimacy to engage on water. The framework is applied to, and tested with, three case studies: 1) corporations dominating the water-intensive global agro-food value chains and networks, 2) corporations engaging in the development of corporate water stewardship principles and practices, and 3) corporations engaging in corporate water stewardship initiatives and projects in South Africa.
The corporations studied are found to have remarkable power to change water management and governance processes with implications for water security from global to local level. The corporations dominating the agro-food value chains and networks are identified to be part of a global 'virtual water hegemony', and corporations engaging in the development of the corporate water stewardship principles and practices to be contributing to an emerging transnational water governance regime. Predominantly driven by water scarcity, stakeholder pressure and public sector failure to act as the custodian of water resources, the corporations are shown to have become increasingly active and proactive in their water engagement strategies and tactics. Legitimacy of their engagement is found to be questionable, however. The corporations studied are yet to embrace water in their strategic cores. Equal participation, accountability and transparency are found to be in need of improvement in all the engagement processes in focus. Outcomes of the processes are shown to include much needed drive and resources for multistakeholder collaboration on water, but previous concerns of fragmentation, re-inventing wheels and private capture of public institutional processes and resources are also confirmed.
The findings of the dissertation show how water-using corporate engagement has become increasingly central to processes of water management and governance. If water security for all is to be reached instead of risk management for a few, however, corporate engagement demands further scrutiny and guidance. The analytical framework developed is proposed as one tool for this purpose. Policy efforts globally are recommended to be targeted towards ensuring equal participation, accountability and transparency in corporate water stewardship initiatives and broader processes of water management and governance where corporations engage.
The divergence between agricultural water use and the annual supply of water resources (water gap) has been increasing for decades. The forecast is that this water gap will continue to widen, compromising the water security of a large share of the global population. On the one hand, the increase in demand is attributed to an ever-growing population that, in addition, is adopting a high-water consumption per capita lifestyle (e.g., meat-rich diet, increased use of biofuels and of irrigated agriculture). On the other hand, climate change is increasing aridification and the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of precipitation worldwide. The water gap is particularly acute in drylands, where development and food security has been based on the massive exploitation of water resources, particularly groundwater. Here we analyze the mechanisms underlying this water gap, which is mainly driven by water use in agriculture, and suggest suitable solutions that can help to close it. Using causal diagrams, we show how population generates different demands that create a water gap that prevailing supply-side solutions cannot close. Indeed, it has been widening over the years because water consumption has grown exponentially. This behaviour is explained by a series of mechanisms that it is necessary to understand to realize the complexity of water scarcity problems. For solving the water gap, we propose and exemplify eight lines of action that can be combined and tailored to each territory. Our analyses corroborate the urgent need to plan an integral management of water resources to avoid widespread scenarios of water scarcity under future climatic conditions.
Biodiversity is critically threatened in sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter SSA). Concerns in the form of declarations, conventions, treaties and communiques have been issued and held severally in SSA. Whereas these efforts are commendable, what is responsible for the inertia on biodiversity conservation by state authorities in SSA, especially resource-rich states? How many such conferences were to be held and declarations issued in the future to spur states of SSA into assertive action? Is it greening the environment unending? Worried by the foregoing questions, this chapter interrogates the sterility of assertive actions on biodiversity conservation by state authorities in SSA. This chapter relies on the Rentier State Theory (RST) as its theoretical handle and argues that to the extent that resource-rich states such as Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Ghana, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and others are rentier states whose economic well-being and sustainability depend on economic rents/royalties which make them to have an asymmetry between economic development and biodiversity conservation, biodiversity protection remains rhetoric. The chapter is entirely qualitative. It concludes that while countless declarations, conventions, treaties and even communiques have been ratified and deposited by resource-rich states of SSA, these efforts remain ephemeral—as rentier states are ever reluctant to engage in sustainable resource extraction strategies in so far as economic rents accrue to their coffers. Therefore, this chapter recommends that resource-rich states of SSA should negotiate their economies away from the present knee-deep dependence on non-renewable resource exploitation to renewable resource extraction for the sake of biodiversity conservation; moreover, it is the international best practice.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, water management has caused severe disputes in Central Asia. Likewise, due to competing needs and priorities between the upstream and downstream states, water continues to divide these two groups of countries. As a result, water resources have emerged not as tools for facilitating regional cooperation but as a source of conflict. Though, at present, these conflicts do not seem to threaten war, they pose a significant threat to regional stability, security and sustainable development. In view of that, if they are not addressed, they could lead to armed conflicts. This chapter explores the role of international law in the prevention and resolution of such conflicts, with the main question here being: what is the role of international water law in the prevention and resolution of possible conflicts over water in Central Asia? To that end, the chapter takes a sneak peek into the tools in international water law to respond to water disputes. In examining the management of transboundary watercourses in Central Asia and ratification by Central Asian countries of the agreements governing the management of such watercourses, the chapter then takes a comparative approach and makes special reference to the European Union, specifically with respect to the Rhine river basin. The author posits that cooperation over shared watercourses, supplemented by treaties, can be a good tool of managing conflicts over such watercourses and that water scarcity may not be the sole cause of conflicts.KeywordsUpstreamDownstreamTransboundaryRatificationWatercoursesTreatiesWater LawCooperationConflictWater scarcityPreventionResolutionStabilitySecuritySustainable Development
Iran is a vulnerable country to desertification and soil degradation and to respond to this problem, some laws and regulations such as Act on Soil Protection Act, as well as institutional arrangements for environmental protection and soil preservation, have been initiated. However, the efficiency of these instruments in building an effective soil governance system is disputable. This chapter intends to exercise the legal challenges of Iran in soil protection governance. To do so it firstly considers the state of soil degradation and protection in Iran and then examines the development of soil protection governance in its legal system. This chapter, emphasizing on the contribution of institutional efficiency and legal enforcement in soil governance, concludes that Iran’s legal system faces with a body of legal, institutional and social obstacles in development and improvement of soil protection governance pillars, i.e. integrated instruments and cross-sectoral collaboration in multilevel protection.
This article investigates the governance potential of different policies and laws addressing the issues arising out of large-scale farmland investments in low income countries. To this end, it will interpret their development on the whole as a tentative effort by a set of different actors to forge an effective governance system. It is argued here that the development of these laws and policies has largely been defined by three key features: (1) forming a better understanding of the complex issues arising out of large-scale farmland investments, (2) reframing these issues, the responsibilities of involved actors, and the purpose of regulation, and finally, (3) flexibly shifting modes of governance in view of ineffective national and international laws and institutions. All three strategies have contributed to establishing a set of transnational guiding principles and standards of care that will substantially increase legal accountability and have the potential to effectively change investment practices.KeywordsLand grabbingGovernanceAccountabilityTransnational standards of careLegal guide on agricultural land investment contracts (UNIDROIT)Human rightsLarge-scale farmland investmentsTransnational
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is anticipated to have wide-ranging impacts on the countries of Central Asia. This includes a significant impact to a complex and fragile water resources landscape, and the closely entwined economic, social, environmental and political context. Water resources considerations are currently not explicit in BRI policies or proposals, despite the vast variety of ways in which the initiative may interact with and influence these dynamics. This article presents an early examination of the key trade-offs and interdependencies across water management in the BRI and it includes recommendations to mitigate detrimental impact and promote sustainable delivery for the future.
Since the mid-2000s, there has been a large interest in agriculture-based private and public–private investments in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A major driver of this land rush has been the increasing demand for biofuels in the European Union, especially due to the EU 2009 (EU RED, Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the Promotion of the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources), Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED), which stipulates that by 2020 at least 10% of the energy used in the transport sector in every Member-State must be from renewable energy sources. However, large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) can have very diverse sustainability impacts in SSA. This chapter analyses the intersection between corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies and LSLAs in SSA, focusing on Italian investors. We initially identify the characteristics of these LSLAs during the last decade, especially in the context of EU RED. The results suggest that Italian investors have acquired large tracts of land, especially for bioenergy crops. However, the analysis of CSR strategies suggests that most investors do not show responsible behaviour for issues related to land acquisitions. Practically none of these investors has adopted voluntary standard or certification and labelling (SCL) schemes that properly consider the main sustainability impacts of LSLAs.
This article introduces a special Forum on Land, politics and dynamics of agrarian change and resistance in North Africa featuring three original articles on the politics of land and agrarian change in post-revolutionary Egypt. In this introductory article, we revisit the land question in North Africa – and especially in Egypt and the Maghreb – to bridge two separate debates that have so far proceeded separately from each other: the debate on land-grabbing, carried out within the field of critical agrarian studies, and that on land in North Africa, led by experts on the region. We first analyse the recent literature on ‘global’ land-grabbing in North Africa to then review the literature on the land question in North Africa. Third, we introduce the articles featured in the Forum by highlighting their contributions. We conclude by identifying what seems to us most relevant for future critical research on land issues and land-grabbing in North Africa.
This book examines Nile water security through the morphology of the river: it uses the always changing form of the river as a theoretical and empirical device to map and understand how infrastructures and discourses dynamically interact with the Nile. By bringing a history of two centuries of dam development on the Nile in relation with the drainage of a hill slope in Ethiopia on the one hand and irrigation reform in Sudan on the other, the author shows how the scales, units and ‘populations’ figuring in projects to securitize the river emerge through the rearrangement of its water and sediments. The analysis of ‘Making water security’ is more than yet another story of how modern projects of water security have legitimized often violent dispossessions of Nile land and water. It shows how no water user is confined by the roles assigned by project engineers and planners. As ongoing modern ‘development’ of the river reduces the prospects for new large diversions of water, the targeted subjects of development and modernization make use of newly opened spaces to carve out their own projects. They creatively mobilize old irrigation and drainage infrastructures in ways that escape the universal logic of water security.
The book, combining survey research and case study methods, empirically examines the role of 'mastaans' and corruption in Bangladesh politics.
Pijovic reiterates the main arguments made in the book and expands on the issue of Australia as a sui generis emerging engager or ‘new’ actor in Africa. Pijovic outlines the main commonalities ascribed to emerging countries’ engagement with Africa in order to argue that Australia shares none of those and is therefore unique. Australia’s engagement with Africa is not driven by a desire to secure valuable resources, nor is it motivated by geopolitical and strategic considerations aimed at countering the influence of rival countries. The only trait Australia exhibits which is similar to other emerging countries’ engagement with Africa—such as Brazil—is its desire to use that engagement to advance its international reputation and influence—but even that lasted only a few years.
In this chapter, Dieng ‘returns home’ to do research by drawing on Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis approach for a metaphor of fieldwork and by questioning inherited research methodologies. She analyses the challenges of conducting decolonial and feminist research, before focusing on many dilemmas of ‘fieldworking’ at home, as a woman with a baby. Dieng, a feminist ‘tightrope walker’ trying not to ‘go native,’ explores how multiple identities, gender of the researcher and the genealogy of the research topic influenced the research and vice versa. As both ‘insider’ and ‘outsider,’ the research was facilitated more by being perceived as a ‘courageous mother’ than a ‘foreign’ researcher in a society that attributes special places to mothers but not young women questioning power relations, states and companies’ land deals, and more importantly, the gender of power.
This chapter documents the author’s reflections on travel, research, and purpose over 15 years of travelling to African countries to conduct research; in particular, Uganda. McBrien considers notions of privilege, mindful research and ethics as a North American White woman researcher in the field, offering lessons she has learned to those who may be new to this kind of work. Although some of her insights result from gendered perspectives, her observations result more from working primarily with women than from a specifically feminist perspective.
Recent years have witnessed a growing trend in agricultural investment and large‐scale farmland acquisition in the Global South and a rapid expansion of scholarship and public debate over the nature, consequences, and desirability of these trends. The polarization of this debate into “win/lose” narratives raises the question of whether, and under what conditions, the logic of capital accumulation driving farmland acquisition and investment can engender broad‐based social benefits akin to “shared growth.” This paper sheds light on this question through a detailed look at the recent expansion of Zambia Sugar's Nakambala Estate in Mazabuka, Zambia. We explore outcomes linked to two of the most prominent pathways through which social benefits are said to accrue: smallholder incorporation and employment. Findings demonstrate the unevenness of outcomes linked to both pathways, with the concrete benefits both claimed and observed through some measures quickly eroding under the weight of alternative performance metrics. The unevenness produced by the intensification of capitalist relations is manifested not just between those differentially positioned with respect to the incoming investment (“outgrower,” “employee,” and “land loser”) but within each of those conditions. This ambiguity opens spaces for competing representations of the promises and pitfalls of these processes, while highlighting the shaky ground on which shared growth and inclusive business agendas stand.
The escalating human demand for food, water, energy, fibres and minerals have resulted in increasing commercial pressures on land and water resources, which are partly reflected by the recent increase in transnational land investments. Studies have shown that many of the land-water issues associated with land acquisitions are directly related to the areas of energy and food production. This paper explores the land-water-energy-food nexus in relation to large-scale farmland investments pursued by investors from European countries. The analysis is based on a "resource assessment approach" which evaluates the linkages between land acquisitions for agricultural (including both energy and food production) and forestry purposes, and the availability of land and water in the target countries. To that end, the water appropriated by agricultural and forestry productions is quantitatively assessed and its impact on water resource availability is analysed. The analysis is meant to provide useful information to investors from EU countries and policy makers on aspects of resource acquisition, scarcity, and access to promote responsible land investments in the target countries.
Since small-scale farmers manage most of the cultivated land worldwide, the ongoing shift in systems of production associated with large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) may dramatically reshape the world's agrarian landscape, significantly impacting rural populations and their livelihoods. The societal, hydrological and environmental implications resulting from the expansion of large-scale agricultural production, through LSLAs, make their ultimate sustainability questionable. This study, through a literature review, analyses the negative impacts of LSLAs, their hydrological dimension and how they may affect the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The core literature on land and water grabbing is reviewed and systematized using the 17 SDGs as a framework, in order to highlight the relationship between LSLAs and the sustainable development agenda. The magnitude of the global land rush phenomenon and the criticism raised in scholarly research highlight the controversial role that transnational land acquisitions may be playing in the global development agenda.
Large-scale land acquisitions, commonly known as “land grabbing,” are in most cases driven by the need for freshwater resources. There is evidence that corporations and governments are increasingly investing in agricultural land in order to meet the growing demand for food and biofuel. Since the production of both food and biofuels requires freshwater resources, land investors typically look for access to water. Large-scale land-related deals include unlimited water rights in favor of the investor, to the detriment of other users, especially local people, who lose their access to water despite the fact that access to water resources is a basic human right that cannot be denied. Moreover, most of these deals are closed with no, or very limited, consultation with local populations, and without fair compensation. Investors thus act with no consideration for the social and environmental impact of the land acquisition and water grabbing.
Despite increased scientific interest in the phenomenon of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA), accurate data on implementation processes remain sparse. This paper aims at filling this gap by providing empirical in-depth knowledge on the case of the Swiss-based Addax Bioenergy Ltd. in Sierra Leone. Extensive fieldwork allowed the interdisciplinary research team (1) the identification of different actors that are necessary for the implementation on a vertical level and (2) the documentation of the heterogeneous group of project affected people’s perceptions and strategies on a horizontal level. Findings reveal that even a project labeled as best-practice example by UN agencies triggers a number of problematic processes for affected communities. The loss of natural resources that comes along with the land lease and the lack of employment possibilities mostly affects already vulnerable groups. On the other hand, strategies and resistance of local people also affect the project implementation. This shows that the horizontal and vertical levels are not separate entities. They are linked by social networks, social interactions, and means of communication and both levels take part in shaping the project’s impacts.
Inter-annual climatic variability over a large portion of sub-Saharan Africa is under the influence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Extreme variability in climate is a threat to rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the role of ENSO in the balance between supply and demand of net primary productivity (NPP) over this region is unclear. Here, we analyze the impact of ENSO on this balance in a spatially explicit framework using gridded population data from the WorldPop project, satellite-derived data on NPP supply, and statistical data from the United Nations. Our analyses demonstrate that between 2000 and 2013 fluctuations in the supply of NPP associated with moderate ENSO events average ± 2.8 g C m−2 yr.−1 across sub-Saharan drylands. The greatest sensitivity is in arid Southern Africa where a + 1 °C change in the Niño-3.4 sea surface temperature index is associated with a mean change in NPP supply of −6.6 g C m−2 yr.−1. Concurrently, the population-driven trend in NPP demand averages 3.5 g C m−2 yr.−1 over the entire region with densely populated urban areas exhibiting the highest mean demand for NPP. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for the role ENSO plays in modulating the balance between supply and demand of NPP in sub-Saharan drylands. An important implication of these findings is that increase in NPP demand for socio-economic metabolism must be taken into account within the context of climate-modulated supply.
The recent surge in the marketisation of the commons in Africa – especially of water bodies – warrants careful political economic analysis. Three questions remain intractable: (1) Were there markets in the beginning? If so, how have they transformed and if not, how did markets arise and transform over the years? (2) what are the outcomes of such markets for people, their livelihoods, and their environment? And (3) how to interpret the outcomes of water markets and whether water should be commodified at all. For new institutional economists, water markets have arisen because of the inferior nature of Indigenous or customary systems which are incapable of offering precisely what water markets offer Africa: economic and ecological fortunes. Using an institutional political economy approach and drawing on experiences in Ghana, the paper investigates the social history of marketisation of the commons and probes the effects of marketisation in terms of absolute, relative, and differential/congruent outcomes as well as the opportunity cost of the current water property rights regime. The empirical evidence shows that markets have been socially created through imposed and directed policies. Some jobs have been created through investment, but such employment is not unique to marketisation and private investment. Indeed, the private model of property rights has worsened the distribution of water resources not only within different property relations in Africa but also between diverse property relations. Water markets have been responsible for much displacement and trouble not only for communities but also nature. Overall, there is no necessary congruence between the promises made by new institutional economists and how communities experience water markets. Tighter regulations for the use of inland and transboundary water sources might temporarily halt the displacement of communities sparked by marketisation of the commons, but only one fundamental change can guarantee community well-being: to regard the access to and community control of water as constitutionally sanctioned human rights and as res communis.
The first purpose of this chapter is to show that there are a number of international conditions and trends, first in water, energy and food supply chains and secondly, in international trade and demography that need to be understood. These conditions and trends are very relevant to understanding future options in the allocation, management and consumption of water and energy in southern Africa. Secondly, it will highlight the recent heightened awareness amongst scientist and resources managing professionals of the ways that over-consumption and poor stewardship of natural resources have impacted the sustainability of three key strategic supply chains—water and sewage services, energy services and food. Thirdly, it will be noted that these supply chains are shaped in major ways by private sector markets and international trade. These markets are badly regulated because they do not have accounting rules that generate market signals that incentivise resource stewardship and sustainable and ethical investment. Water for example is not valued in food supply chains. There are many casualties in these highly distorted systems of provision. Fourthly, because water, energy and food are vital and therefore very easily politicised all three supply chains have been impacted and distorted in major ways by government subsidies and related payments. In these politicised contexts there are some very powerful players. They are powerful because they are deeply informed, they have significant contractual and commercial leverage and they operate at a scale that can influence public policy as well be responsive to it. The asymmetric power relations make sustainable practices impossible for the weak supply chain players. These sub-optimal systems characterise the water, energy and food nexus world-wide. An additional reason for analysing the water, energy and food nexus from a supply chain perspective is that those who operate these market and public systems are deeply informed on what is politically feasible and can identify the reforms that are possible as well as needed.
Water is a natural resource that like others has the potential to trigger conflicts over its availability and use; unlike others, however, it is also indispensable for human and other life. Current and future climate and socio-economic changes have and will have an impact on water and its management. In the past, the focus was put on the ‘good governance’ of water resources, and in particular on the derived framework of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). But traditional water governance, assuming the replication of stable conditions in the past, may not be able to address the challenges posed by climate and other changes to the allocation and regulation of water resources for different economic and human uses. Increasingly, scholars have focused on the adaptive and integrative nature of governance systems, which has led to an abundant body of research investigating the adaptive capacity of water regimes. While it is acknowledged that institutional adaptive capacity will enable to arrive at a governance system that integrates uncertainty, and copes with and responds to changes, it remains unclear how this process will unfold in practical cases. Introducing the aspiration of the present book to address such critical research question, this chapter recalls the historical importance of water for human populations, and how institutions have traditionally served to address the resource-related challenges of scarcity, allocation and use in the past. On these bases, it then makes the case for the need of achieving a better understanding of the processes and conditions that lead to institutional adaptive capacity in the water sector.
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