Publication: Land Conflict, Migration, and Citizenship in West Africa: Complex Diversity and Recurring Challenges
Loading...
Published
2015
ISSN
Date
2015-08-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Land and property rights, migration, and citizenship are complex issues that cut across all social, economic, and political spheres of West Africa. This paper provides an overarching scoping of the most pressing contemporary issues related to land, migration, and citizenship, including how they intersect in various contexts and locations in West Africa. The way issues are analytically framed captures structural challenges and sets them against the regional and global meta-trends of which policy makers and practitioners should be aware for conflict-sensitive planning. The paper points to some of the effective practices in managing and mitigating these issues and also raises several questions on areas for future research. Part one lays out the migratory context in West Africa. It points to the type, nature, and extent of mobility that characterizes the region. Part two sets out West Africa’s land tenure and management systems, including structural challenges, general management policies, and key issues related to land tenure and migrants. Part three frames the key land and migration meta-trends in the context of fragility. Part four concludes with an overall exploration of the paper’s results and puts forward a series of research questions that are necessary in order to discern the most effective and realistic operational approaches.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Maze, Kerry. 2015. Land Conflict, Migration, and Citizenship in West Africa: Complex Diversity and Recurring Challenges. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22516 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication The Great Migration : Urban Aspirations(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05)The great 21st-century migration into cities will present both a great challenge for humanity and a significant opportunity for global economic growth. This paper describes the diverse patterns that define this metropolitan migration. It then lays out a framework for understanding the costs and benefits of new arrivals through migration's externalities and the challenges and policy tradeoffs that confront city stakeholders. The paper concludes by suggesting ways municipalities, by optimizing flexibility, can make migration more productive and less destructive in shaping the 'good city' and the 'smart city.' There are few paths to global economic growth that do not run through cities, and even fewer that do not depend on growing the city in population size, scale, and economic exchange. Historically, cities have grown by concentrating the economic advantages of number and density, the social potential of innovation, and the cultural possibilities of newness. By bringing together the factors of production, land, labor, capital, and enterprise, in ever more recombinant forms, cities offer the possibility of securing new economic advantages and scaling them up.Publication The Great Migration : Urban Aspirations(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-11)The great 21st-century migration into cities will present both a great challenge for humanity and a significant opportunity for global economic growth. This paper describes the diverse patterns that define this metropolitan migration. It then lays out a framework for understanding the costs and benefits of new arrivals through migration's externalities and the challenges and policy tradeoffs that confront city stakeholders. The paper concludes by suggesting ways municipalities, by optimizing flexibility, can make migration more productive and less destructive in shaping the 'good city' and the 'smart city.' There are few paths to global economic growth that do not run through cities, and even fewer that do not depend on growing the city in population size, scale, and economic exchange. Historically, cities have grown by concentrating the economic advantages of number and density, the social potential of innovation, and the cultural possibilities of newness. By bringing together the factors of production, land, labor, capital, and enterprise, in ever more recombinant forms, cities offer the possibility of securing new economic advantages and scaling them up.Publication Leveraging Migration for Africa : Remittances, Skills, and Investments(World Bank, 2011-04-26)International migration has profound implications for human welfare, and African governments have had only a limited influence on welfare outcomes, for good or ill. Improved efforts to manage migration will require information on the nature and impact of migratory patterns. This book seeks to contribute toward this goal, by reviewing previous research and providing new analyses (including surveys and case studies) as well as by formulating policy recommendations that can improve the migration experience for migrants, origin countries, and destination countries. The book comprises this introduction and summary and four chapters. Chapter one reviews the data on African migration and considers the challenges African governments face in managing migration. Chapter two discusses the importance of remittances, the most tangible link between migration and development; it also identifies policies that can facilitate remittance flows to Africa and increase their development impact. Chapter three analyzes high-skilled emigration and analyzes policies that can limit adverse implications and maximize positive implications for development. Chapter four considers ways in which Africa can leverage its diaspora resources to increase trade, investment, and access to technology.Publication Analysis of Displacement in Somalia(Washington, DC, 2014-12-09)Development and humanitarian actors currently engaged in Somalia face the challenge of delivering assistance in such a way that it is supportive of peace and state building, addresses the acute vulnerability, and dependence of large shares of the population while operating in a still insecure and changing environment. Forced displacement is a key feature of the current political economy context of Somalia. The necessity of addressing displacement is partly due to the scale and duration of the phenomenon. Displacement dynamics have fundamentally reshaped Somali culture in multiple ways. The purpose of this study is to inform the Bank and other development and humanitarian actors on the scale, characteristics, and political economy dimensions of displacement in Somalia. The study was undertaken between February and June 2013 by a team from the Tana Copenhagen. The conceptual framework for the study was based on one for political economy assessments. In this context the report presents, introduction; history, causes, and characteristics of displacement in Somalia; current internally displaced person (IDP) situation; prospects for return; vulnerabilities and development needs of the displaced; political economy challenges; and development for IDPs - recommendations.Publication Regional Initiative in Support of the Horn of Africa(Washington, DC, 2014-10-23)The Horn of Africa (HoA) region has many security and development challenges whose origins and consequences go well beyond the borders of individual countries. It is also a region with many human assets and resource endowments, and some of the most dynamic economies in the world. Despite its numerous challenges, the Horn of Africa offers significant potential to address cross-border issues that can help transform its countries and the region. This paper describes a World Bank Group (WBG) initiative to address some of the key drivers of instability in the HoA and promote development in the area. The initiative is intended to build on and complement the large country and regional programs the WBG and other partners are already supporting in the HoA, bringing value by addressing a number of issues which demand cross-border collaborative solutions to reducing fragility and instability. The central rationale to this initiative is that WBG cannot effectively support the elimination of extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region without engaging more intensively and creatively in addressing very difficult development problems, including those linked to insecurity and vulnerability. The WBG package totals $1.8 billion to be committed over approximately 24 months, with about $600 million investments from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and an estimated $200 million in guarantees from the Multilateral Guarantee Investment Agency (MIGA). The initiative builds on two previous programs aimed at similar issues in the Great Lakes Region (May 2013) and the Sahel (November 2013), efforts that recognize the link between security and development, and the importance of giving hope to vulnerable citizens, including women and children, that they can overcome poverty and deprivation.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03)Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.