Ahmed ElKholei and Lokman Zaibet

1
Regional Background Paper Regional Assessments
of Land Policy in North Africa

• Ahmed El-Kholei and Lokman Zaibet

Regional Consultative Workshop on Land Policy in
North Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 3 5 December
2008
2
Context

• North Africa is an arid and semi arid
  environment.
• Major attributes are rugged terrain, extended
  desert, the vertical and horizontal variations
  from north to south create wide biological
  diversity.
• The marine components in the region also reflect
  great variety.
• The high diversity in flora and fauna reflects
  the variation in ecosystems across North Africa.

3
Context

• Lack of fresh water resources. The Nile river is
  the most important source of fresh water in the
  region.
• In 2005, the population of North Africa was
  estimated at 159,735 thousands. It is projected
  to reach 271.3 million by the year 2030.
• A long history of culture and civilization.
  There natural assets and cultural heritage are
  the basis for tourism.

4
Context

• North Africa is disproportionately endowed with
  natural resources. It is among the richest areas
  of the world in mineral deposits, and one of the
  poorest in renewable water resources.
• Land and water are the main productive factors in
  the region. With the increasing population,
  these two resources are increasingly becoming
  scarce.
• North African countries have an extended
  experience in the sphere of land policies and
  management.

5
Context

• North African countries share long-standing
  environmental issues
• Water scarcity and quality
• Land and coastal degradation, and
  desertification
• Urban and industrial pollution and
• Weak institutional and legal frameworks
• Countries of North Africa also have to face
  issues (threats) resulting from their
• Own economic liberalization efforts,
• Free trade agreements with the European Union,
  and
• Globalization at large.

6
Key Issues

• Population of North Africa is growing. The
  population of North Africa is young. Population
  growth is among the pressures on these two
  resources requiring careful planning and
  management. Almost all governments of the region
  have put in place schemes for efficient use of
  land and water to secure food for a growing
  population.
• Land Management and Policies in North Africa have
  been transforming in close association with
  institutional transformations in these countries
  since gaining political independence.

7
Key Issues

• Land property rights in the region are very
  comparable, and are the result of common factors.
  The land rights are multiple and complex. They
  are inherited from pre-Islamic rules (called
  Orf), Islamic (Shariya) and colonial as well as
  post colonial legislation. All these rules
  co-existed that resulted land status (regimes)
  although sometimes called differently melk
  (private ownership), collective land and habous
  (also known as waqf)

8
Key Issues

• Farm Size and Distribution Farms in MENA region
  tend to be small and fragmented. Dwarf holding is
  an impediment to agricultural development in
  almost all North African countries. The trend of
  land division and increased number of farms is
  common in North African countries whereas in more
  developed countries this phenomenon is well
  managed to conserve optimal size of agricultural
  land.

Egypt, agricultural land stratified by holders
and farm size, 2000,
Egypt, agricultural land stratified by holders
and number of parcels, 2000,
Source Based on the 2000 Agricultural Census,
Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation,
Cairo, Egypt
9
Key Issues
Population density, 1990-2020, people per km2

• Urbanization Population densities (persons per
  unit of land) in North Africa will increase.
• North Africa is on its way to be the location of
  major urban megalopolises. Currently, urban
  population in North Africa represents 51 to 53
  percent of the total population, and will be more
  than 60 percent by 2030.

Urban and rural population, 1990-2030
Source EarthTrends, The Environmental
Information Portal, World Resources Institute
(WRI)
10
Key Issues

• Most of the population growth will be in existing
  human settlements, thus requiring attention and
  meticulous planning and management of land uses
  to control the expansion of these settlements
• Almost all nationally defined urban systems in
  North Africa suffer from urban primacy, which
  associates with number of urban ills. In cities
  of North African countries, often poor,
  marginalized population engages in informal
  economic activities. The growth of the informal
  urban sector in various social and economic
  contacts over the last twenty years is an
  attribute of societies of North African countries.

11
Key Issues

• In most countries of North Africa, peri-urban
  agriculture plays an important role in securing
  agricultural commodities to the cities
• Peri-urban agriculture is subject to growing
  population pressure and competition over land
  resources. Encroachment of human settlements
  over agricultural land is a result of increased
  demand for land by urban uses.

Population of slum areas at mid-year, 2001, for
selected North African countries
Source UNHABITAT
12
Key Issues

• Land Tenure and Security is essential for
  efficient, effective land market mechanisms, and
  thus overall sustainable development. In Egypt,
  the unregistered informal holdings in urban Egypt
  was estimated to be about US 241,000 million,
  where 70 percent of these frozen assets are in
  the hands of the poor (de Sotto 1997).

13
Key Issues

• Poverty and Access to Land In urban settlements
  of North African countries, poverty is evident,
  and causes discontent that developed, in the
  past, into violent unrest. Poverty in rural areas
  is relatively high in North African countries.
  The multidimensional and dynamic nature of
  poverty-land linkages poses two challenges for
  planning and management of land uses
• The need to manage and sustain the long-term
  capacity of the environment, particularly land
  resources, to provide the goods and services on
  which sustainable human development depends, and
• The need to ensure secure and equitable access of
  the poor to land resources and the benefits that
  they can derive from them

14
Key Issues

• Land tenure and Gender Issues Islam honored
  women, and given them rights to possession of
  land and other assets through direct purchases
  and inheritance. The Governments of North Africa
  have taken serious measures to enable women.
  There are number of documented best practices for
  involving women in sustainable land uses in North
  Africa. Customary practices are however different
  from land tenure legislation.

15
Key Issues

• Global Systemic Environmental Issues
• Climate Change
• Desertification and Land Degradation
• Biodiversity
• Coastal Zones and Land-based Pollution
• Forests and Grassland
• Direct Foreign Investments North African
  countries are attractive to Direct Foreign
  Investments (DFI). There are a number of research
  findings that demonstrate negative economic,
  social and environmental impacts of DFI on both
  developed and developing countries

16
Key Issues

• Need for Water and Energy All countries of North
  Africa are in short of fresh water resources. Not
  all North African countries are blessed with oil
  and natural gas to support their ambitious plans
  for overall development. The quest of fresh water
  and plants to generate energy will all develop
  demand for land resources. It will also require
  planning for facilities to receive wastes
  generated from activities that apply new
  technologies to generate energy and desalinate
  sea water. This requires particular attention in
  land policies and uses.

17
Key Issues

• Explosive Remnants of War is common hurdle that
  faces land development in North African
  countries, and is responsible for injuries and
  deaths.

18

• Thank You!