In Burkina Faso, undeveloped rural lands, especially fertile wetlands, are being appropriated by a new type of farmer known as the ‘new actor’. Supported by government policy in an attempt to modernize agriculture through agribusiness, these new actors are made up of officials from the public and private sectors and others from mainly commercial backgrounds. By making these new actors key players in rural land relations, the government strategically avoids direct engagement with customary land management rules that proved so controversial in the past. This latest encounter between modern and customary land regimes is an opportunity to re-establish a rapport between urban and rural citizens and between modern and traditional agriculture.