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In this article, the Ethiopian government's large-scale leasing of land to foreign companies creates three main problems: environmental protection, peasant poverty, and food security. However, after reading it, I still feel that LSLAs was an optimal solution for Ethiopia then or now, and that what needs to be improved is the way it is leased and the conditions that need to be added
But I note that this article was published in 2011, and the author also stresses that the LSLA was conducted too soon for him to see its economic effectiveness for Ethiopia. I am curious to see what far-reaching changes these massively leased lands have brought to Ethiopia now, 10 years later

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I found it interesting how Abbink raised World Bank concerns with the new 'scramble for Africa' but then added that their report on the matter was unsubstantial. I think the World Bank's Washington Consensus has been much to blame for the opening up of new or developing economies to market capitalism in a rash and unsustainable way (as discussed in last weeks tutorial on informal economies) so find it quite rich for the World Bank to then criticise the Ethiopian government for handing out land grants in the quest for development.

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Violent provocations and corrupt practices to seize land constitute an act of resistance on a micro-ethnic basis. On a more global scale, foreign investors and the World Bank represent the pragmatic reality of the 'chessboard' of power and politics. In the name of economic development, state authorities disposing the land  to foreign agrobusinesses, making a profit and enriching himself at the expense of the local population. Regarding to the foreign investors, their engagement in fighting poverty in Africa and the assistance in its economic development,- an intention to acquire  what they recently lost: the country, power and wealth.

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Land Rights, Migration, Citizenship, belonging and Precarity 

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Land Rights, Migration, Citizenship, belonging and Precarity 

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The Nubian Community in Kenya vs The Republic of Kenya

The Kenyan Government has never accepted the land rights of Nubians in their ancestral homeland of Kibera, insisting that they are squatters on government land. ... While other groups living in Kibera have the option of returning to their homeland, the Nubians have only one ancestral homeland in Kenya
https://www.justiceinitiative.org/newsroom/after-long-struggle-kenyas-nubian-minority-secures-land-rights

Melany N. Imani Barasa

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This article raises the question, should wealthier members receive larger portions of land, or should the land be divided equally among members? Local Maasai politics seem to involve a mix of talk and violence. It is shown in this article that, committee members are heavily bribed by rich non-Maasai men to acquire pieces of land. The illegality and transactions of acquiring land are rife - This poses the notion of Maasai groups being against outsiders . The division of corruption in land correlates to the eruption of ethnic clashes across the region. Additionally, there is international pressure and the implementation of structural adjustment program has assisted in accelerating the subdivision of group holdings.

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Interesting to note how citizens can't depend on institutional levels when it comes to disputed land issues. People who can't afford high paying lawyers (who probably speak english), or travel across town are at a disadvantage already when it comes to their defence. The system in place favours higher class farmers because, money speaks volume!

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It is interesting to know how system of law regarding land in Tanzania works. The article shows that legal system has been used by people who wanted to take over land, however, there are some cases which the system can help people's land rights.

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Interesting Reading on Land and Social and Political Relations 

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Interesting Reading on Land and Social and Political Relations 

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1) Will Africa Feed China?- Deborah Brautigham.
I found this interesting accompaniment to the Abbink reading, speaking on LSLAs and increasing Sino-African relations. economically, socially and politically, but especially as it relates to agribusiness, Ethiopia among other countries is used a case study . Here is an extract from the book : .https://saiscari.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/acr-augsep2015-will-africa-feed-china.pdf

2) Looters and Grabbers: 54 years of Corruption and Plunder By the Elite, 1963- 2017 - Joe Khamisi
I found this useful with regard to the Galaty reading . Full book on this link :https://yeauganda.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/kenya-looters-and-grabbers-54-years-of-corruption-and-plunder-by-the-elite-1963-2017.pdf

3) The Struggle For Land and Justice in Kenya - Ambreena Manji
available on Jstor you can access it using your SOAS details on this link :https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv105bbm8

-Melany N. Imani Barasa

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Among other things, this article exposes the national and transnational powerplay, underpinning contested land rights, between the two regional groups, from the  Ewuaso and Mosiro  areas of Kenya. The reading also unmasks the insidious machinations of provincial politicians (and other influential players), who use their money, power and influence to sway opinions (via the time-worn instrument of bribery) and  undermine their political opponents (by instigating conflict between opposing parties), rather than  endeavouring to prevent the attendant violence, which usually accompanies the contestation of land,  particularly under the circumstances outlined in the article under discussion.
Laura A

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Even though the paper was written in 1997 i can still see the relevance of it in contemporary discourse and why it was chosen as an essential reading. Galanty's style of writing is very interesting the way he weaves in questions in to the argument and brings the reader into their thought process and the argument. It is a style that lends itself well to anthropology.

A statement I found particularly interesting and written in this style, which am still pondering on is "Do we then envision the people we know as 'local characters' acting out bit parts in dramas written elsewhere, about transnationalism, dependency and postcolonialism ? How do we accommodate both aspects of our twofold cognizance, that people everywhere participate in a single world of global force and import but pursue projects of local scale, designed with homegrown definition, value and shape ? (115)
Galaty underlines that "Law, legitmacy and justice do not always flow into the same stream " (114) These dimensions are often distorted and disrupted, depending on the situation, who you ask and the power they hold e.g the state. I found the statement grounded in monetary terms

What Galaty does really well with this article is tie in how the global works in intimate collusion with the local and how customary claims and appeals in this region are tied to Kenya's history as a settler colonial state. Especially with regard to how difficult it is to administrate ethnic groups and sub-groups, against the colonially influenced framework of nativism "Here, in the microcosm of a sub-ethnic administrative locality, we can see the more global implications of joining nation and state" (116). This is interesting to unpack given Kenya's status as a settler colony and British approach of indirect rule. Assists us to understand how "Global forces, influence, with local faces" (115)

What Galaty also does well is enmesh how "big man" politics complicates land claims and appeals in this region, with politicians awarding themselves land, or working secretly to acquire land for political clout and agendas, and how these regions are sometimes used in a state level 'chess-game' with the president instating and demoting local leaders to match 'big man' political games.

The whole final paragraph i found very pertinent . and gave me a lot to reflect on. The way Galaty was able to round up the argument and base it in Global perspective but as well personal and then links it back to the practice of anthropology is truly what makes this a touch-stone timeless piece, that will be returned to time and again.

Melany N. Imani Barasa

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I found the notion "Scramble for Africa" quite interesting in this article. I have read articles on it previously and this article went onto to further support the sell-out like behavior of the government of the people's land in the name of "development" and "growth", with no consultation of the very people who live on the land.

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Customary law marginalizes women, especially those of low income. Even when a woman has a title deed of a land and is thus the rightful owner under statutory law, this can be overruled by customary law. The problem I see here is the fact that statutory law is less accessible to those without the financial means to go to court to fight for their rights. Statutory law, although in theory empowering women, is thus meaningless when it is not accessible.

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I agree with you Ishrat. Those who live on the land are never consulted, and this is something I saw especially in Kenya. Looking for instance at the coast, exactly in Malindi, foreigners will just go, buy a wonderful land and build a resort, without considering the fact that the negotiation doesn't exist. The most overwhelming thing is that only foreigners or elite benefits of the wonderful lands and beauties, whereas the poor are just there to serve, and always say yes.

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This article brings me back to week 5 (sec, marriage and love) where women are forced to have  sex in exchange of some money to provide food for her children due to the fact that while they must fulfil their duties, their husband can abandon them anytime, without leaving anything, therefore sometimes 'forced to have intercourse with other men (referring to those living in extreme poverty) . Therefore, Those without any kind of income will never go to court for their rights because statutory law as well as customary law are 'resources to which there is differential in gender, as well as class, access' (637).

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I agree with you Tom - the hypocritical nature of the World Bank's involvement with LSLAs in Ethiopia particularly struck me. The critical report of LSLA deals is at odds with the Bank's role as an institution that supports the pursuit of economic development as the expense of wellbeing.

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This paper was helpful for me to understand how land came to be in the federal government's keep. I was struck by how history has played out. What started off as a socialist move to reduce the power of individual landowners in order to create a more equitable society has resulted in the state becoming that individual landowner, doling out the land within a capitalist system. Like others have pointed out, the role of the World Bank and IMF in shoring up these arrangements is called into question here and I wonder at how benign or otherwise the roles of public institutions such as this can claim to be.

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This study powerfully illustrates how the notion of land as a commodity  - discussed in Catherine’s lecture this week - is inconsistent with the ways that control of land is embedded in the social relationships in this agrarian  community and the ways that it maintains social order. For example, land is ‘used’ by fathers to maintain control of their unmarried sons.

The article also raises some interesting gender issues, amongst them the way that  ‘bush babies’ - conceived as a result of sexual violence during conflict - disconnect women from the customary protections within their communities that are based on (patro) lineage.

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I read this article and immediately thought of a meeting I had a with a gentleman about 4 years ago. He owned and sold honey. This honey was from Zambia. He told me that he used to be a hedge funder a number of years ago and made a tone of money. He had had some interest in Zambia and came to know that they were selling off lots of land with which he promptly purchased. He now supplies honey to companies all over the world. He runs an NGO and supports some 7000 families. I remember at the time thinking, wow is it that easy to buy all that land in Zambia? The article raised key questions of local ownership and local resource, and where the power rests. Issues the owner of the honey company may not have considered when he purchased all that land.

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As has already been stated about this reading, despite having been written over forty years ago, the issues on displacement and land inequality are still very much a problem, if not more, today.
This article exposes the deeply rooted issues of government corruption and land rights of indigenous groups, and the Maasai are just one group that continue to face displacement and conflict over land.  Even today, other indigenous ethnic groups across east Africa, such as the Oromo people continue to lose their rights to land at the hands of government corruption, and are subjected to violence in the events they attempt to protest against this. Arguably, the problem has only grown since the 70s, with cities expanding in to remote indigenous territories as a result of a number of factors, I.e economic growth, privatisation, western influence, the livelihoods and territories of groups like the Maasai continue to be threatened.

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My biggest concern from reading these papers is not only the erasure of a village lifestyle and culture through land acquisition but also the affect on the environment. IS the goal of globalization to make the entire world one big city? How will the Earth react to this new form of agriculture?

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This article does well in framing the question of how local/cultural structures around land usage need to be understood alongside global/national appropriation. These two quotes ”…in the microcosm of a sub-ethnic administrative locality, we can see the more global implications of joining nation and state. Ethnic distributions never quite match the political and administrative structures they define, but rather generate around identities a complex set of social anomalies and paradoxes of ethnic affinity and residence…” (117) and “…the locally real today calls for unravelling the strands of an increasingly pervasive system of world relations and of the cultural premises by which motives and interests are defined and action constrained. Then in our own narratives the strands must be rewoven to produce convincing accounts of the complex grounds for the sorts of claims and conflicts that make up what is important to local lives today” (118) really help to bookend the discourse between understanding at the local level and the global/world structures.

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It is interesting to read how nusu nusu (half) status is claimed by Kikuyu tenants of Maasai land in Kenya, who occupy such land for various reasons (e.g. intermarriage and adoption) and thus adopt Maasai identity in addition to their existing Kikuyu identity.  The examples detailed in this paper are good case studies for the extent of the relationship between ethnicity and land in East Africa.

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The improvements for a few of the cases in Ethiopia made at the end of the article I found really helpful. The list included benefits to local farmers, having a legal framework to work with, compensation for farmers and respect for local customs and sites, as well as obliging foreign investors to bring some of their crop to the local market.

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One thing this paper highlighted was how much influence outsiders have on feuds that exist between Maasai groups, shown through the quote: “violence threatened to erupt that would pit one Maasai group against another rather than insiders against outsiders”. Understanding the roots of violence, how they transcend from the global into the local, and the intricate ties with social, cultural and legal relations to land is extremely important and as the author demonstrates, something that anthropologists are well equipped to do. I think I need to read this paper a few more times to get my head around it though !!

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Reading Galaty’s paper I found the most interesting aspect to be the age relations in the Masaii that have caused violence over land. Given that the Masai are divided in age-sets ambivalence concerning power and status ensure. As Galaty says, ‘the maturation and growing independence of the younger group, deference and respect come to be mixed with episodes of revolt’ (117). This is an invaluable dimension to include in an anthropological study. Often studies view groups as homogenous units that do not contain internal dissent or tensions.

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Anbessa (2019) - documentary looking at a 10yr old Ethiopian farm boy that gets displaced by urban expansion

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The threat that war and displacement  poses on land ownership rights, particularly of vulnerable groups such as women and children, as the case is in Northern Uganda, is big. Joireman's article has candidly captured this; showing, among other things, how the return of war victims at the end of the LRA-Government conflict coincided with Government's attempt to formalise customary land ownership. To this observation, I would like to add that the end of the war led to the plethora of foreign and government interests in the land in Northern Uganda in the name of rehabilitation programmes. So there was (and still is) this influx of international NGOs and foreign companies opening up economic ventures. The implication is customary land risks leasehold and that indigenous and local communities have limited control on what they want to produce, and end up as mere employees or outgrowers in foreign investments like sugarcane or fruit growing, as the case is in Test sub-region.

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In this reading as well as the others I was left thinking about the history of land as an issue. Something about modernity seems to be creating competition for land that didn't seem to exist before. Corporate/capitalist interests seem have the potential motivate socially irresponsible governmental policies, while clearly governments also offer hope for land-using communities, as exemplified by this article in close.