Conflicts of customary land tenure in rural Africa: is large-scale land acquisition a driver of ‘institutional innovation’?

Patrick Bottazzi, Adam Goguen, Stephan Rist · 2016 · The Journal of Peasant Studies

Summary. Large-scale biofuel land acquisition in rural Sierra Leone creates new contractual arrangements between investors and local authorities, framing customary land tenure through formal registration. This institutional innovation formalizes existing power structures but deepens social inequalities, triggering conflicts between lineages, villages, families, and generations. These conflicts challenge traditional land-based social hierarchies and may reshape rural society.

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Bottazzi, P., Goguen, A., & Rist, S.. (2016). Conflicts of customary land tenure in rural Africa: is large-scale land acquisition a driver of ‘institutional innovation’?. The Journal of Peasant Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2015.1119119

@article{bottazzi-2016-conflicts-customary-land-tenure-rural,
  title   = {Conflicts of customary land tenure in rural Africa: is large-scale land acquisition a driver of ‘institutional innovation’?},
  author  = {Patrick Bottazzi and Adam Goguen and Stephan Rist},
  journal = {The Journal of Peasant Studies},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1080/03066150.2015.1119119},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2015.1119119}
}

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Details

DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2015.1119119
Countries: Sierra Leone
Categories: policy, regional-innovation-systems
Added: 2026-04-28