The history of Rwanda is shaped by the issue of land access and use. The political,
economic, legal and demographic evolution of the country have greatly influenced the land use
system isambu-igikingi in the regions conquered by the Central Kingdom and ubukonde in the
forested regions of North and North-West Rwanda. It has also changed the land use and the
pastoral and land tenure clientship relations. These changes -which resulted in land insecurityforced
the authorities (advised to do so by the Belgians) at the end of the fifties, to implement
legal reforms towards individual ownership in favour of the settled farmers. The isambuigikingi
system was abolished and ubukonde was limited. The state became the owner of all
land and gave using rights to the occupants.
On mission lands and in urban areas land ownership is governed by written law,
introduced by the German colonisers. This means that there are two systems (written and
customary law) governing land rights. Furthermore, the customary law is not codified and has
changed over the past 40 years. These changes, as well as changes in the written law, produce
great insecurities with regard to land access and use. The high population growth in rural areas
(of which more than 90% depend solely on agriculture as a source of income) as well as the
recent influx of returnees poses a serious threat on the capacity of Rwanda to provide a
subsistence income for all inhabitants.
If demographic pressure results in changes in the land use system, these changes face
institutional constraints which result in turn from an overall economic and institutional crisis. In
response to the recent arrival of refugees without land, the government adopted emergency
policies, i.e. construction of villages and lodges, and land distribution and redistribution. These
land distributions make us doubt whether the Arusha agreements are respected. The
government policies are not implemented correctly and create insecurities which influence the
agricultural productivity.
The history of Rwanda has revealed that the exclusion from land generates social
tension and violent conflict. History has also shown that land access and use were determined
by customary rules established along the lines of existing power structures. Therefore, a
question remains: can a reform unify different land tenure systems which are used in different
ways by different categories of the population? Will the population accept this new system of
land rights?