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Large-scale agricultural investments (LAIs) transform land use systems worldwide. There is, however, limited understanding about how the common global drivers of land use change induce different forms of agricultural investment and produce different impacts on the ground. This article provides a cross-country comparative analysis of how differences in business models, land use changes, and governance systems explain differences in socio-economic, food security, and environmental impacts of LAIs in Kenya, Madagascar, and Mozambique. It brings together results on these aspects generated in the AFGROLAND project that collected data in a multi-method approach via household surveys, business model surveys, semi-structured household interviews, life-cycle assessments of farm production, analysis of remote-sensing data, key informant interviews, and document analysis. For the present project synthesis, we combined a collaborative expert workshop with a comparative analysis of 16 LAIs. The results show that the LAIs follow four distinctive impact patterns, ranging from widespread adverse impacts to moderate impacts. Results demonstrate how the following conditions influence how the global drivers of land use change translate into different LAIs and different impacts on the ground: labor intensity, prior land use, utilization of land, farm size, type of production, experience in local agriculture, land tenure security, accountability of state and local elites, the mobilization capacity of civil society, expansion of resource frontiers, agricultural intensification, and indirect land use change. The results indicate that commercial agriculture can be a component in sustainable development strategies under certain conditions, but that these strategies will fail without substantial, sustained increases in the economic viability and inclusiveness of smallholder agriculture, land tenure security, agro-ecological land management, and support for broader patterns of endogenous agra

High urbanization rates in cities lead to rapid changes in land uses, particularly in southern cities where population growth is fast. Urban and peri-urban agricultural land is often seen as available space for the city to expand, but at the same time, agricultural land provides many benefits to cities pertaining to food, employment, and eco-services. In this context, there is an urgent need to provide spatial information to support planning in complex urban systems. The challenge is to integrate analysis of agriculture and urban land-cover classes, and of their spatial and functional patterns. This paper takes up this challenge in Antananarivo (Madagascar), where agricultural plots and homes are interlocked and very small. It innovates by using a methodology already tested in rural settings, but never applied to urban environments. The key step of the analysis is to produce landscape zoning based on multisource satellite data to identify agri-urban functional areas within the city, and to explore their relationships. Our results demonstrate that the proposed classification method is well suited for mapping agriculture and urban land cover (overall accuracy = 76.56% for the 20 classes of level 3) in such a complex setting. The systemic analysis of urban agriculture patterns and functions can help policymakers and urban planners to design and build resilient cities.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

Depuis la fin des années 2000, des projets d’observatoires se multiplient pour tenter de suivre, de quantifier et de documenter les grandes acquisitions foncières. À partir de l’expérience de quatre observatoires qui se sont investis sur le thème des grandes acquisitions foncières en Afrique (au Cameroun, à Madagascar, en Ouganda et au Sénégal), l’article analyse les choix stratégiques faits en termes de production et de partage des données par les parties prenantes des observatoires. Il met en évidence les compromis sur la diversité et le nombre de transactions étudiées, le nombre d’indicateurs de suivi, le niveau de recoupement des données et leur modalité et temporalité de publication. L’article étudie et illustre les difficultés socio-politiques de production et de publication des données, particulièrement saillantes dans le cas des acquisitions foncières. Il conclut sur l’importance pour les parties prenantes des observatoires d’opérer un ensemble de choix liés aux besoins d’usagers cibles, aux réalités de terrain, et enfin aux capacités de l’équipe de l’observatoire à produire des données et à jouer un rôle de médiation en direction des différents acteurs du foncier. Since the end of the 2000s, there has been a proliferation of observatories aiming at monitoring, quantifying and documenting large-scale land acquisitions. Based on the experience of four observatories working on the theme of large-scale land acquisitions in Africa (in Cameroon, Madagascar, Senegal and Uganda), this article analyses the strategic choices made by the stakeholders of these observatories in terms of data production and sharing. It highlights the compromises made by these stakeholders in terms of the diversity and number of transactions studied, the number of monitoring indicators, the level of data cross-checking and the modalities and timeframes for publication. The article examines and illustrates the sociopolitical difficulties involved in producing and publishing data, which are particularly acute in the case of land acquisitions. It concludes that it is important for the stakeholders of these observatories to make a series of choices based on the needs of target users, the realities on the ground and, lastly, the ability of the observatory to produce data and act as a mediator with the various players involved in the land sector and its policies.

In recent decades, mechanisms for observation and information production have proliferated in an attempt to meet the growing needs of stakeholders to access dynamic data for the purposes of informed decision-making. In the land sector, a growing number of land observatories are producing data and ensuring its transparency. We hypothesize that these structures are being developed in response to the need for information and knowledge, a need that is being driven by the scale and diversity of land issues. Based on the results of a study conducted on land observatories in Africa, this paper presents existing and past land observatories on the continent and proposes to assess their diversity through an analysis of core dimensions identified in the literature. The analytical framework was implemented through i) an analysis of existing literature on land observatories, ii) detailed assessments of land observatories based on semi-open interviews conducted via video conferencing, iii) fieldwork and visits to several observatories, and iv) participant observation through direct engagement and work at land observatories. We emphasize that the analytical framework presented here can be used as a tool by land observatories to undertake ex-post self-evaluations that take the observatory’s trajectory into account, or in the case of proposed new land observatories, to undertake ex-ante analyses and design the pathway towards the intended observatory.

L’agriculture familiale fait face à des défis importants, parmi lesquels la raréfaction des terres arables dans des contextes de forte croissance démographique. À Madagascar, l’agriculture est essentiellement familiale et concerne plus de 80 % des ménages du pays. L’accès aux terres agricoles est un enjeu central pour ces familles et la rareté des terres arables est un facteur majeur de transformation des systèmes agraires. Pourtant, peu de données et d’analyses récentes existent sur les caractéristiques et les inégalités foncières à l’échelle des exploitations et des régions. Dans ce contexte, l’article analyse les disponibilités foncières des ménages et leurs perspectives d’intensification. Il valorise 10 bases de données produites par différentes équipes de recherche, ces 10 dernières années. Sur la base de données agrégées de 6000 ménages dans 5 zones agroécologiques du pays, l’article apporte trois contributions principales à la compréhension des agricultures familiales : la caractérisation de la rareté foncière à l’échelle des ménages en termes de quantité et de qualité, la mise en évidence d’inégalités foncières inter et intra zones agroécologiques, et l’identification de pratiques d’intensification foncière. In Madagascar, farming is essentially family-based and concerns 80% of the country’s households. Access to farmland is a central issue for these families, and the scarcity of arable land is a major factor in the transformation of agrarian systems. Yet few recent data and analyses exist on the characteristics and inequalities of land tenure at farm and regional levels. Against this backdrop, this article analyzes household land availability and intensification prospects in several regions of Madagascar. It draws on 10 databases produced by various research teams over the last 10 years. Based on this aggregate database of 6,000 households in 5 agro-ecological zones of the country, the article makes three main contributions to the understanding of family farming: characterizing land scarcity at household level in terms of quantity and quality, highlighting land inequalities between and within agro-ecological zones, and identifying land intensification practices.

Since 2005, many agricultural land-based investments have been announced in Madagascar. Since the same date, a new land reform has been implemented. This reform organizes the decentralization of land management and legally recognizes the local customary rights. In 2015, ten years later, the question is about knowing whether this land reform has hindered or eased the land investments and, in turn, if the investors’ land demand has had an impact on state land management. The article demonstrates that the land reform, through its laws, institutions, and tools, has not impacted investors’ land access because the land reform and the investors have targeted different territories and involved different networks of actors. The article underlines that, on the contrary, the investors’ land demand has created incentives for the land administration to not promote the land reform but to move backward by claiming all the land as state-owned land and by strengthening the centralization of land management. The Malagasy case shows that the key issue when it comes to regulating land investment is not only the formalization of land rights but also the actual level of decentralization and inclusivity of land management.

This paper analyses the spatial extent of agriculture in Antananarivo. Depending on the landscape units (agri-urban units), the cultivated area is decreasing, the same or increasing. In the city centre, cultivated land is decreasing but at a slower pace that what is usually estimated. In the agricultural lowlands at the urban front, the evolution of the extent of agricultural land is related to the infrastructure. Finally in the less densely populated urban areas, buildings and cultivated lands are expanding at the expense of pasture. The urban system is producing an intensification of agricultural practices. Urban agriculture mapping is feeding urban policy debates.

Quels sont les effets de l’implantation de méga-exploitations agricoles sur les différents groupes d’intérêt des territoires locaux ? Cette implantation provoque-t-elle de fortes ruptures ou une simple accélération des dynamiques en cours ? Sur la base d’une étude de cas à Madagascar, cet article s’intéresse aux recompositions du système agraire à Madagascar engendrées par l’installation récente d’une entreprise privée étrangère. Tandis que l’emploi se développe au bénéfice des plus petits agriculteurs, l’accès à la terre évolue au détriment des éleveurs les plus aisés. À son insu la firme offre aux descendants de migrants betsileo l’opportunité d’étendre leur territoire agricole face aux éleveurs sakalava se revendiquant comme les propriétaires ancestraux de la terre. Toutefois la sécurisation foncière se dégrade pour tous. L’entreprise réveille des tensions : ayant obtenu un bail emphytéotique auprès de l’État, elle prive les communautés de leurs droits fonciers. Ce faisant, elle risque de voir contesté son propre accès au foncier. What is the impact of the introduction of large-scale agribusiness activities on different interest groups in local territories? Are they a cause of inequality and conflict? Or do they simply contribute to the dynamics of change and development? Based on a case study in Madagascar, this paper examines recent changes in the Madagascan land system as a result of the entry of a foreign firm. While the increase in employment has benefited small local producers, the wealthiest livestock farmers have suffered as a result of recent changes in land use and access. The firm has enabled the descendants of the Betsileo to expand their agricultural lands to the detriment of the Sakalava, who see themselves as the rightful heirs to the land. However, land tenure security has become increasingly precarious for all parties involved. In short, the entry of the firm has caused tensions with and between local residents. By signing an emphyteutic lease with the state, the firm has deprived local communities of their land rights. However, in doing so, it may see its own right to use the land challenged by local actors.