The positive impacts of farm land fragmentation in Rwanda

Land fragmentation and land consolidation are two interrelated concepts of land management. The dominant discourse is that fragmented land ownership and land use tend to be ineffective and unwanted, and land consolidation is then a solution to this quandary. Not surprisingly, in countries such as Rwanda, the majority of the governmental strategies highlight the negative effects of fragmentation. However, the effects of land fragmentation have been dual. Its positive side has often been overlooked by policy makers and the research community. Therefore, this study investigates to which degree one can benefit from farmland fragmentation, especially in the context of food security at the household level and of climate change vulnerability. The goal of this article is to expand the current land fragmentation discourse and describe in which context specific types of land fragmentation may be just as sustainable as opting for land consolidation. The guiding hypothesis hereby is that there is a high level of fragmented land ownership yet, that physical (location, use, internal, shape and value) fragmentation acts as a risk management strategy which positively impacts the nutritional balance for food quality and food sustainability as components of food security. Conceptually, land fragmentation can be seen from multiple lenses. It can be seen as a land use concept (emphasizing variation in manner of agricultural production, variety of crops, frequency of harvesting, etc.). It can also be seen as a geodetic concept (emphasizing variation in shape and size of parcels on the one hand, and variation in land ownership on the other hand). Additionally, it can be seen as a spatial planning and intervention concept (emphasizing the urgency and need for order, structure and alignment of space). In our article we look at fragmentation (and the variation thereof) in all three ways. If within an area, the utilization, ownership, leasehold, shape, size and location of parcels and spatial policies vary more than average (as compared to a similar area), then we consider it a fragmented landscape. Once we find a case of such a landscape, then we are able to investigate why and/or under which conditions (and by which drivers) this ‘fragmented’ landscape has emerged and what are the implications. This is the main question under investigation in this research. The research relies on a mixed methods research approach via household surveys with 98 random respondents in Gashora sector,