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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Land transactions and chieftaincies in southwestern Togo
Author:Gardini, Marco
Year:2012
Periodical:Africa Spectrum (ISSN 0002-0397)
Volume:47
Issue:1
Pages:51-72
Language:English
Geographic term:Togo
Subjects:land tenure
land rights
chieftaincy
External link:https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/article/view/520
Abstract:Land access is becoming a crucial issue in many African contexts, where groups and individuals are coping with land scarcity and increasing competition over resources. Based on fieldwork carried out in the regions of Agou and Kpalimé in southwestern Togo, this paper explores the forms of land transactions that have historically emerged in the area. The paper aims to show the plurality and adaptibility of local forms of land tenure, as well as the strategies developed by people in asymmetrical power relations to claim rights to land in changing economic, political and social landscapes. These strategies range from manipulation of group membership and land title registration to renegotiation of previous sharecropping agreements. The paper also addresses the role played by chieftaincies in securing land rights. Particular attention is paid to the historicity of the agreements concerning cash crop economies known as 'dibi-madibi' (or 'deme') and 'nana', which not only involved 'ethnic' divisions, but also gender, class and generational differentiations. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract, edited]
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