The story of the transformation of customary land tenure in West Africa begins with the imposition of colonial rule. Colonial rule established the framework within which indigenous actors operated. Colonial institutions created the channels through which local actors could gain access to British decision-making; designated which groups of indigenous actors would be eligible to work through those channels; and allocated responsibilities between national and local level institutions. Colonial institutions thus shaped the strategies that indigenous and European actors used to redefine property rights to land, and they determined the actors' capacity to enforce those rights at the state or local level.

In this chapter, I explore the logic of indirect rule. First, I ask how British officials defined their goals in West Africa, and consider the institutions they forged to realize those goals. I then assess the institutions' impact on indigenous and European efforts to redefine property rights to land and claim a now-valuable resource.

THE LOGIC OF INDIRECT RULE

It is difficult to ascribe a single motivating force to the creation of the British empire. Nevertheless, the search for economic profit clearly played a large role in the British colonization of West Africa and other regions. West Africa offered a new and potentially expansive market to European traders, and an abundant supply of inexpensive raw materials to European manufacturers. The British colonial government sought to exploit these opportunities by creating an environment in which trade and commercial agricultural production would thrive.