LAND TENURE AND FAMILY FARMING IN AFRICA: With special reference to Senegal

Document begins: LAND TENURE AND FAMILY FARMING IN AFRICA: With special reference to Senegal Dr. THIENDOU NIANG Director of the Agricultural Policy Network Dr. SALLA DIOR DIENG Lecturer at the Université Gaston Berger, Saint-Louis October 2004 7, Avenue Bourguiba, Dakar - BP 45713, CP 12524, Dakar-Fann - Sénégal Tel.: (221) 869 01 31 ­ Fax: (221) 824 39 21 ­ Email: repa@sentoo.sn website: www.repa-online.org Executive summary After analysing the challenges to agriculture in Africa, this paper shows how agricultural production is defined by farmers and by the public services, describes its main characteristics, and observes and discusses their ramifications for this sector. The significance of land tenure for farmers is examined, along with land policies. Particular attention is paid to the national land law, local government law, the framework agricultural law and constitutional matters. After discussing this legislation and its implications, particularly with regard to security of tenure, the paper closes with a number of recommendations. I. Introduction Forty years after Independence, agriculture in Africa is still plagued by a number of unresolved and highly complex problems. While their complexity stems from the very nature of agricultural production, the inability to resolve them is in large part due to lack ...