Beyond the Land Registry: Competing Claims to Legitimacy, Land Memory and Customary Mediation in the Delimitation of Village Territories in Côte d'Ivoire A case study of the villages of Yaoudé and Goya 1 (Guémon region, western Côte d'Ivoire)

Abstract

Abstract: Securing rural land tenure is currently one of the major challenges facing local governance in sub-Saharan Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, despite the reforms introduced since the enactment of Law No. 98-750 of 23 December 1998 on rural land tenure, the demarcation of village territories continues to give rise to disputes that undermine land tenure security, social cohesion and agricultural development. Drawing on a qualitative study carried out in the villages of Yaoudé and Goya 1, located in the Guémon region, this article examines the key players, mechanisms and issues involved in the management of land disputes that arose during boundary demarcation operations. The data were collected through literature reviews, direct observation, semi structured interviews and focus groups involving thirty institutional and community stakeholders, and were then subjected to a thematic content analysis. The findings indicate that rural communities are turning in large numbers to traditional dispute resolution bodies because of their social legitimacy, their proximity, their affordability and their ability to preserve inter community relations. Land chiefs, lineage chiefs, elders, women and young people are the main mediators involved. Based on negotiation, joint site visits and the search for consensus, customary mediation proves to be more effective than administrative procedures, which are considered slow, costly and to varying degrees biased. Ultimately, the study argues for the establishment of a hybrid land governance system, bringing customary institutions and state mechanisms more closely together, which is a prerequisite for sustainable land security in rural Côte d’Ivoire.