Social cohesion and land conflicts in Ivory Coast

Rural land conflicts and social cohesion in Côte d'Ivoire are major challenges for development and peace in our country. These conflicts are linked to the illicit sale of land by indigenous populations who hold customary rights to rural land to migrants from other regions or neighboring countries. These sales were encouraged by the agricultural policy of the first president of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire who asserted that land belongs to whoever uses it. Today younger generations are questioning these transactions and claiming their rights to their ancestors' land. These conflicts are often violent and reached a peak during the socio-political crisis that gripped the country between 1999 and 2011. They occur mainly in the west and southwest of the country where coffee and cocoa production is concentrated. The Cavally region in western Côte d'Ivoire is an area of high land tension which has seen numerous violent clashes between indigenous and non-indigenous populations particularly during and after the 2010-2011 post-election crisis.