Land tenure and farming systems changes in the Jabal Amel region of South Lebanon

Abstract

This research project examined the relationship between land tenure and farming systems. It was carried out by assessing various rural land tenure regimes that have taken place in Africa, specifically Cameroon, where colonial history has left a strong mark on its land tenure systems. Rural land tenure regimes have also been assessed in Jabal Amel of South Lebanon, and the relationship between land tenure, farming systems and rural livelihoods was modeled into a conceptual framework. The history of land tenure reforms in Cameroon, and land tenure systems applied in Jabal Amel back during the Ottoman Empire, to the French mandate through today showed that the rural communities have been deprived of their land ownership rights to mortgage their landholdings and secure their livelihoods through agricultural production. Although causal links between land tenure systems and farming systems have not been easily demonstrated, research revealed that land tenure arrangements, among a host of other factors, determined farming systems and rural livelihood sustainability, as well as access, use and control of land and natural resources in rural communities.