Western African scenarios for resource access

Western Africa has a very diverse ecology, history, and socioeconomic setting. In Land Tenure and Resource Access in West Africa, the region is therefore divided in four subareas: Gulf of Guinea (from Cote d Ivoire to Cameroon), Land-locked Sahel (from Mali to Chad), Atlantic Sahel (Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania), and Atlantic Forest (stretching from Guinea Bissau to Liberia). The book describes the characteristic developments of each region and their likely evolution over the next 25 years. Recent decades have brought many changes (urban growth, population increase, migration), and new markets and technologies, which haves exerted significant pressures on land. The report discusses key policy areas like the usefulness of recognising customary tenure systems and implementing land registration, mechanisms for conflict resolution, decentralisation, and good governance. With its bird s eye view, the book is a reasonable introduction to these urgent policy areas to be addressed by governments, donors, and civil society. Land Tenure and Resource Access in West Africa: Issues and Opportunities for the next Twenty-five Years. IIED Drylands. 1999. 43 pp. ISBN 1899825312. £7.50 12.30 (free to non-OECD) IIED Bookshop 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK. (Quote #7396) Fax: +44 171 388 2826Land Tenure and Resource Access in West Africa: Issues and Opportunities for the next Twenty-five Years. IIED Drylands. 1999. 43 pp. ISBN 1899825312. £7.50 12.30 (free to non-OECD) IIED Bookshop 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK. (Quo