Paper short abstract:

In Malawi and Ghana, large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural purposes led to the emergence of new commons in the form of compensation resources – infrastructure development, community funds, Fairtrade Premiums and outgrower schemes. However, access to these new common resources are structured leading to elite capture where few elites have access and the majority lose out. As such, new common resources are used as a cover-up for land exploitation in the name of rural development.

Paper long abstract:

Large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural purposes by both foreign and national investors have increased in the last decades. These investments are generally implemented through a privatisation of previously communally held land and resources. Despite their many uses and functions for local people, the commons are often described as “idle land” and thus prove to be an ideal target for foreign and local investments.

Due to increasing national and international pressure, a growing number of investors are however designing measures to compensate local people for the loss of farmland and communally held resources. These “new commons”, which take on different forms in different contexts (ranging from infrastructure development, community funds, Fairtrade Premiums to outgrower schemes) are generally supposed to benefit the community as a whole and lead to poverty reduction and development.

Looking at two large-scale land acquisitions in Malawi and Ghana, we will highlight what is lost as the “old” commons are enclosed and point out some shortcomings of the new commons that are created. We will highlight that not only do these new commons often benefit mainly privileged local elite, but they also create a number of new dependencies, which tie the local communities’ fortunes to the fortune of the investors and decrease their resiliency in the face of shocks. The cases highlights the strategic use of compensation resources as a cover-up for exploitation of local land and its related resources in the name of rural development through contract farming.