Indigenous Land Rights Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Constraint on Productivity?

This article uses cross-sectional evidence from Ghana, Kenya,and Rwanda in 1987–88 to examine the question, Are indigenousland rights systems in Sub-Saharan Africa a constraint on productivity?The evidence supports the hypothesis suggested by historicalstudies, that African indigenous land rights systems have spontaneouslyevolved from systems of communal control towards individualizedrights in response to increases in commercialization and populationpressure. Cross-sectional data on the incidence of land improvementsand on land yields provide little support for the view thatlimitations under indigenous law on the right to transfer landare a constraint on productivity.