Overview of Rwanda’s Land Policy and Land Law and Key Challenges for Implementation: Briefing Document

February 2003
Minitere (Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Environment) and DFID (Harold Liversage, Land Policy Specialist)

An introduction, overview and historical section is followed by sections on Rwanda’s Land Policy and law, outlining main problems identified and policy objectives. Includes the nature of land rights, registration, consolidation, establishment of commissions, villagisation and urbanisation, key challenges for implementation, impact of AIDS, role of political representatives, civil society and NGOs, and sensitisation and consultation on the implementation of the Policy and the law. Argues that the recognition and registration of individual land rights appears to be a widespread aspiration in Rwanda and communal land tenure appears to have been seriously eroded in the past few decades.