2. State of land acquisition and land market in Nigeria

Generally, lands are small and fragmented which imparts significantly on the mechanisation potentials of farming households. Similarly, fragmented nature of land systems inhibits the creation of an effective land market, which consequently hinders the emergence and development of an overall equitable distribution of wealth [15]. Land markets should be accessible to all categories of people including women and minority groups.

According to Dale et al. [15], land markets should possess the following features:


• Access to credit

procedures, seven procedures and six procedures, respectively. This depicts low level of innovation and inefficiency in the land registration process in Nigeria. As expected from a country with one of the highest number of procedures for land title registration, it takes more days to

Generally, lands are small and fragmented which imparts significantly on the mechanisation potentials of farming households. Similarly, fragmented nature of land systems inhibits the creation of an effective land market, which consequently hinders the emergence and development of an overall equitable distribution of wealth [15]. Land markets should be accessible to

register land title in Nigeria than elsewhere (see Table 1).

Table 1. Ease of registering land in selected countries (2017).

2. State of land acquisition and land market in Nigeria

all categories of people including women and minority groups.

• Guaranteed security of land rights • Low transaction cost for all users

S/ N

1 New Zealand

2 United States

4 United Kingdom

7 South Africa

8 Cote d'Ivoire

10 Burkina Faso

Source: World Bank [14].

Country Registering of

property (DTF)

94 Land Use - Assessing the Past, Envisioning the Future

Registering property index Procedures (number)

94.97 1 2 1 0.1 26

76.80 37 4.4 15.2 2.5 17.6

74.51 47 6 21.5 4.8 24.5

58.43 107 7 23 7.6 13.5

57.56 113 6 30 7.4 10.5

50.44 140 4 67 12 11.5

3 China 76.15 41 4 19.5 3.4 18.3

5 Botswana 65.45 81 4 27 5.1 10 6 Morocco 64.35 86 6 22 6.4 15.5

9 Ghana 55.5 119 6 52 6.7 8.0

11 Algeria 43.83 163 10 5.5 7.1 7 12 Nigeria 34.08 179 11.3 68.9 10.5 7.4

Time (days) Cost (% of property value) Quality of land administration index

(0–30)

According to Dale et al. [15], land markets should possess the following features:


Small-scale farmers dominate rural landholdings with average farm size ranging from 0.5 ha in the South to 4 ha in the North. About 50% of the Nigerian farms are less than 1 ha, while 15% are less than 5 ha [16]. There are three types of land markets in Nigeria. The types of markets are:


The land can be used for different purposes including agricultural production, industrial production, buildings for households and establishment of parks among others [5]. There are location, gender, income-class considerations in the allocation and ownership of land in Nigeria [17]. In terms of ownership structure, men typically own more land compared to women in Nigeria (see Table 2). Majority of the land owners inherited it from their family, while only 7 and 2.2% of male and female, respectively, reported purchase of land (National Bureau of Statistics; World Bank and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, [18]).

In the study conducted by Eze et al. [19], they examined land tenure systems, farm sizes, agricultural productivity and innovation by looking at the socio-economic characteristics of farmers and identified the factors that affected agricultural productivity in the Imo State. Five communities were chosen randomly, and from each of these communities, twenty farmers were randomly chosen. Data were collected, collated and analysed using relevant techniques such as means, percentages, frequency distribution and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that 85% of the respondents practiced individual land tenure system alone. It was also revealed that the laws of inheritance and increase in population led to the subdivision and fragmentation of existing farmland in such a manner that the sizes of farm holdings


Table 2. Land ownership structure in Nigeria.

discouraged agricultural commercialization. Also, the study revealed that fragmentation widened the distance between plots that led to increased waste of man-hour and energy. It was also shown that mechanisation of agriculture was impracticable under land fragmentation and adoption of modern innovation was reduced since just 35.0% of the respondents claimed to have adopted other forms of innovation. From the analysis, it was found that lands were severally fragmented during the acquisition and sharing of either family or community lands, and this went a long way in discouraging adoption of laudable innovation like mechanised farming as a result of reduced farm size of land. Also farmers were not at liberty to sell a portion of land acquired through communal ownership and thus majority of them could not acquire extensive land for considerable agricultural productivity. The econometric result revealed those socioeconomic factors that significantly affected the farmers' productivity in the area to include planting materials, household size, farming experience, tenure system and labour cost.

about 80% of farmers in Nigeria practice small-scale farming [21] that constitutes over 90% of food and agricultural production in the country [22]. It was revealed that group B farms were more productive in the allocation of resources and overall production as measured by the decreasing positive elasticity of production of most of the variables involved in the production function analysis. The group B farms were also more technically efficient than the group A

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The study therefore recommended that government in its drive to encourage large-scale agricultural production should not acquire land near the towns and people's settlements; rather, land on the highways/expressways should be opened up and allocated to prospective

Again, Twene [23] investigated the effects of the large-scale agricultural land grabbed for the Bui Dam project on the livelihoods of the affected people. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the use of interviewer questionnaire administration, interview guide, focus group discussions and observations. A total of 142 household heads were interviewed, although some key informants such as chiefs and community development officers of the district assemblies were also interviewed. The descriptive statistical tools and the t-test were employed to analyse the quantitative data whilst content analysis was applied to qualitative data with the result presented in the form of direct quotations. The study revealed through the result of the t-test for difference in output within 2005/2006 and 2013/ 2014 production seasons that local food crop production and the quantity of fish catch have

Equally, it was found that annual income levels of the local people had fallen after the Bui Dam project due to reduction in their productivity of both crop production and the quantity of fish caught. Thus, farming and fishing were the most affected occupations in the study area. These were attributed to loss of farmland and low level of experience for fishing in the newly created lake as well as the problem of proximity between the resettled communities and the river.

In addition, it was found that the land grabbing situation resulted in conflict between some communities and the Bui Power Authority. The study showed that the local people initially reacted by engaging in conflict with officials of the Bui Power Authority, particularly in Dokokyina. Equally, it was found that the land-grabbing incident in the study area was not accompanied by adequate compensation packages as promised which were the bases for the conflict because assets lost were not in commensurate measure with compensation packages

However, it was also revealed that the acquisition of the land for the Bui Dam project and its associated relocation of the affected people have adversely affected the natural capital base of the people (land, forest and water bodies). Thus, generally, the study discovered that the local people's access to the natural capital had worsened, while access to the physical capital had

Finally, with regard to interventions and coping strategies, the study revealed that the main coping strategies adopted by both men and women in the study communities after the land was taken for the Bui Dam project are casual work (by-day) and petty trading, respectively.

farms.

large-scale farmers.

declined after the land grabs.

received.

improved.

Alarima et al. [12] examined the land rights and rental systems followed by sawah rice farmers in Nigeria. The study was conducted in six states in Nigeria that use sawah rice technology: Kwara, Ondo, Niger, Ebonyi, Kaduna and Abuja. A total of 124 sawah farmers were selected for participation based on their involvement in sawah-based rice production. Data used in this study were collected from October 2009 to January 2011 in all the sawah sites in Nigeria. T-test was used to determine significant differences in the yields and farm sizes of landlord and tenant farmers. The land tenure system practiced in the lowlands is governed primarily by inheritance (71.8%), with temporary arrangements made through rentals (37.1%). Tenants pay ₦12,000 ha<sup>1</sup> year<sup>1</sup> in land-for-cash agreements and 5% of the total yield of rice in land-forpaddy agreements. Generally, agreements between landlords and tenants were verbal, binding and honoured by both parties. Land conflicts occurred when either party breaches the agreement and always result in the landlords taking over the land. Significant differences in the farm sizes and yields of landlord and tenant farmers were found. The findings of the study indicate the importance of secured land tenure, which affects the practice of sawah and the productivity of rice farming. Sustaining and improving sawah rice production in the study area would require addressing the land tenure issues of both landlords and tenants. Access to land for tenants will enhance their participation in sawah and increase their chances of increasing their income and emerging from poverty. Investment in more durable inputs such as power tillers, dykes and irrigation canals will decrease if the land is not secured. Therefore, tenants and landless people need more secure access to land to provide them with opportunities to manage their sawah plots so that they will have higher yields. Farmers whose land security was not guaranteed would be more inclined towards short-term investments in land, and the sustainability of sawah would not be expected to be their priority.

Also, the study by Ojo [20] examined the effects of land acquisition for large-scale farming on the performance, productivity and technical efficiency of small-scale farming in Nigeria. The farmers were grouped into two groups: farmers whose families donated land for large-scale oil palm project (A) and those who did not (B). Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, gross margin and stochastic frontier production function analyses. The study revealed that acquisition of land for large-scale farming in the study area had adverse effects on small-scale farming. This could further worsen the food security crisis in Nigeria because about 80% of farmers in Nigeria practice small-scale farming [21] that constitutes over 90% of food and agricultural production in the country [22]. It was revealed that group B farms were more productive in the allocation of resources and overall production as measured by the decreasing positive elasticity of production of most of the variables involved in the production function analysis. The group B farms were also more technically efficient than the group A farms.

discouraged agricultural commercialization. Also, the study revealed that fragmentation widened the distance between plots that led to increased waste of man-hour and energy. It was also shown that mechanisation of agriculture was impracticable under land fragmentation and adoption of modern innovation was reduced since just 35.0% of the respondents claimed to have adopted other forms of innovation. From the analysis, it was found that lands were severally fragmented during the acquisition and sharing of either family or community lands, and this went a long way in discouraging adoption of laudable innovation like mechanised farming as a result of reduced farm size of land. Also farmers were not at liberty to sell a portion of land acquired through communal ownership and thus majority of them could not acquire extensive land for considerable agricultural productivity. The econometric result revealed those socioeconomic factors that significantly affected the farmers' productivity in the area to include planting materials, household size, farming experience, tenure system and

Alarima et al. [12] examined the land rights and rental systems followed by sawah rice farmers in Nigeria. The study was conducted in six states in Nigeria that use sawah rice technology: Kwara, Ondo, Niger, Ebonyi, Kaduna and Abuja. A total of 124 sawah farmers were selected for participation based on their involvement in sawah-based rice production. Data used in this study were collected from October 2009 to January 2011 in all the sawah sites in Nigeria. T-test was used to determine significant differences in the yields and farm sizes of landlord and tenant farmers. The land tenure system practiced in the lowlands is governed primarily by inheritance (71.8%), with temporary arrangements made through rentals (37.1%). Tenants pay ₦12,000 ha<sup>1</sup> year<sup>1</sup> in land-for-cash agreements and 5% of the total yield of rice in land-forpaddy agreements. Generally, agreements between landlords and tenants were verbal, binding and honoured by both parties. Land conflicts occurred when either party breaches the agreement and always result in the landlords taking over the land. Significant differences in the farm sizes and yields of landlord and tenant farmers were found. The findings of the study indicate the importance of secured land tenure, which affects the practice of sawah and the productivity of rice farming. Sustaining and improving sawah rice production in the study area would require addressing the land tenure issues of both landlords and tenants. Access to land for tenants will enhance their participation in sawah and increase their chances of increasing their income and emerging from poverty. Investment in more durable inputs such as power tillers, dykes and irrigation canals will decrease if the land is not secured. Therefore, tenants and landless people need more secure access to land to provide them with opportunities to manage their sawah plots so that they will have higher yields. Farmers whose land security was not guaranteed would be more inclined towards short-term investments in land,

and the sustainability of sawah would not be expected to be their priority.

Also, the study by Ojo [20] examined the effects of land acquisition for large-scale farming on the performance, productivity and technical efficiency of small-scale farming in Nigeria. The farmers were grouped into two groups: farmers whose families donated land for large-scale oil palm project (A) and those who did not (B). Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, gross margin and stochastic frontier production function analyses. The study revealed that acquisition of land for large-scale farming in the study area had adverse effects on small-scale farming. This could further worsen the food security crisis in Nigeria because

labour cost.

96 Land Use - Assessing the Past, Envisioning the Future

The study therefore recommended that government in its drive to encourage large-scale agricultural production should not acquire land near the towns and people's settlements; rather, land on the highways/expressways should be opened up and allocated to prospective large-scale farmers.

Again, Twene [23] investigated the effects of the large-scale agricultural land grabbed for the Bui Dam project on the livelihoods of the affected people. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the use of interviewer questionnaire administration, interview guide, focus group discussions and observations. A total of 142 household heads were interviewed, although some key informants such as chiefs and community development officers of the district assemblies were also interviewed. The descriptive statistical tools and the t-test were employed to analyse the quantitative data whilst content analysis was applied to qualitative data with the result presented in the form of direct quotations. The study revealed through the result of the t-test for difference in output within 2005/2006 and 2013/ 2014 production seasons that local food crop production and the quantity of fish catch have declined after the land grabs.

Equally, it was found that annual income levels of the local people had fallen after the Bui Dam project due to reduction in their productivity of both crop production and the quantity of fish caught. Thus, farming and fishing were the most affected occupations in the study area. These were attributed to loss of farmland and low level of experience for fishing in the newly created lake as well as the problem of proximity between the resettled communities and the river.

In addition, it was found that the land grabbing situation resulted in conflict between some communities and the Bui Power Authority. The study showed that the local people initially reacted by engaging in conflict with officials of the Bui Power Authority, particularly in Dokokyina. Equally, it was found that the land-grabbing incident in the study area was not accompanied by adequate compensation packages as promised which were the bases for the conflict because assets lost were not in commensurate measure with compensation packages received.

However, it was also revealed that the acquisition of the land for the Bui Dam project and its associated relocation of the affected people have adversely affected the natural capital base of the people (land, forest and water bodies). Thus, generally, the study discovered that the local people's access to the natural capital had worsened, while access to the physical capital had improved.

Finally, with regard to interventions and coping strategies, the study revealed that the main coping strategies adopted by both men and women in the study communities after the land was taken for the Bui Dam project are casual work (by-day) and petty trading, respectively. The growing interest in petty trading was attributed to the view that the construction of the dam has caused influx of people into the study area, thereby providing market for consumable goods. Other coping strategies included farming, premixed fuel business, wood gathering and pito brewing. The local people in the study communities were unaware of any alternative livelihood interventions provided by the Bui Power Authority and the district assemblies to ensure the sustainability of their livelihoods.

with roughly two-thirds of those purchases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, called for a cursory appraisal of the implications of the trend of land grabbing for West African food security (Sahel West Africa Countries, SWAC/OECD, [29]). Land transactions involving foreign investors had increased in the area over the years. Over 100,000 ha have been documented in Nigeria. Ghana and Mali have many significant transactions on land by foreign investors. Several investors have more than 100,000 ha. Burkina Faso has one significant land transaction (200,000 ha), while Niger and Senegal have relatively small land transactions. Most lands grabbed in West Africa were profit driven (by biofuel investors) and were made under the guise of using the lands acquired for agricultural investments. Land tenure and investment in land have far-reaching economic and social implications and are therefore key issues for small family–operated farms and their relations with agribusiness (Sahel West Africa Countries, SWAC/OECD, [29]). According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation [30], many problems that are now being recognised in natural and agricultural land systems have arisen out of the use of inadequate technologies for assessing and monitoring land resources, preventing land pollution and rehabilitating contaminated lands. According to Cotula, Vermeulen, Leonard, and Keeley, transactions labelled as "large-scale" involved between 1000 and 500,000 ha [31, 32]. Increasing evidence is emerging to affirm that the problem of large-scale land acquisition by foreign investors in Africa is following a dangerous trend,

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Global Development [33] reported that research findings have indicated that a million Chinese farmers have joined the rush to Africa and that some of the world's richest countries are buying or leasing land in some of the world's poorest to satisfy their insatiable appetites for food and fuel. In the new scramble for Africa, the report added, 2.5 m ha (6.2 m acres) of farmland in five sub-Saharan countries have been bought or rented in the past 5 years at a total cost of \$920 m (£563 m). Recent high-profile land purchases encompassing thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land have raised concerns over equitable land access [30]. Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria and other West African countries, is not exempt from this development (see Cotula, Vermeulen, Leonard, and Keeley, [31, 32]). Such a trend is more disturbing when considered alongside the future of food production from SSA land, where FAO [34] put the estimated share of arable land in total agricultural land at only 15.6% as of 2000. Response indicators showed that the value of agricultural production per hectare of agricultural land is highest in South Asia, at I\$ 720.6, while Sub-Saharan Africa trailed behind, globally ranking lowest with a value of I\$ 71.8. Under this scenario, worrying over the growing trend of large-scale land acquisition by foreign investors‑who are, at best, interested in growing crops that can only contribute to food security and economic growth of countries outside SSA‑while the limited land available for African farmers is diminishing in the face of lingering

Food security is a current issue in Nigeria, as it is across Africa. According to the review, it was noted that there are 307 million hungry people in Africa, most of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa (265 million). A FAO statistic indicated that at least 9.4 million Nigerians were undernourished and that out of Nigeria's 147.7 million citizens, 6% were highly undernourished (2011). Instead of dealing with food supply or food security problems at such a critical time, the country is selling off arable lands to foreign investors prospecting in biofuels production to

which needs to be monitored.

hunger and poverty is justified.

The study therefore recommended the introduction of a comprehensive livelihood enhancement programme such as skill training for the youth and the landless group of people in the study communities by the Bui Power Authority and the district assemblies. This would enable them to promote their livelihood sustainability.
