Land At the Center of Somali Conflict

 The Heritage Institute for Policy Studies published in December 2023 a report titled "Somalia: Land Governance Review" by Surer Qassim Mohamed, Cambridge University.  

Land is a central point of contention in Somalia's fragmented political landscape and remains a significant driver of contemporary conflict.  Somalia's land governance architecture is a patchwork of unclear and overlapping authorities, overlapping claims to land use, large-scale land grabbing, and unclear land tenure.

This report aims to provide an overview of the current state of land governance in Somalia, examining the historical context, hybrid legal framework, and current practices around land ownership, access, and control.  

Land Is One of the Root Causes for Conflict in Somalia

The Rift Valley Institute and the Heritage Institute of Policy Studies published in February 2017 a major study titled "Land Matters in Mogadishu: Settlement, Ownership, and Displacement in a Contested City."

One of the most difficult and sensitive issues in Mogadishu's long process of normalization is competing claims for land. Control and ownership of land and property are among the underlying reasons for Somalia's conflict.

Land Use, Ownership and Allocation in Sudan

The Sudan Democracy First Group published in September 2016 a report titled "Land Use, Ownership and Allocation in Sudan: The Challenge of Corruption and Lack of Transparency" by Mohyeldeen E. Taha.

The study focuses on land tenure issues in Sudan, large scale foreign land investments, and the concern that there is a lack of transparency in land policy that leads to corruption.