Tradition and reform

About this book

Despite rapid urban and industrial growth in South-East Asia, the majority of the region's population is still dependent on the land for its living. Land tenure - the way in which ownership and use rights of land are acquired, regulated, and transferred - is thus a vital issue in the region. Rural development strategies at all scales - from the transmigration programmes of Indonesia to individual plantation reforms in Papua New Guinea - have to take account of the historical, social, and economic character of differing land tenure systems. Does, for example, owner-occupation provide the best incentives for economic efficiency? To what extent do traditional, customary tenure systems ensure the fair and environmentally sustainable stewardship of the land? How might plantation systems be adapted in order to reconcile the demands for social equity against those of greater output? Tradition and Reform seeks to provide both a context within which to examine such questions and a range of case-studies to illustrate some of the varied options developed by governments in the region. After reviewing the nature of tenure systems and their relationship to the environment and history of the region, subsequent chapters examine the issue of land tenure from economic, social, and environmental perspectives using examples from the ASEAN countries as well as Papua New Guinea. Overall the book argues that only if land tenure systems are properly understood in their geographical and historical context can significant progress in rural development be made.