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P R OT E CT I NG COMMUNITY L ANDS AND RESOURC ES
Defining “Community” Defining “community” is an exceptionally complex and difficult endeavor. The process differed in each study nation according to the cultural, political and geo-spatial realities on the ground and the preferences of local leadership. In the study regions, difficulties related to community self-definition were rooted in overlapping definitions of authority, territory and identity. Specifically, the process was often complicated by: 1) the nested quality of rural social organization in the study regions; 2) historical fractioning and division of social units; 3) common areas fully shared between villages/towns that identified as separate entities; 4) differences between customary and administrative/state-drawn boundaries; 5) historical migration patterns, ecological changes, and infrastructure development; and 6) competition over valuable natural resources. The process of community self-definition was further complicated by the initiative’s randomized controlled trial design; the freedom for each community to choose its composition was compromised by the need for the study communities to be similar and comparable. The process of community self-definition was made even more difficult due to the inititaive’s randomized control trial design; the freedom for each community to choose its composition was compromised by the need for the study communities to be similar and comparable. In Liberia, the project’s definition of ‘community’ was determined with local officials and leaders based on the structure of local governance in Rivercess County. Rural social and political organization in Rivercess is composed of a series of nested units, with anywhere from 10 to 22 towns making up a clan, and two to three clans making up a chiefdom. To determine the optimal community unit, SDI held a series of consultative meetings with customary and state leaders from across Rivercess County. The drawbacks and benefits of working at the chiefdom, clan, or town level were debated, and community leaders decided that the project should work at the clan level.38 In Mozambique, the Lei de Terras expressly permits a community to define itself in whatever grouping it deems best for its interests.39 The project’s definition of “community” was therefore a careful choice made with local officials, leaders, and community members.
38 Various factors were weighed, including the logistics of the project work (the distances to be traveled) and the average population densities and amount of land held at each level. For example, working at the level of the chiefdom would have documented and protected the largest amount of land, but would not have allowed for a high percentage of community participation; working with towns would have ensured high levels of engagement and participation, but the limited amounts of town land would not have protected the larger common areas nor secured the land rights of a significant number of families. Clans were deemed the optimal compromise option: full and meaningful participation of the majority of community members with a fair amount of land and common area protected. 39 Land Law (Lei de Terras), Act No. 19/97 of 1 October, 1997, The Republic of Mozambique.