Impacts of Land Reform on Social Institution in Sub-Sahara Africa

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K07920
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Agricultural science in rural society and development
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Agriculture (2018); The University of Tokyo (2016-2017)
• Principal Investigator: Matsuda Hirotaka 東京農業大学, 農学部, 准教授 (50451901)
• Research Collaborator: SHIMAMURA Yuka
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ルワンダ / 土地制度改革 / 家族制度の変容 / 社会制度の変容 / サブ・サハラ・アフリカ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research reveals an impact of land reform on traditional social institution and system of rural area of Rwanda. Because of introducing westernized land reform policy to enhance individual property rights for land and transforming traditional family system, lineage, to westernized family system, a nuclear family, it becomes difficult for them to common use of resources in the household. They must deal with resource constraints by each household. In other word, they must face severer resource constraint than before. Many of them try to control scale of family by modern contraceptive method. However, side effects are found by using hormonal contraceptive methods under high probability. As a result, labor input of female for farming and reproductive activities decrease. Although males can be an alternative measure of it, agricultural production in the household decrease and health status of children become worse when they cannot replace of it, perfectly.

Free Research Field

開発経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまでの貧困緩和を主目的とした開発戦略や人口政策は、往々にして近代西洋的制度や価値観に基づいてきた。本研究が対象としたルワンダは、アフリカの奇跡と呼ばれる高い経済成長率と目覚ましい経済発展を遂げてきたとされる。その評価の背景として、ドナーの意向を反映してきたことが挙げられる。しかしながら、本研究で明らかとなったように、それらの評価基準では顕在化しない、当該社会の伝統的社会制度から近代西洋的社会制度へ移行することによる問題が生じる可能性がある。本研究は、画一的になりがちな開発戦略に関して、当該社会のコンテクストの理解の必要性を示唆するものである。