Sharing or Dividing the Land? Land Rights and Farmer-Herder Relations in Burkina Faso and Northwest Cameroon

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Periodical article

Title:	Sharing or Dividing the Land? Land Rights and Farmer-Herder Relations in Burkina Faso and Northwest Cameroon
Authors:	Dafinger, Andreas Pelican, Michaela
Year:	2006
Periodical:	Canadian Journal of African Studies
Volume:	40
Issue:	1
Pages:	127-151
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Burkina Faso Cameroon
Subjects:	land conflicts social relations pastoralists farmers land tenure land use Fulani Bisa (Burkina Faso, Ghana) Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Law, Human Rights and Violence Ethnic and Race Relations
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/25433869
Abstract:	This paper compares two cases of farmer-herder relations in Burkina Faso and North West Cameroon that show remarkable differences in terms of integration of and conflict between groups. In both research sites, Fulbe agropastoralists form an ethnic minority within farmer-dominated societies. While the Burkina Faso case is marked by peaceful integration, the Cameroonian case is characterized by occasional violent conflicts. These differences are explained in terms of the legal systems and modes of land use in the two countries. The authors show that shared use of land and 'landed resources' (Burkina Faso) encourages integration through permanent low-level conflicts, whereas a divided landscape and allocation of exclusive land titles (Cameroon) increases the potential for violent conflicts. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French. [ASC Leiden abstract]