Benoit Blarel

Bio: Benoit Blarel is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agricultural productivity & Land tenure. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 4 publications receiving 843 citations.

Searching for land tenure security in Africa

Abstract: The report is based on case studies in seven countries, and relies on new data to examine the relationship between land holding rights, and agricultural production. Land remains the most important source of economic livelihood, security, and social status in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the extent to which existing tenure rules, and practices influence agriculture, is unclear. The report further questions whether indigenous African land tenure systems, accord farmers sufficient security for long-term investment in agricultural production, and, examines as well the major effects of land registration and titling, on agricultural production. The study represent the first rigorous quantitative analysis of the relationship between land tenure security, and agricultural production in the context of contemporary political economies of African countries.

The Economics of Farm Fragmentation: Evidence from Ghana and Rwanda

Abstract: Farm fragmentation, in which a household operates more than one separate parcel of land, is a common phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa. Concerned by the perceived costs of fragmented as opposed to consolidated holdings, several countries have implemented land consolidation programs. But these interventions overlook the benefits that land fragmentation can offer farmers in managing risk, in overcoming seasonal labor bottlenecks, and in better matching soil types with necessary food crops. This article uses household data from Ghana and Rwanda to discuss the incidence and causes of fragmentation. It then formally tests the relation between fragmentation and land productivity and risk reduction. The conclusion is that consolidation programs are unlikely to lead to significant increases in land productivity and may actually make farmers worse off. Policymakers should focus instead on reducing the root causes of fragmentation: inefficiencies in land, labor, credit, and food markets.

Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification

Abstract: This article reviews the recent literature on diversification as a livelihood strategy of rural households in developing countries, with particular reference to sub‐Saharan Africa. Livelihood diversification is defined as the process by which rural families construct a diverse portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in order to survive and to improve their standards of living. The determinants and effects of diversification in the areas of poverty, income distribution, farm output and gender are examined. Some policy inferences are summarised. The conclusion is reached that removal of constraints to, and expansion of opportunities for, diversification are desirable policy objectives because they give individuals and households more capabilities to improve livelihood security and to raise living standards.

Land policies for growth and poverty reduction

Abstract: Land policies are of fundamental importance to sustainable growth, good governance, and the well-being of, and the economic opportunities open to, both rural and urban dwellers - particularly the poor. To this end, research on land policy, and analysis of interventions related to the subject, have long been of interest to the Bank's Research Department, and other academic, and civil society institutions. The report aims to strengthen the effectiveness of land policy in support of development, and poverty reduction, by setting out the results of recent research in a way that is accessible to a wide audience of policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, academics in the Bank's client countries, donor agency officials, and the broader development community. Its main message rests on three principles: 1) provision of secure tenure to land improves the welfare of the poor, particularly by enhancing the asset base of those whose land rights are often neglected, and, creates incentives needed for investment, paramount to sustainable economic growth; 2) facilitation of land exchange, and distribution, whether as an asset or for current services, at low cost, through markets, and non-market channels, will expedite land access by productive, but land-poor producers, so that once economic growth improves, financial markets would rely on the use of land as collateral; and, 3) governments' contribution to the promotion of socially desirable land allocation, and utilization. The report discusses mechanisms to promote tenure security, demonstrates the importance of rental market transactions, arguing the removal of impediments to these can generate equity advantages, and positive investments. It also illustrates mechanisms, ranging from taxation, to regulation and land use planning to address these issues.

The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries

Abstract: The diversity of rural livelihoods in low income developing countries is receiving increased attention in discussions about rural poverty reduction. This paper explores just one facet of livelihood diversity, namely the reasons for households to adopt multiple livelihood strategies. The distinction is made between diversification of necessity and diversification by choice. Six determinants of diversification are considered in the light of that distinction, and these are seasonality, risk, labour markets, credit markets, asset strategies, and coping strategies. The paper concludes that under the precarious conditions that characterise rural survival in many low income countries, diversification has positive attributes for livelihood security that outweigh negative connotations it may possess. Policy should facilitate rather than inhibit diversity. Diverse rural livelihoods are less vulnerable than undiversified ones.

The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana

Abstract: We examine the impact of ambiguous and contested land rights on investment and productivity in agriculture in Akwapim, Ghana. We show that individuals who hold powerful positions in a local political hierarchy have more secure tenure rights and that as a consequence they invest more in land fertility and have substantially higher output. The intensity of investments on different plots cultivated by a given individual corresponds to that individual’s security of tenure over those specific plots and, in turn, to the individual’s position in the political hierarchy relevant to those specific plots.

The Evolutionary Theory of Land Rights as Applied to Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Critical Assessment

Abstract: The evolutionary theory of land rights can be considered the dominant framework of analysis used by mainstream economists to assess the land tenure situation in developing countries, and to make predictions about its evolution. A central tenet of this theoryis that under the joint impact of increasing population pressure and market integration, land rights spontaneously evolve towards rising individualization and that this evolutioneventually leads rightsholders to press for the creation of duly formalized private property rights — a demand to which the state will have an incentive to respond. This article looks critically at the relevance of the evolutionary theory of land rights as currently applied to Sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, the question of whether the establishmentof private property rights is an advisable structural reform in the present circumstancesis examined, in the light of evidence accumulated so far. It will be argued that most of the beneficial effects usually ascribed to such a reform are grossly over-estimated and that, given its high cost, it is generally advisable to look for more appropriate solutions that rely on existing informal mechanisms at community level.