The land lease market in an African context. A case study from Cote d'Ivoire.

摘要

Based on an in-depth and long-run empirical investigation, this paper analyses the land lease market in a village located in lower Cote d'Ivoire. The first part of the paper deals with the conditions of emergence and development of contractual practices. It highlights the dramatic rise of the land tenancy market induced by the introduction of pineapple cultivation and a strong immigration flow, and it shows that this market is structured through a clear dichotomy between Burkinabe tenants and Ivorian landowners. The second part of the paper explores the issue of the enforcement of contractual arrangements, showing that the informal character of the contracts does not hamper the lease market dynamics. The last section deals with the incidence of tense inter-ethnic relationships on tenancy practices and with the project of some actors to provoke an ethnic segmentation of the lease market, by refusing to lease land out to Burkinabe pineapple growers or by restricting their contractual choice.