Examples of the diversity of rights holders and rights to land and natural resources in West Africa

January 2011
Michel Merlet and Kouadio Andre Yabouet (Land Tenure and Development Technical Committee)

Looks at nomadic pastoralists’ rights to resources, rights to land and resources in Winye country in Burkina Faso, and land rights in forested areas and plantation economies. These suggest that we should always think of land as both a private and communal resource, consider the nature of different individual and collective actors, and see them as possible rights holders who may be recognized or ignored.