(a) Describe briefly four types of individual land tenure systems. (b) List four advantages and four disadvantages of the land use act.

Answer Details

(a) Four types of individual land tenure systems

1. Inheritance: Land is passed down from parents to their children/relatives from one generation to another.
2. Purchase (freehold): An individual buys land outright and owns it permanently with a legal title.
3. Gift: Land is given freely to an individual, often as a token of appreciation or for services rendered.
4. Leasehold/renting: An individual acquires the right to use land for a stated period on payment of rent, after which it reverts to the owner. (Pledge is another form.)

(b) Land Use Act

Four advantages

1. It vests land in the government, reducing land disputes and litigation.
2. It makes land easier to acquire for public projects and development.
3. It controls land speculation and fragmentation.
4. It gives security of tenure through the Certificate of Occupancy, which can be used to obtain loans.

Four disadvantages

1. It concentrates too much power over land in the hands of the Governor/government.
2. Obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy is slow, costly and bureaucratic.
3. It can dispossess indigenous families of their ancestral land, sometimes with inadequate compensation.
4. It discourages large-scale private farming because of insecurity over long-term access to land.