Land tenure involves the legal or the custom relationships individual, or among people in relation to land ownership and other issues. The system of land tenure control the conventional or official rights persons or groups have to land ownership and the consequential social relationships among the rural and the urban people. Its components are the system of land ownership and system of labor organization. The land tenure systems has many advantages and at the same time disadvantages in its legal and custom application.
The concept Land tenure entails the association of individuals or groups, who are lawfully or customarily related with reference to land. Land tenure is governed by rules that; identify the distribution of land in the societies, delineate the rights to exploit the land which involves the delimitation of borders for which the land is allocated, land management, relocation of land from one individual to another through lease, auction, endowment, mortgage or inheritance, as well as any other tasks and restraints that are documented in the cadastre and land registration systems. Land tenure is an essential aspect due to the fact that it creates a strong linkage with societal, economic, political, institutional and legal structures that are frequently overlooked by the society. It is often classified as an open access tenure system governed by precise rights that are not dictated to anyone and no one can be denied right to use. Resources are accessible to all the associates (Peter, 2009, 445). Land tenure should be stable so as to be remarkably effective and it should ensure that people’s rights are enforced. Pros of land tenure include the following, land ownership, cash rental, and share rental
Ownership of land has an advantage because it is an assurance of enduring possession. This arouses an interest in constructing buildings on the land and the owner establishes a lifetime investment for instance a lasting business. Ownership offers the likelihood of profits especially when the land appreciates in value. It offers freedom to the owner because he can develop the land to his wish without any inspection from any one. Land is also used as collateral incase the owner obtains loan from a bank, as long as he does not default the terms and conditions of the financial institution (Peter, 2009, 445).
Good quality farms can be rented for money. The renter has the benefit of managing the land and using a tillage system that will give a high crop yield with minimal supervision from the landowner. This brings better results to the renter especially during a bumper harvest whereby he or she incurs a lot of profits, though the tenant losses the opportunity of securing the land that has significantly appreciated in value. The occupant also has the privilege of reduced costs, especially the payment of taxes which is done in shifts together with the owner of the land. This method also provides ample security to stimulate investment, the long term benefits of the renter are protected (Peter, 2009, 445).
Hiring of land through shares makes it possible for the renters to invest, especially those that have inadequate capital to rent the land. In most situations, in of share rental the tenant provides the live stock for labor use, household equipment and machinery. The produce is divided on a split basis which eases the trouble of the tenant if the crop fails and less is harvested (Karel, 2011, 30).
A group tenure is much more affordable than individual because it requires certain approaches to acquire the rights of individual ownership. A significant benefit of group land possession is that the group members are capable of accessing finance which could not have been possible if it were an individual (Karel, 2011, 33).
Cons of land tenure
The conversion of land into a commodity which can be leased, sold and mortgaged has made a lot of families dispossess their land. This is because most financial institutions want to use land as a form of collateral that would make it possible for peasant farmers to take loans from these banking institutions. When family members default this, their land is dispossessed from them by these banks so as to be able to recover their money (Karel, 2011, 34).
People purchasing land from customary proprietors is frequently considered unlawful by the governing authorities, even when customary laws have been adhered to by the inhabitants. This is for the reason that the purchase of the land is differing with the local systems of authority land use plans. Customary land administration roles and allocation rights are often disregarded by most legal authorities; this has led to reduced customary ownership of land(Lorenzo, 2007, 23).
Majority of women is normally discriminated in this issue of owning land. They lack equal access because most systems of law, administrative bodies and inheritance structures exclude them from owning land. As a result they are not empowered politically and socially which leads to incompetent land management policies, as women are forced to live in informal settlements. Most countries do not have clear laws and guidelines for dealing with this issue of owning land especially by the women (Christian, 1997, 12).
Owning land requires certain procedures that have to be in accordance with the legal structures of a country. Various documents have to be presented to the owner for instance a land title deed. To obtain such documents could be both strenuous and expensive for most people especially if the legal structure is extremely efficient. In most countries it is not easy to use the land when this title conditions have not yet been acquired by the owners. Title deeds can be ambiguous if the land owners have divided their land with no adherence to the land use controls (Lorenzo, 2007, 23).