Analyzing the Benin Land Law: An alternative viewpoint of progress

Ekpodessi and Nakamura recently published in Land Use Policy a paper on the 2013 Benin Land Law, the stated objective of which was to evaluate its effectiveness. The 2013 Land Law is mainly limited to reforming land administration bodies and does not alter the underpinnings of existing land law. On the contrary, it reaffirms the focus on private ownership and aims at simplifying and reducing the costs for accessing a land title. A new agency responsible for land administration has been created and just began to deliver titles, but needed policy tools were not yet in place at time of writing. It is thus too early to evaluate the new law’s effectiveness. In any event, this paper questions the assumptions and the content of the Benin Land Law and its ability to positively address land issues. The paper argues that effectiveness cannot be assessed without a conceptual frame of reference and associated methodology for critique. On the basis on the author’s in depth field research on land policy processes in Benin over many years, another viewpoint is offered on key findings in Ekpodessi and Nakamura’s paper.