The urgency of land and agrarian reform in Rwanda

African Affairs

Volumn 98, Issue 392, 1999, Pages 353-372

  Van Hoyweghen, Saskia ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGRARIAN REFORM; LAND REFORM;

RWANDA;

EID: 0032866576     PISSN: 00019909     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a008044     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. As Waters has argued, Interahamwe cannot be regarded as a discrete category. These youths are an integral part of a social group which supports them, and their repression by the Military inevitably causes casualties amongst the civilian population. T. Waters, 'Conventional wisdom and Rwanda's genocide: an opinion, African Studies Quarterly, 1 (1997).
2. For a more detailed description of farming practices in Rwanda, see J. Voss, 'Conserving and increasing on-farm genetic diversity: farmer management of varietal bean mixtures in central Africa' in J. L. Moock and R. E. Rhoades (eds), Diversity, Farmer Knowledge and Sustainability (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1992); J. Pottier and A. Nkundabashaka, 'Intolerable environments: towards a cultural reading of agrarian practice and policy in Rwanda' in E. Croll and D. Parkin (eds), Bush Base: Forest farm. Culture, environment and development (Routledge, London, 1992).
3. For a more detailed description of farming practices in Rwanda, see J. Voss, 'Conserving and increasing on-farm genetic diversity: farmer management of varietal bean mixtures in central Africa' in J. L. Moock and R. E. Rhoades (eds), Diversity, Farmer Knowledge and Sustainability (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1992); J. Pottier and A. Nkundabashaka, 'Intolerable environments: towards a cultural reading of agrarian practice and policy in Rwanda' in E. Croll and D. Parkin (eds), Bush Base: Forest farm. Culture, environment and development (Routledge, London, 1992).
4. J. F. May, 'Policies on Population, Land Use, and Environment in Rwanda', paper presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1-3 April 1993).
5. B. Blarel, 'Tenure security and agricultural production under land scarcity: the case of Rwanda', in J. W. Bruce and S. E. Migot-Adholla (eds), Searching for Land Tenure Security in Africa (Kendal, Dubuque, 1994).
6. Blarel gives an overall figure of 60 percent. There are, however, important regional and other variations; to give one example, in the pre-war prefectures of Butare and Gikongoro, the poorest families (those owning less than 0.5 ha of land and making up around 30 percent of the population) had to buy 65 to 75 percent of their food through the market, the richer (owning plots larger than lha and making up 20 percent of the population) only 15 to 20 percent. Blarel, 'Tenure security and agricultural production under land scarcity', in Household Food Economy Analysis in Gikongoro and Butare, Rwanda (Save the Children UK, Kigali, July-December 1997).
7. Apart from the 30 percent of landless mentioned in the Save the Children report on Butare and Gikongoro, André and Platteau, who studied the issue in a commune in North West Rwanda in 1988 and 1993, found that landlessness (less than 0.5 ha) increased by a dramatic 9 percent (totalling 45 percent of the population) over this five-year period while the group of larger landowners (more than 1 ha) increased from 5 to 8 percent. In the Eastern Provinces, with lower population densities, one may expect bigger land holdings, C. André and J.-P. Platteau, 'Land tenure under unendurable stress: Rwanda caught in the Malthusian trap', Cahiers de la Faculté des Sciences Economiques et Sociales de Namur-Série Recherche 164, (1996/7).
8. cf. e.g. Pettier and Nkundabashaka, 'Intolerable environments'.
9. Plan Global d'Actions pour la Sécurité Alimentaire. Final Report (Minagri, Kigali, March 1998).
10. La pauvret́ au Rwanda: Situation actualisée (World Bank, Miniplan, Migefaso, Minagri, Réseau des Femmes, Kigali, February 1998).
11. For a detailed analysis of the post-genocide disaster narrative of donors see J. Pottier, 'Agricultural rehabilitation and food insecurity in post-war Rwanda: assessing needs, designing solutions', IDS Bulletin, 27 (1996), pp. 56-75.
12. André and Platteau, 'Land tenure under unendurable stress'.
13. An interesting work on the changing character of solidarity relationships in Rwanda is: D. de Lame, Une Colline entre mille ou la calme avant la tempéte. Transformations et blocages du Rwanda rural (Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, 1996).
14. For more insight into conflicts on land within the family see André and Platteau, 'Land tenure under unendurable stress'.
15. In this respect, Rwanda seems to differ from other African states. In most other African states the ongoing struggle between traditional and modern systems of power seems more prevalent, while in Rwanda customary institutions have been undermined far more effectively. See Bayart on his concept of straddling and the dual system of modern vs. traditional politics in J.-F. Bayart, The State in Africa: The politics of the belly (Longman, Harlow, 1993).
16. J. Pottier, 'Taking stock: food marketing reform in Rwanda 1982-89', African AJfairs, 92, 367 (1993), p. 12.
17. G. Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis 1959-1994. History of a genocide (Hurst, London, 1998, 3rd impression). It is important to refer to the later impression of the book, since an important new chapter was added.
18. cf. e.g. J. Nizurugero Rugagi, Rwanda aujourd'hui: aspects sociologiques, conference paper presented at 'Vers une Nouvelle Identité Rwandaise?' (Citoyens pour un Rwanda démocratique, Brussels, 7 May 1998).
19. Gacaca is a traditional court which settles local conflicts. Experiments are being sponsored by several NGOs to revive the institution in order to release pressure from the modern court system. Personal communication from Philbert Kagabo, IRST, Butare.
20. J. Pottier, 'Debating styles in a Rwandan co-operative: reflections on language, policy and gender' in R. Grillo (ed.), Social Anthropology and the Politics of Language (Routledge, London, 1989).
21. J.-P. Chrétien, Le déft de l'ethnisme. Rwanda et Burundi 1990-1996 (Karthala, Paris, 1997), p.77.
22. Some projects attempted to overcome this; see L. Sperling, 'Farmer participation and the development of bean varieties in Rwanda', in J. L. Moock and R. E. Rhoades (eds), Diversity, Fanner Knowledge and Sustainability (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1992).
23. This was obviously already contested in the 1980s, by J. Pottier, 'Three's a crowd: knowledge, ignorance arid power in the context of urban agriculture in Rwanda', Africa, 59, 4 (1989), pp. 461-477.
24. L. Gahamanyi, 'Politique nationale agricole', Etudes Rwandaises, 10 (1977), pp. 44-47.
25. The problem of food security was believed to be offset by increasing production and better marketing. OPROVIA, a kind of state-controlled food marketing board, was appointed to assure the regulation of food supplies and to smooth out price fluctuations. See Pottier, 'Taking stock'.
26. Pottier and Nkundabaschaka, 'Intolerable environments', p. 151.
27. Pottier, 'Taking stock'.
28. cf. Voss, 'Conserving and increasing on-farm genetic diversity'.
29. Seminaire Nationale sur la Formulation de la Stratégie Agricole.
30. It is not my intention to engage in the heated political debates regarding Rwanda's refugee crisis. When it comes to the numbers of people who have died in Congo, there is no consensus. For the argument here, it is sufficient to acknowledge that many people have not returned from the camps. Indeed, even the official figure of returnees (800,000 to 1 million) is questioned by some, e.g. Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, ch. 10.
31. The following observations are based on information mainly gathered during a three-month field trip from March to June 1998. The object of this trip was a study of the viltagization policy and the ways in which it was incorporated within the wider rehabilitation and refugee re-integration measures of the government. Interviews were carried out in different housing sites in the Prefecture of Butare. Group interviews with beneficiaries were combined with individual interviews with local authorities and NGO staff. The material was compared with situations in other prefectures, namely in Gikongoro and Kibungo, on shorter trips to various sites. In the interviews, several aspects of the villagization policy were dealt with, from technical (such as the construction of the houses and facilities) to social (such as access to services, land etc.).
32. 111,353, according to HCR. UNHCR Field Office Kibungo-Briefing Notes (UNHCR, Kibungo, 15 March 1998).
33. Excluding the MRND and CDR parties, held responsible for the genocide. Journal officiel de la République Rwandaise (Republic of Rwanda, Kigali, 1 June 1995).
34. Instruction Ministerielle portant gestion provisoire des propriétés fonciéres. Nr. 01/96, (Republic of Rwanda, Kigali, 23 September 1996).
35. O. Barriére, Réforme Fonciére au Rwanda: Propositions de fonds en vue de l'élaboration d'une légalisatian fonciére cadre. Version provisoire (Mission d'appui PNUD/FAO, Kigali, April 1997). It has to be said that the population of this prefecture increased from 278,865 in January 1994 to 790,166 at the end of the mass repatriation from Tanzania towards the end of December 1996 and early 1997. UNHCR Field Office Kibungo-Briefing Notes.
36. O. Barriére, Réforme Fonciére au Rwanda: Propositions de fonds en vue de l'élaboration d'une légalisatian fonciére cadre. Version provisoire (Mission d'appui PNUD/FAO, Kigali, April 1997). It has to be said that the population of this prefecture increased from 278,865 in January 1994 to 790,166 at the end of the mass repatriation from Tanzania towards the end of December 1996 and early 1997. UNHCR Field Office Kibungo-Briefing Notes.
37. Many top officials in Kigali have themselves acquired large estates. In rural areas, there are fewer immediate indications of land sale to newcomers. Many 'old caseload' refugees 'rent' land. In several communes, local authorities try to prevent land from being rented out in the case of perennial crops, in order to avoid abuse. Some people rent out a bananeraie for much less value than the crop is worth, in order to cover immediate expenses.
38. We should not forget that the events in 1994 caused an enormous loss of human and institutional capacity because intellectuals were either targeted during the genocide or Participated in it. The RPF therefore initially had little choice but to recruit from its own ranks.
39. M. Mamdani, 'From conquest to consent as the basis of state formation: reflections on Rwanda', New Left Review, 216 (1996), pp. 3-36.
40. Life after Death: Suspicion and reintegration in post-genocide Rvoanda (US Committee for Refugees, Washington, February 1998).
41. This is of course very understandable, given the often uneasy political relations between the RPF and the international community. I only need to refer to the infamous 'genocide fax' received but put aside by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and to the shameful role the international community has played in the camps in eastern Congo.
42. Blarel, 'Tenure security and agricultural production under land scarcity'.
43. Several people interviewed were even convinced that, while previously their land was their personal property, the new government now planned to make it state property. It is, in fact, the other way around.
44. Barrière, Réforme Foncière au Rwanda, p. 20.
45. Going back to a notion of patrimony has the additional advantage of stopping the fragmentation of land holdings, since generational transfers will no longer decrease the operating size of plots. Barrière argues that plots smaller than 1.5 ha should not be divided and plots should, where possible, be re-united again.
46. Barrière, Réforme Foncière au Rwanda, p.27.
47. A document that describes this atmosphere quite aptly is Life after Death: Suspicion and reintegration in post-genocide Rwanda.