(iPoster) Securing Land to Secure Peace? Consequences of Land Titling in Cote d’Ivoire

• In Event: Poster Sessions: Comparative Politics of Developing Countries & Occupation, Memory, and National Identity
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Comparative Politics of Developing Countries

Abstract

Like other African countries, Cote d'Ivoire has recently begun mass-scale rural land registration with the support of international development organizations. In formalizing the land tenure regime, governments hope to reduce communal land conflict that contributed to the country's past civil war. To evaluate the consequences, I leverage the quasi-experimental, staggered geographic rollout of rural land registration campaigns since 2015. Novel administrative data sources allow us to construct panel data of the frequency, type, and outcomes of local land disputes. I argue that the process of regional land registration can re-activate dormant conflicts, especially in regions with a history of communal violence, but could have longer-term benefits for community peace once land rights are calcified. Second, I show that local customary and administrative elites are able to capture the registration process to strengthen their own clientelist networks. Finally, I suggest that uneven access to registration can exacerbate existing social inequalities.

Author

• Aaron Christensen, University of Notre Dame