PLANTING CONFLICT OR CULTIVATING PEACE: ASSESSING THE PEACE-BUILDING FUNCTIONS OF THE LAND TENURE REFORM ENVIRONMENT IN POST-CONFLICT COMMUNITIES

Land tenure conflicts are increasingly gaining attention in the field of international development and conflict resolution. The literature on the subject indicates that effective land tenure environments can be used as peace-building initiatives in post-conflict societies by addressing the issues leading to land tenure conflict. The land tenure environment has been found to be made up of issues related to access to land, land administration systems and tenure security. The first step towards exploring programs aimed at improving access to land for landless populations have driven former beneficiaries back to the conditions and situations that created conflict in the first place. Land administration institutions are weak and inefficient, often registering land improperly, causing disagreements on land ownership. Land tenure insecurity is encouraged through weak land rights and the mechanisms in place to make claims over land. Quantitative analysis of the land tenure environment seems to confirm their negative effect on Conflict in Brazil. In this case, the land tenure environment has been ineffective as a peace-building tool in post-conflict communities.