Pinwheel: How critically are land rights discussed in your country?

DW (English)

Our correspondents in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa introduce us to the debates around land use in their respective nations, and why land rights remain a controversial topic.

Transcript

00:00even though we don't hear much about land disputes with former colonial powers today in nigeria the

00:10effects of colonial land policies are still causing problems especially for young nigerians

00:15during colonial rule land was taken from local communities without their consent that history

00:22left behind confusion over land ownership and it still causes disputes in many parts of the country

00:28in places like nigeria delta for example land that was once used for farming has been damaged by oil

00:34exploration that began during colonial times pollution has made it harder for people to farm

00:40or fish and that means fewer opportunities for young people to work and grow does colonial land

00:48ownership still affect people here in kenya today definitely yes because for many land is an

00:53investment in the future and if you don't inherit it you have to buy it now kenya gained independence

00:58in 1963 and only about five percent of arable land was in private european hands but this caused huge

01:04inequalities because thousands were displaced especially from the very fertile central parts

01:08of kenya two recent documentaries which filled movie theaters show the continued inequalities the battle

01:13of laikipia shows the partly armed conflict between pastoralists and former colonial families over

01:19resources like water and grazing land and the second form our land our freedom talks of the families of

01:25the mao mao or the land and freedom army who fought for kenya's independence many of the actual

01:30fighters and their descendants ended up displaced and the land was divided up between colonial

01:34collaborators or foreign companies who now grow cash crops like tea or real livestock that said kenya's

01:40biggest landowners are the political elites like the family of kenya's first president jomo kenyatta

01:45and second president moi who benefited from the deals they cut with britain

01:50land it's one of the most important tools of human existence it's where we lay our loved ones to

01:57rest where we build our homes and where we get our food from and that's why land ownership has become

02:04such a contentious issue here in south africa and something that many young south africans want addressed

02:10south africa's land issues go as far back as colonialism for example the 1913 natives land act tightly

02:17controlled where africans could buy land only seven percent of the total land mass was reserved for

02:24black people later under apartheid new land laws were introduced such as the group areas acts under

02:30this legal framework black south africans were forcibly moved from their homes to townships they were put

02:36in small houses and these areas had limited services on the flip side white south africans could buy

02:42property wherever they want 30 years into democracy and the land imbalances remain white people make

02:49up only 7.3 percent of the population but according to a 2017 land report they own half of the country's

02:56cities and two-thirds of the cities and two-thirds of the farmlands

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