Transnational land acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa: competing claims and the role of (international) law

Abstract

Over the last decade, there has been a dramatic surge in large-scale acquisitions of farm land, popularly referred to as ‘land grabs’, mainly in the Global South. Roughly two-thirds of these land acquisitions have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This thesis critically analyses the shaping of legal relationships around transnational large-scale acquisitions of land in SSA. It considers the interaction of domestic and international laws against the background of historical patterns of land ownership in Africa. The study focuses on Ethiopia, though many of the observations are generalisable to other countries in Africa, and perhaps elsewhere. By employing a critical-doctrinal analysis of the laws at play, the thesis argues that the legal regimes shaping the relationships around transnational land acquisitions in countries such as Ethiopia privilege (foreign) investors as compared with destination countries’ host people, particularly prior land users. By conferring restricted land rights on people who are legally required to give way to investors, the law generally facilities these land deals and inhibits measures aimed at leveraging them for local needs such as addressing the prevalent hunger challenges in SSA host states, or reversing their adverse effects. This occurs despite some recalibration exercises in international investment law in recent years and the potential corrective role of human rights law. The global responses to ‘land grabs’ aimed at alleviating the social and environmental problems associated with large-scale acquisitions of land in SSA also leave largely unaddressed many of the structural issues embedded in domestic and international laws that shape relations around these land acquisitions. The implication of this is that although transnational land deals are often justified in terms of various development promises such as enhanced food security, the way they shape legal relations are likely to perpetuate hunger in investor host states like Ethiopia. Therefore, the role of the law needs to be considered more seriously in the debates around the growing number of transnational land acquisitions in Ethiopia and across Africa.