Africa Land Purchases May Spark Rights Discord, Group Says
This article is for subscribers only.
Land buying in Africa risks causing civil unrest as governments and investors ignore customary rights of local users, according to the Rights and Resources Initiative, a non-profit coalition of advocacy groups.
Conflict about land ownership has “fractured” Liberia and South Sudan, the Washington-based group wrote in an online statement today. Two-thirds of land being bought by investors is in Africa, the group wrote, citing research by political economist Liz Alden Wily.