ABSTRACT
Most analysis of the wave of large-scale land acquisitions in Africa has focused on the role of international players and central government. This chapter focuses on developments around irrigated land and land suitable for rainfed farming in Mali and Burkina Faso, with references to Benin. Inward investment in land and natural resources comes and goes in West Africa, sometimes leaving its scars on the landscape. Acquisitions are facilitated by infrastructure development and emerging, but not very transparent, land markets, which make it easier to transfer rural land from customary land tenure systems to ‘new actors’ using formal systems. The insecurity over land rights generated by the drivers may result in increased natural resource degradation and local conflict. The renewed interest by governments in ‘agricultural modernisation’ and in attracting private investments for large-scale farms is adding a new dimension to land governance. Governments are now actively promoting large-scale farming as the best approach to professionalise and modernise agriculture.
