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Till to tiller:
Linkages Between International Remittances and Access
to Land in West Africa
Lorenzo Cotula and Camilla Toulmin
with
Hilde van Vlaenderen, Serigne Mansour Tall, Gora Gaye, Jacqueline Saunders,
Clement Ahiadeke and John K. Anarfi
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
UK
July 2004
Cover: FAO photo
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Livelihood Support Programme (LSP)
An inter-departmental Programme for improving support for enhancing livelihoods
of the rural poor.
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This paper was prepared under contract with the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO). The positions and opinions presented are those of
the authors alone, and are not intended to represent the views of FAO.
This paper was prepared for FAO’s Land Tenure Service
and Sub-programme 3.1 (“Access to natural resources”) of the
Livelihood Support Programme. Funding was also provided to IIED by
SIDA.
The Livelihood Support Programme
The Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) evolved from the belief
that FAO could have a greater impact on reducing poverty and food insecurity, if
its wealth of talent and experience were integrated into a more flexible and
demand-responsive team approach.
The LSP, which is executed by FAO with funding provided by
DfID, works through teams of FAO staff members who are attracted to specific
themes being worked on in a sustainable livelihoods context. These
cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary teams act to integrate sustainable
livelihoods principles in FAO’s work, at headquarters and in the field.
These approaches build on experiences within FAO and other development
agencies.
The programme is functioning as a testing ground for both team
approaches and sustainable livelihoods principles.
Email: [email protected]
Access to natural resources sub-programme
Access by the poor to natural resources (land, forests, water,
fisheries, pastures, etc.), is essential for sustainable poverty reduction. The
livelihoods of rural people without access, or with very limited access to
natural resources are vulnerable because they have difficulty in obtaining food,
accumulating other assets, and recuperating after natural or market shocks or
misfortunes.
The main goal of this sub-programme is to build stakeholder
capacity to improve poor people’s access to natural resources through the
application of sustainable livelihood approaches. The sub-programme is working
in the following thematic areas:
1. Sustainable livelihood approaches in the
context of access to different natural resources
2. Access to natural resources and making rights
real
3. Livelihoods and access to natural resources in a rapidly
changing world
This paper contributes to the third thematic area by exploring
the role that remittances play regarding access to land and other natural
resources. The paper helps to address the fact that despite extensive work on
both migration and development, the links between the two remain little
understood by policy makers and development practitioners, and little is known
of the factors and policies that can help maximize social and economic
outcomes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
1.2 Object and scope
1.3 Methodology
1.4 Limitations
1.5 Plan of the study
2. EXPLORING THE LINKAGES BETWEEN
REMITTANCES AND ACCESS TO LAND: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Setting the scene
2.2 The great “migration and
development” debate
Pessimists v optimists
Remittances - a relatively large and stable
source of funding for developing countries
Remittances and development: macro, meso and
micro level linkages
2.3 Remittances within household
livelihood strategies
Methodological challenges
Households’ use of remittances: some caveats
Food, clothing, health care and education
Housing
Business
Religious buildings and ceremonies
The “dark side” of remittances
2.4 Remittances and land: exploring
the linkages
Land purchases
Looking beyond purchases
All is well that ends in wells?
Some thoughts on land use changes
Are “stay-behinds” left behind?
Gender
The impact of remittances on the land tenure
system
2.5 Factors affecting remittance
decisions
3. SENEGAL
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The field sites
Moudéry
Kër Momar Sarr
Paris
3.3 Migration between Senegal and
France
Who migrates?
Why migrate?
Living in France
Return to Senegal... or not?
3.4 Remittances and
livelihoods
Remittances and household livelihood strategies
Remittances and village associations
3.5 Remittances, access to land and
agriculture
Land tenure in Senegal
Access to land for our respondents
The changing relationship with rural land
Obstacles to investment in rural land
3.6 Conclusion
4. GHANA
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Migrating from Ghana to the
UK
A migrant’s life in London - networks
and associations
4.3 Remittances and
livelihoods
Remittances - how much?
And in what form?
Remittance use
4.4 Remittances and access to
land
Land tenure and use in Ghana
Using remittances to improve access to land
Soaring land prices and access to land
Land use, tenure and disputes
4.5 Conclusion
5. CONCLUSIONS
5.1 To sum up
An important livelihood and development contribution
Remittances and access to land
5.2 Areas for further
work
Remittances and diverse land access mechanisms
Remittances, access to land and agriculture
Intra-household dynamics
Policies and institutions to promote remittances
and their best use
Remittances, land and decentralization
Working also in destination countries
ANNEX 1. PORTRAITS OF
MIGRANTS
REFERENCES
FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE
LSP
LSP WORKING PAPERS TO JULY
2004