Indigenous land rights in sub-Saharan Africa: Appropriation, security and investment demand

We discuss the links between rights appropriation, tenure security, and investment demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Common assertions regarding indigenous tenure an: (a) insecurity of tenure leads to suboptimal investment incentives; and (b) appropriation of land rights in the public domain is rent-dissipating. We argue that land use and investment decisions among African farmers often have two motives - productivity and rights appropriation. The usual assertions thus seem contradictory. We offer a conceptual model to show that indigenous tenure may provide equal or higher investment incentives than private rights, and may promote modes of rights appropriation that are productive rather than wasteful. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.