Introduction

Population growth, environmental degradation, slow rates of economic development and land grabbing have all contributed to the transformation of Africa from a continent of land abundance into a continent characterized by increasing land scarcity and competition over land (Berry, 2002). However, the contemporary struggles over land vary in nature depending on the specific political, social and economic context in which they occur. Shifts in land access, changing property relations and land distribution patterns can lead to different outcomes in different contexts. For some actors involved in struggles over land, it may open a window of opportunity; for others, it may result in dispossession and displacement (Borras and Franco, 2010).

In this chapter, we focus on the involvement of local elites in cases of land grabbing, a less highlighted topic in the contemporary literature on the global land rush and one that takes full account of the role of external actors who seek to invest in land as a more general response to the ongoing food, financial and energy crises (Hall, 2011; De Schutter, 2011). National elites are also key players in land acquisition processes, either as direct actors or as brokers between the local community and (foreign) investors. However, these elites ‘often fall below the radar of global-level studies because they are seldom regulated or facilitated by public agencies, and because individual transactions tend to be smaller’ (Anseeuw et al., 2011: 21; Hilhorst, et al., 2011). We explore the role of local elites and their access to and control strategies over land in the absence of foreign investors on the basis of evidence from two case studies in the territory of Kalehe, South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These cases demonstrate how local groups are strategically framed around issues of land use, land distribution and land control and how their actions unfold within a broader national and regional dynamics. Local elite members of these strategic groups operate in different political arenas that are vertically and horizontally interconnected. They are thus able to enforce their claims on land at the local level.

We argue that contemporary studies on land grabbing should consider recent evolutions in land relations in their specific historical contexts. Land grabbing is neither a new nor a recent phenomenon.