Land Reform in Liberia: A Reflection From the Field Ali D. Kaba The Community Land Protection Program of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI)

A Snapshot  Concessioned Out: 40-50%  Private “deeded” claims –15 to 20%  Protected Areas – 10 to 15%  Tribal certificates – Unknown  Public Land – Unknown  Lack of consultation with local communities  Overlapping claims – private, public, protected, tribal certificates, community collective claims  Weak institutional arrangement, poor documentation, weak capacity, “political will?”, etc

How Did We Get Here: Land Rights Challenges in Liberia Tenure Rights: we have a very unclear and more accurately, unfair land laws, characterized by uneven distribution and recognition of tenure rights. i.e. – Dual regime: customary and statutory tenure systems – Undocumented (un-deeded) land seen as Public Land Unclear Access Rights: – On the one hand, indigenous communities have maintained customary tenure regimes over most land (deemed as Public Land) in Liberia – Private access to “public land” is through indigenous communities – Yet, formalization (privatization) and commercial use rights are exclusively state’s affairs

Land Rights Challenges in Liberia Tenure (In)security: Unclear tenure rights, confusing access rights, weak institutions, and poor legal and record system = Tenure Insecurity Land Productivity: import versus export – Agro-plantation, forestry, and mining: of the 40% or so land concessioned out, less than 15% under active production – Import rice US$200 million dollars yearly – Import vegetable – about $22 million on vegetable and other food products – Land valuation - experience from Rivercess

Interventions The State: laws and Polices (CRL, LRP, Benefit sharing – logging and mining, LRA) International Instruments/Regimes – International instruments (FPIC, RSPOs, VPA, FAO) The CSOs – leveraging information, national laws, and international instruments – Work extensively with the Land Commission and Local Communities to produce policies and laws (CRL, LRP, LRA, - FDA and Land Commission) Protests/Agitations

CSOs/Community Take on the LRA Article 2, Section 22: Customary land is equal to private land – used and managed in accordance with customary practices, is protected just as privately held land. Article 32, Section 2: Customary ownership is automatically formalized. With or without a deed, the moment that the Land Rights Act passes into law, Customary Land rights will be legally protected. Articles 2 Section 7: Communities are empowered to self-identify and define the area of their customary lands in keeping with custom, history, and norms. Article 34: The land rights of all community residents are equally protected. Articles 35 and 36: Community members are directly responsible for the management of their land and natural resources.

Conclusion (Risks) Lack of a common position on the LRA (executive, legislative, national and local elites, etc) The Cost of Change: private/tribal, protected, the role of concession, eminent domain Uneven access to factors of production Non-implementation of the Act – Bureaucratic, regulatory, management, governance Financial, human, institutional, and technical capacity in the administration and management of land related reforms (land and natural resources)