Dynamics of land use transfer in peasant communities in periods of national economic crisis : a study of the links between Nigeria's industrial raw materials

sometime in the researcher witnessed widespread cases of sale of peasant farmlands by a number of peasant communities in parts of OYI Local Government A.rea of Anambra state, Nigeria. The farmlands were apparently bought by a number of non-lndigenous businessmen from outside the peasant locations, who subsequently set up large scate farms in pi.ace. to These incidentswerelstimulate the interest that had blosomed into this wo.rk. There is.-,here thrce things th,:1.t resulted in the consequent attempt by the':! researcher to articulate the impressions emerging from the observed phenomena in OYI Local Government Area over time now The researcher felt there was need to know why sane people wanted to buy lands that
pease:1.11ts were using, and why the peasants wera willing to give up their lands. Secondly, lie w;:i.nted to lcnow what became of the peasants whose lands were taken up by the buyers of the lands. Finally he was interested in kno1•1inJ whether the incidence of widespread cases of sale of farmlands had taken place in other parts of Anambra state. We started with <1 prelim.ina,1. y investigation which was carried out in respect of the observed exchange of farrnlandsp to see if it took placEi ln oth .r parts of Mambra state Tha investigation invo1ved a tour of four rural Local Governmen-t A.reas in the state, includlng Ikwo, Isi-Uzo Ishielu, OYI and Uzo-Uwani Local Governnent A.reas.