Land Tenure Security and Deforestation: A case Study of Forest land conversion to Perennial crops in Cote d'Ivoire.

Understanding the causes of agricultural expansion in Cote d'Ivoire may then prove useful to understand deforestation process in the context of a coexistence of two systems of land tenure (customary and statutory). This paper investigated the relationship between land tenure security and forest outcomes. A modified version of Heckman selection model controlling for the endogeneity of tenure security is used to predict the probability and intensity of cropping perennials. We alternately used two tenure security measures related to substance and assurance of property rights. The results indicated that the decision to adopt and expand perennial crop increases (among other factors) with tenure insecurity, household size, the interference of the administration in land distribution, and the proximity of the village to the forest area. Furthermore, findings revealed that land tenure security, agricultural yield improvement, farmer's experience and higher educational attainment are the key factors of forest preservation in Cote d'Ivoire.