Urban poor people in sub-Saharan Africa, often excluded from formal systems of land management, increasingly obtain shelter through other means. Informal systems to deliver land in cities borrow features from rural customs. But to what extent can adaptations of traditional practices (or neo-customary practices, as the researchers have termed it), be relied upon to provide an alternative to legitimate government and private sector processes?

Land in the formal market remains too expensive for urban poor people. Government allocations are slow and bureaucratic, and the land allocated for shelter considered insufficient. Land delivery systems are using references to recognised social practices to back up the informal claims to land that they transfer. A collaboration between University College, London, a French researcher and colleagues in nine African countries provide evidence that these informal systems, measured in terms of the quantity of land provided, are an effective alternative to formal methods.

Urban poor people are using systems that better suit their needs than the formal alternatives. Governments are recognising that they do not have the capacities to eliminate neo-customary systems because they cannot or will not make formal delivery systems work for poor people. As a result, government institutions are adopting more flexible attitudes to neo-customary means for allocating shelter. At the same time, neo-customary systems produce poorly planned areas with insufficient basic services. Informal systems continue to be seen by poor people as beneficial mainly because they are less bureaucratic and more flexible than formal systems, permitting cheaper and faster access to land.

The report also identifies a number of issues raised by the use of informal land systems:

• Poor quality living conditions may be produced if there is insufficient planning.
• When claims are recognised, land prices are driven upward and the poorest of the benefiting households may be forced to leave the area.
• Some of these systems serve middle and low-middle income groups and continue to exclude poor people.

The report finds that formal models put forward by international institutions such as the World Bank fail to consider the diverse land needs of urban poor people. To benefit these groups, policymakers should take into account that:

• Policies that attempt to remove customary practices from land allocation may reduce poor people’s access to land.
• Strengthening this kind of informal system may be a better strategy than trying to impose formal systems of land delivery.
• Policymakers need to guard against practices that threaten to reduce the quality of governance.
• A reorientation of central and local government legislation and staff towards managing more informal systems might be helpful.

Source(s):
‘Urban Futures: Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction’, Intermediate Technology Development Group Publishing, by Michael Mattingly and Alain Durand-Lasserve, edited by Nabeel Hamdi, September 2004 Full document.
‘Current Changes in Customary/Traditional Land Delivery Systems in Sub-Saharan African Cities: The Case of Dar Es Salaam’, University College of Lands and Architectural Studies, Dar Es Salaam, by JM Lusugga Kironde, 2004 Full document.
‘Current Changes in Customary/Traditional Land Delivery Systems in Sub-Saharan African Cities: Case Study of Nairobi’, University of Nairobi and Njambi Kinyungu, University of Nairobi, by Luke Obala, 2004 Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (SSRU department) and Programme de Recherche pour le Developpement  (PRUD) of the French Government

id21 Research Highlight: 28 September 2005

Further Information:
Michael Mattingly
Development Planning Unit
University College London
9 Endsleigh Gardens
London WC1H 0ED, UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 1104
Fax: +44 (0)20 7679 1112
Contact the contributor: m.mattingly@ucl.ac.uk

Development Planning Unit, University College London, UK

Alain Durand-Lasserve
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Bordeaux
France

Tel: +33 (0)556 991584
Fax: +33 (0)556 991585
Contact the contributor: a.durand-lasserve@wanadoo.fr

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France

Other related links:
'Sticking with tradition: How effective are new customary land delivery systems?'

'Safe as houses? Securing urban land tenure and property rights'

'What's in a title? Linking land titling and peri-urban poverty alleviation'

'Does informal housing land delivery work for urban poor people?'

Land for Housing Poor People in Africa Through Neo-Customary Processes

Cities Feeding People Report Series