• Login
    View Item 
    •   MINDS@UW Home
    • MINDS@UW Madison
    • Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
    • Land Tenure Center, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
    • Land Tenure Center Working Papers
    • View Item
    •   MINDS@UW Home
    • MINDS@UW Madison
    • Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
    • Land Tenure Center, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
    • Land Tenure Center Working Papers
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Recent developments in land tenure law in Eritrea, Horn of Africa

    Thumbnail
    File(s)
    26_wp37.pdf (467.2Kb)
    Date
    2000
    Author
    Castellani, Luca G.
    Publisher
    Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    After a historical sketch of the evolution of land tenure systems in the Eritrean highlands, this paper describes the main features of the new Eritrean land law and its operative assumption that the legislation is meant to extend state control over land. The legal devices employed by the law are widely used in sub-Saharan Africa (and were largely inspired by colonial policies). The State of Eritrea frequently asserts that its recent independence gives it the opportunity to learn from other developing countries' mistakes and to avoid them. The basic patterns of the new land law, however, are common to the rest of Africa, notwithstanding the evident poor results. The central government wants its control to be widespread and pervasive. The fight against traditional social groups controlling land, at least in the highlands, is severe. Apart from a formal repeal of customary law, the state's acquisition of the power to modify village boundaries according to a scheme already completed at higher administrative levels and to introduce equal rights on land for women entails a disruption of the villages' social identity. Mandatory state control over landed property in Eritrea is, as usual, motivated by the necessity to address higher social needs. The ultimate intent, of course, is that the evolution from communal property to state property will eventually result in the widespread introduction of individual property once a sufficient level of economic development is achieved. This unfavorable attitude toward communal property is not supported by the evidence, which shows that, in fact, efficient land management can be obtained through renovation of traditional institutions.
    Subject
    Land tenure Eritrea
    Land tenure Government policy Eritrea
    Land tenure Law and legislation Eritrea
    Customary law Eritrea
    Land reform Eritrea
    Tenure types, Traditional Eritrea
    Permanent Link
    http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/21917
    Description
    iii, 15 p.
    Part of
    • Land Tenure Center Working Papers

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Tenure and alley farming in the humid zone of West Africa : final report of research in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Togo 

      Lawry, Steven W.; Stienbarger, Douglas M.; International Livestock Centre for Africa; Tenure and Alley Farming in the Humid Zone of West Africa (Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1991)
    • Institutions and natural resource management in the Gambia : a case study of the Foni Jarrol District 

      Freudenberger, Mark Schoonmaker (Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993)
    • Country profiles of land tenure : Africa, 1996 

      Bruce, John W. (Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998)
      These Country Profiles represent a new edition of a continent-wide set of profiles prepared and published by the Land Tenure Center in 1986. This new volume reflects a decade of intensive work on the continent by LTC and ...

    Contact Us | Send Feedback
     

     

    Browse

    All of MINDS@UWCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Contact Us | Send Feedback