GRAZING LAND TENURE AND LIVELIHOOD SECURITY:

A STUDY OF TWO CLUSTERS OF VILLAGES IN THE GAMBIA

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8.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

8.1 Summary of Findings

This research has found that at the two study sites access to most uncultivated land, if it is considered as grazing land, is open. Anyone may graze their livestock on uncultivated land with no restrictions on where or when they move their herds or on the size of their herds. It is likely that more intensive tenure arrangements never developed because the amount of uncultivated land relative to the number of cattle, sheep, and goats has been sufficient, at least until recently. Even today, herdsmen and cattle owners do not consider lack of forage to be the biggest problem for cattle production. Both the lack of water in the dry season and the ongoing appropriation of cattle track land are considered more serious problems.

Livelihood security strategies at both study sites can be characterized as comprising three successive "lines of defense": attempting to maintain current income (especially through diversification), relying upon the income of previous years (savings), and relying upon the income of others (credit). Examining the metaphor of three lines of defense in terms of the model of livelihoods put forward by Chambers and Conway (1992) helps to answer some questions about livelihood security that the Chambers and Conway model and the literature in general do not answer. The model identifies what types of assets are important for producing a livelihood; the literature on livelihoods and security discusses how in good times people invest into livelihood assets and how in bad times they draw upon the livelihood assets (see Figures 3.1 and 3.2, repeated on the next page). However, little is said about which assets people draw upon under what circumstances.

In terms of this model, through the first line of defense households attempt to maintain the livelihood flow in a forward direction. When they fall back to the second or third line of defense, they are reversing the flow. The danger in doing this is that this represents consumption of assets -- assets which are used to produce a living. The choice of which assets to draw upon is based on what will do the least harm to continued production of a living (see Figures 6.3 and 6.4, repeated below).

In relating livelihood security strategies to the land tenure system at the two study sites, it was seen that there is a tenure-security system and that it is reasonably well-adapted to the social, physical, and economic environments in which it is set. Two important features of the tenure-security system are reliance upon a diverse array of resources found in the bush and reliance upon livestock as a form of savings. Although it is not possible here to thoroughly address the question of how the process of a change in the land tenure system would affect livelihood security, the discovery of the three lines of defense and the tenure-security system suggests that an imposed transformation of the tenure system could endanger livelihood security strategies. Because land tenure and security strategies are so integrally linked, any attempts to impose radical land tenure reform may interrupt the "forward flow" of the livelihood system, forcing households to draw upon precious livelihood assets.

 

8.2 Land Tenure Policy

8.2.1 ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES OF A LAND TENURE POLICY

What might have been considered the obvious objective for a policy toward grazing land tenure -- to reduce overgrazing -- has been called into question. More research is needed to determine if overgrazing is, in fact, occurring in The Gambia. Furthermore, if such an objective were adopted there could be negative consequences for livelihood security. As discussed in the previous chapter, existing security strategies could be hurt by reduced access to resources found in the bush, by forced destocking, or by enclosure of pastures by individual villages.

The most important set of elements of a rural land tenure policy should be the felt needs of the rural people, themselves. If one of the objectives of a new policy for land tenure is to reduce overgrazing for the purposes of protecting the environment and providing more forage for livestock, then it must be emphasized that this would not address the felt needs of the rural Gambians interviewed for this research. Livestock owners and herdsmen from the two study areas do not believe that there is significant overgrazing in their areas. Furthermore, owners of cattle, sheep, and goats reported that lack of forage, while sometimes a problem, is not the greatest constraint on livestock production. Most people said that the two greatest problems for cattle production are lack of access to water in the dry season and the ongoing loss of cattle tracks. The most vulnerable people -- women and the very poor -- if they own any livestock, are more likely to own sheep and goats than cattle. At both Ngeyen Sanjal and Sutukunding I asked women what their greatest problems for sheep and goats were and received similar answers. Day to day supervision of the animals, theft, and diseases were the biggest problems.

A change in the land tenure system would do little, if anything, to address the problem of access to water for cattle or to address any of the major problems associated with sheep and goats. Furthermore, a sweeping change in the land tenure system, for example by establishing inter-village boundaries where none exist today and by entrusting each village with exclusive jurisdiction over all uncultivated land within its boundaries, would be a blunt, heavy-handed way of protecting cattle tracks, and by hindering herd mobility it could do more harm than good for livelihood security. Cost must also be considered. A complete change in the land tenure system would involve more than simply passing legislation: there would be direct costs including public education about the new system, establishment of boundaries, and establishment of the necessary institutional infrastructure. A more gradual approach to land tenure reform should be considered.

It was argued above that the rural land tenure system in The Gambia is, or at least in the past was, adapted to the prevailing physical, social, and economic environments. However, these environments have not been static. The rapid growth of population, the reduction in the amount of uncultivated land, and the drought that began in the mid-1970s together are straining the traditional tenure system. Although it is uncertain whether and to what extent overgrazing may be occurring presently, if the amount of uncultivated land available for grazing continues to decline, then overgrazing will soon be a certainty. Although a sweeping change in the tenure system for all uncultivated land is not desirable at this time, to do nothing would also be a mistake. Some objectives for an interim rural land tenure policy can be tentatively identified. First, some grazing land should be protected and tenure on that land intensified to allow for investment into forage and/or fodder production. Although lack of forage is not the biggest problem for livestock production, if livestock populations grow and grazing land continues to be lost to cultivation, lack of forage will soon become a major problem. Second, cattle track land needs to be protected from encroachment.

8.2.2 THE DANKUNKU PROJECT AS A MODEL

Instead of an imposed revolution in land tenure that puts all uncultivated land under the explicit and exclusive control of individual villages, another possible model for change is the Rangeland and Water Development Project at Dankunku. In the Dankunku area some pastures have been fenced for controlled grazing and forage improvement, but tenure on other pastures has been left as it was. Access to the land in the fenced pastures for purposes other than grazing has not been restricted. The aspects of the project related to land tenure represent what Bruce, et.al. (1990) have called an "adaptation paradigm" rather than a "replacement paradigm." The project is more about managing grazing land than about transforming tenure on grazing land.

Constructing and equipping the dairy and establishing and maintaining watering facilities have been costly investments, but in comparison, the tenure-related aspects of the project -- the establishment and rehabilitation of the grazing reserves -- have been relatively inexpensive. This, combined with the local support for project activities, makes the establishment and rehabilitation of grazing reserves an attractive model for adoption elsewhere in the country. The cost could be even less if the need for fencing could be reduced by careful and active herding practices, although this would require a level of co-operation and/or enforcement that might be unattainable.

In a poor nation such as The Gambia, even the cost of fencing may be prohibitive, but this would not likely be the greatest hurdle for instituting widespread land tenure reforms along this model. A number of people living in the project area who were interviewed said that more training and assistance was needed before the project could be managed properly locally. That people had this complaint even though some institutional development activities were included in the project indicates the ease with which the importance of institutional development can be underestimated.

8.2.3 THE ROLE OF LOCAL INSTITUTIONS

The importance of the role of local institutions in the land tenure system can also be seen in what was learned about cattle tracks at the two primary research sites, Ngeyen Sanjal and Sutukunding. Rules and a dispute resolution system that should apply to cattle tracks are in place, but cattle track land is being taken over, nevertheless. It must be remembered that a land tenure system is more than just the rules and rights that govern access to land and resources on that land. The land tenure system is the complete system of rights to land in all its complexity and it cannot be separated from the social system in which those rights are imbedded. This social system includes the institutions that are supposed to guarantee those rights and maintain the system. As stated earlier some people believe the reason that cattle track land is being taken over is that although local leaders have the authority to protect cattle tracks from encroachment, they do not have enough real power. This should not be surprising considering what some writers have said about the decline of traditional authority in Africa (see Section 3.2.1). Current institutional and tenure arrangements in rural Gambia seem to be unable to prevent pastures from being turned into cropland or to maintain the integrity of the cattle track system. Unfortunately, within this research it was not possible to give adequate attention to the role of institutions in rural land tenure problems. Further research into this topic in the Gambian context is needed.

However, enough was learned about institutions and their role in the rural land tenure system in The Gambia to state that any future programs or policies aimed at altering land tenure arrangements should contain significant institutional development components. The strengthening of local institutions can also be thought of as one step in laying the groundwork for any major alterations in the tenure system if this should become necessary in the future. Early in this thesis, sustainable livelihood thinking (SLT) (Chambers, 1987) was suggested as a corrective to the mode of thinking that gives environmental considerations top priority while assigning the rural poor to a residual level of importance. When planners and policymakers adopt as their goal the enhancement of sustainable livelihoods for the rural poor, with the implied focus on both the short-term satisfaction of basic needs and the long-term provision of security, attention shifts from problems to "a search for potentials and opportunities." (Chambers, 1987:17) The strengthening of local institutions is a capacity building approach that will enable rural people to better adapt to changing circumstances. Whether new institutions are created or existing institutions are given training and other assistance, there is no reason that the institutions should be limited to managing cattle tracks and grazing reserves. If they can play a role in improving livelihoods and enhancing security they may even forestall the need for drastic changes in the land tenure system.

8.2.4 PRELIMINARY SUGGESTIONS FOR TENURE CHANGE

The findings of this research have implications for land tenure policies. Only two sites were studied in depth and further research will be needed to confirm whether conditions are similar elsewhere in the country; however, some tentative suggestions for policies regarding the land tenure system in rural Gambia as it applies to uncultivated land can be made. Any policy should be guided by certain realities:

1) The amount of uncultivated land relative to the number of livestock is declining; however, this is not the greatest constraint to livestock production.

2) The two greatest problems for cattle production, according to rural Gambians interviewed in this research, are the loss of cattle tracks and the difficulty in obtaining water in the dry season.

3) Livelihood and security strategies are built around relatively open access to pasture and other resources found in the bush.

4) The weakness of local institutions is an important factor in the apparent inability of the existing tenure system to deal with changing conditions.

Instead of a sweeping transformation of the land tenure system, smaller, more gradual interventions should be considered. These should include efforts at strengthening existing local institutions or establishing and supporting new ones. These "rangeland management" institutions can begin to assume certain rights to and responsibilities for the land, in a gradual way. One right that these institutions should probably not be given at the present time is the right to ban outsiders from all grazing land in the area. The responsibilities accorded to these institutions could include building and maintaining fire breaks, building and maintaining fencing or boundary markers along cattle tracks, and managing new water sources.

8.2.5 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

o Further research is needed to determine if overgrazing is, in fact, occurring in The Gambia and if so where and under what conditions.

o Further research is needed into the relationship between land tenure and local institutions in The Gambia, including an examination of the ways in which these institutions are and are not effective, respected, and capable.

o Any rangeland development projects that include provision of water as an important component should work on the premise that several small, dispersed watering points are preferable to fewer, centralized watering points. As well as reducing the likelihood of spot overgrazing, this will make it easier for some livestock owners to keep their herds closer to home.

o Enclosure of all grazing land at the level of the village should be avoided as some villages do not have significant amounts of grazing land nearby.

o Where rights to specific parcels of uncultivated land are intensified, care should be taken to protect the rights of access of those who use the bush for other purposes besides grazing.

o If any changes in tenure rules are undertaken for uncultivated land, the goal of protecting cattle tracks should be given high priority.

o Some common land must be maintained. With the passage of the State Lands Act the Government of The Gambia seems to be moving in the direction of a unitary title system and individualization of tenure. However, livestock users depend upon common land for grazing and other users, especially the poorest, depend on common land for a variety of other uses.

o As a first step towards addressing the shortcomings of the existing land tenure system, consideration should be given to a strategy of institutional development using a learning process approach.

 

8.3 Planning for Sustainable Livelihoods

Governments and development agencies in Third World countries should always be vigilant about what effects, both direct and indirect, their projects, programs, and policies may have on the most vulnerable members of society. Attempts to evaluate direct and indirect effects of a project, program, or policy may take the form of a formal Social Impact Assessment or may be more cursory. The results of this research suggests that, regardless of the scope of whatever social impact assessment is done, the planner should attempt to answer three broad questions based on the three lines of defense used in livelihood security strategies:

1) What will the intervention do to people's ability to maintain their income (income in either cash or food, under a variety of circumstances and catastrophes)?

2) What will the intervention do to people's ability to save?

3) What will the intervention do to people's ability to rely on others?

This seems to suggest defensive planning, the overriding planning goal being to protect livelihood security. However, there is a need for proactive planning that is based on sustainable livelihood thinking (SLT) and on an awareness of livelihood security strategies. When SLT is applied to the recommendations that emerge from this research, the form that this planning should take becomes clearer. It was suggested earlier that further research is needed to determine if, where, and under what conditions overgrazing is occurring. Including the rangeland management institutions that are discussed above in this research would be an excellent way of raising local awareness of environmental issues that pertain to grazing and livestock. The focus on searching for potentials and opportunities that comes from SLT, a strategy of capacity building for local institutions, and a commitment to having these local institutions conduct or help to conduct research into issues that interest them -- these are all elements that can be found in what David C. Korten (1980) has called the "learning process approach" to development programing.

Korten notes that institutions with successful development programs were all "organizations that: (a) embrace error; (b) plan with the people; and (c) link knowledge building with action." (1980:498) It will be worthwhile to briefly examine these characteristics. First, it seems that in The Gambia problems of overgrazing and lack of forage are not yet acute. There is time to learn more, to experiment with different organizational structures, and to help local institutions to mature. There is time, in other words, to embrace error and learn from it. Second, putting the rural poor first, as called for by Chambers (1987), means more than having development professionals and government agents give the needs of the rural poor top priority -- it means allowing and assisting the rural poor to do their own research and their own planning (1987:24,25). Similarly, Korten states that planning with the people is valuable because "Rural people have a great deal to contribute to program design. . . [and] have a substantial capacity for learning and change." (1980:498) Third, having local organizations participate both in research -- such as research into overgrazing -- and in programming -- such as the management of grazing reserves and water sources -- is an example of linking of knowledge building with action.

 

8.4 Land Tenure, Land Use and Capacity Building

The tenure system as it applies to uncultivated land is, for the most part, conducive to the livelihood security strategies that poor rural Gambians use. Although in rural Gambia, as in much of Africa, land tenure and land use are closely related, and tenure depends upon use, tenure and use should not be seen as the same thing. Policy toward African rangeland has often focussed predominantly on tenure. However, problems such as the loss of cattle track land, the difficulty in accessing water in dry seasons, and the weakness of traditional local institutions are issues of use and of management as much as they are issues of tenure.

By adopting a capacity building, institutional development approach, planners and policymakers can address these problems without excluding people from their usual security strategies. Furthermore, a learning process approach to land tenure and land use planning would be an effective way of putting the rural poor at the forefront of the planning and development process. From what I have seen and understood, rural Gambians will be glad for the opportunity to plan and participate in their own development, for as the Wolof proverb says, "Ndimbal ne chi fekka loxoy borom." Translated loosely, this means, "Help -- let it come to him who helps himself."

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