Resource information
The report considers the critical issues providing the context for discussing land issues affecting West Africa as a region. These include the political, social and economic context, colonial legacy and legal plural systems, the operations of regional economic communities and other regional initiatives, impact of demography, migration and urbanization, conflicts and post-conflict issues, as well as shared resources and ecosystems. The report then considers the relevance of key issues and challenges to the West Africa region as identified by the LPI consortium in the continental background
document. The issues include state sovereignty over land, drought, desertification and floods, protecting the commons, including pastoral rights, evolution of the land market and security of tenure, decentralization and its effect on efficient land management, land and mining, and gender and land issues. The issue of biofuels and the land requirement for providing the feed stock and HIV/AIDS are discussed as critical emerging issues.
