Will Formalisation of Customary Land into Customary Estates Foster Agricultural Commercialisation in Rural Areas of Malawi? A qualitative Analysis Approach

Following colonialism, the majority of African nations launched land reform programmes that principally focused on the redistribution, titling, and registration of rural land to address residual effects of colonial land policy. The current land reform programme in Malawi has mainly targeted formalising customary land into customary estates in order to guarantee tenure security, boost credit availability and hence facilitate investments. While there are numerous advantages to formalising customary land, little is known regarding the impacts of formalising customary land into customary estates on agricultural commercialisation in rural areas of Malawi. This paper examines the effects of formalising customary land into customary estates to promote agricultural commercialisation in rural areas of Malawi. Semi-structured in-depth key informants’ interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to collect data from Rumphi, Kasungu and Phalombe districts. Document analysis was used for triangulation. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that formalising customary land into customary estates involves various steps, such as adjudication and demarcation of land parcels. Results also indicate that Customary Land Committees (CLCs) assist in affirming ownership, explain and confirm boundaries. Finally, formalisation leads to issuance of title that is used as collateral to access credit, which is important for the establishment and growth of agro-based industries. This, in turn, enhances investment opportunities and promotes agricultural commercialisation in the rural areas. Therefore, it is recommended that formalisation of customary land should feature highly on government land reform agenda and be part of land policy in order to foster agricultural commercialisation.