Consolidating land for food security : antidote or anachronistic?

In numerous sub-Saharan countries, fertilizer programs, crop-yield programs, and large-scale foreign investments have failed to improve production levels for smallholder farmers. Meanwhile, technological investment is also encouraged; however, this is often impeded as land tenure security is not perceived by farmers: why invest? We argue that a key concern not addressed in the above interventions is land fragmentation. In the region, land fragmentation is caused by population growth and land allocation methods. The process of land consolidation attempts to combat land fragmentation by reorganizing land tenure rights and uses in rural areas. In some sub-Saharan countries, the approach is already recognized as a future necessity, however, land consolidation developed in Europe and its applicability in sub-Saharan Africa is unclear. Using new empirical data, this paper seeks to examine whether land consolidation has a role in delivering food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically it considers:
1) whether conditions can ever be appropriate for land consolidation activities;
2) whether a participatory and inclusive form of land consolidation could be developed for the region; and
3) what the potential impacts might be.
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aim is to explore an alternative land management approach for delivering food security, but, also recognize the potential negative outcomes associated with the approach.