Land Issues

For 35 percent of respondents, land or access to land was identified as one of the origins of the conflicts in eastern Congo. The survey asked respondents about their access to and ownership of farming land. No distinction was made between land for plant production and land for raising cattle. Two-thirds of respondents said they owned or had access to agricultural land. Among them, 24 percent faced problems regarding ownership or access, the main problems being conflict with neighbors (37%) and conflicts with an alleged owner (31%). It is interesting to note that about twice as many respondents cited conflicts with neighbors as the source of land conflict (56%) in Ituri as in North Kivu (27%). While the overall results indicate that reform of land tenure rights must be addressed, the results for Ituri support focused interventions in that district on inter-communal reconciliation and conflict resolution regarding land issues.

Most respondents who experienced problems over land tenure took action to solve the problem (70%), usually seeking support from the village authorities (39%) or customary leaders (37%).

Table 8: Conflicts over land