PEASANT ENDOWMENTS AND THE REDISTRIBUTIVE FUNCTIONS OF INFORMAL RURAL LAND MARKETS.THE CASE OF CEREAL PRODUCING LANDED PEASANTS

Abstract

The different features and functions of informal land maekets visa-vis the relative endowment positions of households in each stratum have been analysed.Informal rural land markets are founds to found to have redistributed land labour ,out put and generally direct production-led entitled as well as human capital information towards the richer and away from the poorer households. Oxen ownership was found to be the detrermeinant factor that engendered the mechanism
of transfer of land use rights. which in tum would determine the redistributive
process. Thus, as long as strong link persists between 'ox-ownership' and
ranning', oxen-deficient households would continue to transfer their land use
rights irrespective of its shonage to meet their household subsistence
requlremenrs. The results highlight that, in astructural setting where such a
massive and significanr deficiency ill endowment  of key factors prevails,
liberalisation of rural land markets might result in unintended social outcomes for
the poorer groups unless there is some compensation mechanism through other means e.g.,non ffarm employment.