Land Tenure and the Management of Land and Trees in Asia and Africa

Abstract

This paper summarizes and extends the results of seven-country projects conducted in Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Sumatra (Indonesia), Vietnam, Nepal, and Japan on the land tenure institutions and the management of forest, agroforest, and cropland. It is found that traditional or customary land tenure institutions possess no built-in mechanisms to prevent deforestation. They have evolved, however, from communal ownership to individualized ownership so as to provide proper incentives to induce commercial tree planting and the management of tree fields (or agroforestry). It is also found that common property system is efficient for the management of forests producing minor products such as firewood, whereas more individualized system is more efficient for the management of timber forests.