Le Présent papier pourrait être consideré comme un rapport préliminaire destiné à dormer une idée du rapport final en préventant de brèves informations sur les méthodes utilisés, les premières conclusions auqelles sont parvenus les rapports sectoriels.

Rapid industrial development has become an all pervasive feature of Africa’s e economic and social development strategy. Agricultural development ceased to be an engine of growth, which it was in the fifties when it contributed 63 per cent (directly and indirectly) to the gross domestic product increment. This contribution has declined to JL8 per cent in the past decade (figure derived for 1960-67), and although this figure may be considered as unduly low-' it shows clearly that Africa's economic structure has been fundamentally altered.

Land Tenure Working Paper 14: Growing land scarcity and concern about land-related conflicts and rising levels of rural impoverishment have brought land to the fore once more. The main difference with the recent past is the wide spectrum of actors who want to take part in the elaboration of the land policies, as well as the more and more recognized need to root the proposals in the particular context of each specific country.

Land consolidation can be an important tool for increasing agricultural competitiveness and improving rural conditions. Farmers can become more competitive when they decrease fragmentation and increase the size of their farms, and rural communities can benefit when consolidation projects include components to improve local infrastructure and the environment.

Throughout the rural world, land provides a primary source of income, food security, cultural

identity and shelter. It also serves as a fundamental asset for the economic empowerment of

the poor and provides a safety net in times of hardship.

This technical report is one of a series of reports prepared during the of the course of the FAO/UNOP project (ETH/02/012) preparing the Assistance to Settlement Project Phase IV.

This study attempts to identify the main obstacles to progress and the developments possible. It would therefore be wrong to consider it as a first agricultural plan for Africa, similar to the one called for recently by the Ghanaian Ministry of Agriculture.

This paper focuses on East Africa: development trends and problems. The East African sub-region onglobes a total area of about 5.5 million kilometers or about 18 percent of the continent’s area.

The paper deals with land tenure and economic development in Upper Volta. .The entire country lies within the savannah zone which runs down West Africa, from Cape Verde, to Chad, from the Saharan. Sahel in the North to the forest zones bordering the Atlantic in the South.