This open access academic article is based on qualitative research in the Caledonia peri-urban settlement, a medium-sized town 30km east of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, which is also one of the fastest growing informal settlements in the country. The authors analyse some of the complexities of peri-urban land politics in Africa and note the range of strategies undertaken by vulnerable settlers to protect against threats to their land tenure, including political rent-seeking, legal action, civil disobedience and religious symbolism. The authors observe that examination of these strategies in practice sheds light on the complex interplay between settlers’ agency and local authority dynamics, given the proliferation of competing claims to urban resources, particularly land, and the emergence of new forms of power in the dynamic environment of a rapidly-urbanising setting. Much has been written on Zimbabwe’s land struggles that focuses on farm land and rural areas, so this article offers a fresh perspective on land struggles in the country in a different context. That said, Caledonia was formerly a private farm that was first occupied by war veterans during the peak of the national land invasions in 2003; it was then gazetted as state land and used for housing and has since grown via informal settlement. The result is a huge mix of tenure types, housing types and means of initial land acquisition among residents, which makes everyone’s tenure fragile. The authors use case study examples to demonstrate how the different strategies noted above have been used to try to shore up tenure security. Conflict and contested authority emerge as key land governance issues, aggravated by plural and fragmented land administration mechanisms and options. A key conclusion that speaks to human ingenuity is what the authors call the “unyielding determination” of settlers to safeguard what they see as their rightful claims to land, and they recommend holistic and targeted interventions to support improvements to tenure security in peri-urban settings.

This open access academic article focuses on the role of multistakeholder platforms (MSPs) in integrated land and natural resource management, at national, district and local levels. MSPs have become increasingly important to land governance globally since the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries – MSPs are one of the main vehicles for implementation of the guidelines, which have been strongly promoted international donor organisations in selected countries in the Majority World. MSPs are also much promoted within the environmental management space. The authors of this paper focus on the Zambian experience with MSPs. They note that national level MSPs benefit from a broad range of actors and opportunities to lobby for policy and institutional change. Legally instituted MSPs at the district level provide a bridge between national policy development and local resource governance. At local level, informal and formal MSPs can effectively address resource conflicts and foster community coordination and customary regulations but the authors find they are less successful in influencing policy change due to weak linkages with formal governance institutions. These weak linkages between local and national governance levels lead to implementation issues, with policies not taking root at the local level. The authors conclude that MSPs have much potential to improve stakeholder dialogue in land governance but need to be supported by deliberate feedback loops and enhanced linkages between local, district and national level stakeholders to achieve more collaborative, equitable and effective landscape governance.

This short article, first published by Mokoro in February 2023 and now available on The Land Portal, highlights some of the impacts of the Women’s Land Tenure Security (WOLTS) project’s work in Tanzania from 2016 to 2023. The author, who is a widow and a trained gender and land champion, describes the confidence she has gained to speak up for the land inheritance rights of vulnerable women in her traditional Maasai community. She has also found her voice to speak up against gender-based violence, supporting her daughter to divorce and helping another woman to gain support from the village government to control her household’s income in place of her an abusive husband.

This open access academic article is based on literature review and fieldwork in five communities across three districts of northern Ghana’s semi-arid Upper West Region. The authors observe the commonality of links between resource scarcity, livelihoods and conflict throughout the world, and seek to unpack this in the context of struggles over control of African Rosewood, a timber resource much sought after by investors from Asia. Forest management and ownership in northern Ghana is intrinsically linked to land management and ownership. Customary land tenure practices are summed up in the article by one interviewee as follows: “no one owns the land or trees, land is communally owned. Once you’re from this village, you can go into the forest and harvest anything to use at home except sacred trees. For example, when rosewood is found on your land it belongs to the community”. The authors describe how tree tenure arises from the prevailing land tenure, and use rights don’t equate to exclusive rights. Different people or institutions may own the trees and the land they stand on. Local Chiefs following mostly undocumented customary law have great powers over Rosewood trees, and external commercial demand for these same trees results in power struggles, especially in areas where boundaries between different customary groups (clans and lineages) are not clearly defined. The foreign investors then become a third power player alongside national state and local elites, adding fuel to the resource conflicts when logging takes place under statutory licence from the Forestry Commission. Critically, the authors conclude that: “Inconsistencies in ownership rights between statutory and customary resource tenure were also found to be an important determinant of disputes escalating into violence”. The authors call for resolution of underlying structural issues around land control to achieve a sustainable solution to these resource conflicts. The article provides yet more evidence of the links between land and identity, especially in customary settings, and of the importance of involving local people in consultations with external investors.

This Land Portal Data Story, prepared within the Netherlands-funded Land-at-Scale Programme, provides a visual overview of land formalization efforts in Africa, illustrating how land data can be used to tell stories about key land governance trends and issues. It can be downloaded as a PDF file but is best viewed in its interactive online format. After introducing land reform and land formalization efforts in Africa in general, the author focuses on evidence from Ethiopia, where a land formalization model has been used that has been much-praised globally. The Data Story summarises findings from different attempts to quantify the impacts of land formalization on tenure security, as well as from the PRINDEX survey data of people’s perceptions of their own tenure security, noting that the 26% of Ethiopians who still perceive their tenure to be insecure is not very different from the proportion of people sharing that perception in countries that have not undergone land formalization. A key observation is that land formalization allows state governance institutions to permeate to local levels that previously had greater autonomy to govern their land under customary arrangements. Insecurities from this state penetration may therefore offset increased security of tenure from formalization of land ownership rights. However, the author highlights increasing tenure security for women through joint certification of land has emerged from several qualitative studies cited in the Data Story.

This short article, first published by Mokoro in December 2022 and now available on The Land Portal, highlights some of the impacts of the Women’s Land Tenure Security (WOLTS) project’s work in Tanzania from 2016 to 2023. The author, who is a gender and land champion in her Maasai community, explains the confidence she has acquired from undergoing WOLTS training to help her protect her community’s land and resolve a difficult dispute with a neighbouring village.

This short article, first published by Mokoro in December 2022 and now available on The Land Portal, highlights some of the impacts of the Women’s Land Tenure Security (WOLTS) project’s work in Tanzania from 2016 to 2023. The author, who is a traditional Maasai leader and a trained gender and land champion, describes some of the work he has done to promote the land rights of women in his community.

This visually appealing guide has been written to support indigenous peoples all over the world who are defending their lands, territories and natural resources. Its goal is to provide clear guidance to communities and their leaders to exercising the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) concerning any land-related investment or expropriation. The guide provides both strategic and technical guidance on what to do, how to do it and in what order. It suggests things that can be done by communities in preparation for negotiations with outsiders, as well as clarifying how to ensure their meaningful and effective participation during any such negotiations or consultations, and steps for following up afterwards. The guide is general in nature but will be of great interest to all those working with indigenous communities in countries across Africa. The guide is in English, with translations in French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese and several unnamed indigenous languages promised in coming months.

This opinion piece from the Coordinator of the global coalition, the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), discusses links between resource extraction, and associated poverty and human rights violations, and a wave of recent military coups in Western and Central Africa. The author notes that all seven African countries that have experienced military takeovers of national governments have economies largely dependent on resource extraction – Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Sudan, Niger, Guinea, and Gabon. Stronger land governance and a more equitable approach to natural resources is offered as the only way to protect community land rights and build countries that will become less vulnerable to coups.

Sometimes pictures tell the best stories. This photo essay from the International Land Coalition’s Africa team showcases the pilot work of the National Land Coalition in Togo to implement the country’s Land and Property Code at grassroots level. The Code, adopted in 2018, advocated for secure, equitable rural land rights, combating land grabbing, advancing community land registration, and improving policies and practices related to land and natural resource management, small-scale farming, and food security. The photo essay includes a link to a 4 minute video clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUA2SmCITas) about the importance of local land and natural resources to people’s livelihoods, and the greater food security that implementation of the Land Code has led to, via improved tenure security from conflict resolution through mapping and boundary demarcation.

This investigative article published by Mongabay looks back 10 years at the travails of five communities in Nigeria’s Cross River State, whose land was allocated to Wilmar International for palm oil production, despite strong local opposition. The land in question was originally leased by the communities to the government in 1962, but its Ibiae oil palm plantation, around 5,600 hectares, was then abandoned in 1970s and the land began again to be used by local residents. Local residents accuse Wilmar of encroaching on their farms and contaminating their watercourses with wastewater. The company has been subjected to multiple protests and legal claims, including an unsuccessful appeal to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, and the company denies the veracity of the accusations. Academics and CSOs are critical of Wilmar’s local outgrower schemes, arguing that they contribute to further deforestation. A key issue looked at in the article is that of who owns the land of the original plantations that were abandoned in the 1970s, with local communities citing government failures to pay rent for the original leases after the plantations were abandoned effectively ending the leases. The continuation of disputed claims and challenges to the investment by Wilmar underscore the ongoing relevance of ‘land grabs’ for local communities across Africa, and the complexity of resolving issues arising from them in the face of multiple legal spheres and weak land administration.

This State of Land Information (SOLI) report from the Land Portal assesses the state of land data in Madagascar against principles of land data openness, land information availability and accessibility, and overall good land governance. The report is one of a series produced by the Land Portal, featuring in-depth analysis of country level land information and making recommendations for targeted interventions to improve compliance with international open data standards. The report identifies that land legislation establishes fragmented land data and information in Madagascar, despite the country’s Constitutional commitment to “transparent administration of information concerning land” (Art. 34). The most important land data stakeholder is identified as the Ministry of Territorial Planning and Services (MASTF), which delivers land certificates. The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development manages forests and protected areas, and the Ministry of Mining and Strategic Resources manages mining licences. The report examines the availability of land data and information they provide according to six key land data categories. Madagascar’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information is reviewed, and Madagascar’s international and national commitments to access to information and its instruments for data and information governance are examined. The report concludes with an evaluation of the openness of land data and information in Madagascar by assessing it against 10 international best practice criteria. Much data is not available online, and there is limited to no use of metadata and data standards. The report concludes that, overall, land data in Madagascar is often incomplete and inaccurate, with a large percentage of land data either not available or requiring improvement to meet open data standards. Madagascar’s overall score is Slightly Open. A detailed Open Data Action Framework is offered to provide practical guidance for the Government of Madagascar to help with promoting collaboration and stakeholder capacity for improving the management, utility and accessibility of land data in the country.

This research-based article in the academic journal, ‘Land Use Policy’, looks at the role of state actors in exerting pressures on customary land in Zambia, including by direct involvement in land grabbing and by facilitating conditions for doing so. The authors’ collected qualitative data from the rural district of Mafinga in eastern Zambia, including from semi-structured interviews and group discussions with local actors. A key finding is that land conversion through the acquisition of customary land has been heightened by the creation of new districts across the country. This has led to some chiefs being co-opted into new councils as agents of development, with land then converted from customary to statutory land in the name of this same development. This is done using both formal and informal policy and legal tools and processes. The authors argue that these processes are shifting the risks and burdens of mainstream development paradigms to rural customary spheres, as customary lands in effect get co-opted into the modern state, leaving customary tenure systems fractured as per the article’s title. The authors remind us that ‘the state’ is never a neutral actor, and posit that stronger local capacities are needed to challenge these processes of change.

This open access article in the academic journal, ‘Land Use Policy’, reports findings from an ethnographic study and a food and nutrition survey carried out from October 2013 to November 2014 in Tamale, in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study was designed to examine the land access and food production challenges faced by urban and peri-urban populations, and their abilities to maintain resources to meet long-term needs. The authors report that food insecure households were more likely to mention lack of land than anything else as the primary reason for their inability to grow their own crops. Agricultural needs competed with infrastructural developments for land, and the shortage of agricultural land was more pronounced in urban than peri-urban areas. Coping strategies for dealing with the lack of land to grow food included buffer zone cultivation and urban to peri-urban to rural migrant farming. The article also explores various mechanisms utilised by women to circumvent their lack of access to land and provide food for their families. In one case cited in the article, a woman informant reports that strangers are kinder than family members to women with no land, and that cultivating personal relationships through giving gifts or crops after every harvest is a key strategy to being able to borrow land securely. Other strategies used by women include maximising their rights to gather resources such as shea nuts and dawadawa fruits on communal land that can be processed into oil and spices for consumption or sale.

This news feature piece from The New Humanitarian takes a close look at the land and resettlement needs of Somalia’s numerous IDP camp residents. The authors observe that three decades of conflict and humanitarian disasters have contributed to rapid urbanisation, with more than four million people, roughly a quarter of Somalia’s total population, having been displaced at least once. Most IDPs have ended up in overcrowded informal settlements in the capital, Mogadishu, and in other major towns, ramping up urban and peri-urban land issues. The authors argue that such informal settlements need to be thought of as permanent settlements, with initiatives in urban planning, infrastructure and tenure rights all required to make that feasible. However, there is a lack of donor funding for pilot projects to address these issues. People’s tenure security is influenced by the type of informal settlement they end up. There are two main types around Mogadishu, one longer established and in abandoned government buildings or private land in the city centre, the other more recent displacement camps on the city’s outskirts. The latter are managed informally by ‘gate-keepers’. Different clans, militias and businessmen have to be negotiated with across the city in any efforts to find durable solutions for the IDPs, and care has to be taken not to increase land values to the point where evictions will occur. Pastoralists who have lost their animals have no future but to stay in the cities, but some of those working with the IDPs still favour returning to be the best long-term option for farmers.

This paper from Maliasili is based on an online survey with 49 participants across 18 countries and in-depth interviews with leaders of 23 conservation organisations from 11 Sub-Saharan African countries. It overviews the current partnership landscape and highlights issues facing local-global partnerships, making suggestions for strengthening them for both local CSOs and INGOs. The paper is well presented with helpful graphics and is clearly written and structured. The authors identify core issues around expectations, clarity of roles, communications, sharing of credit, and administrative procedures, and gives specific guidance on key elements for improving partnerships in these areas.

The troubles of Socfin have frequented reports of land grabbing in Africa over the years. This article based on three months of investigative journalism by Gideon Sarpong and Robert Abunaw looks back on the past 10 years of Socfin’s legal struggles over its palm plantations in Cameroon. Socapalm, Socfin’s Cameroonian subsidiary, embarked on oil palm development in 2006, in Dibombari, an area of lush rainforest. The investment has been beset by allegations of forcible land displacement, pollution of vital water sources, decimation of delicate ecosystems, and sacrilegious intrusion into ancestral lands. Socfin has been fighting Sherpa et al vs Socfin in the French courts, after failing to implement mediated agreements reached in 2013 or address issues raised in a report it commissioned at that time from the Earthworm Foundation. Despite serious allegations around local peoples’ land loss and deforestation remaining unresolved while the legal proceedings continue, Socfin secured a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification in 2022 for its contested operations in Dibombari. This article is a sobering reminder that, though perhaps less in the limelight than they were 10-15 years ago, negative impacts of land investments on community land rights and environments continue on.

This research report from Refugees International is one of series on internal displacement. It was prepared in response to the armed conflict in Sudan since mid-April 2023, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The report focuses on the situation for former refugees from South Sudan who are spontaneously returning in large numbers, with no coordination or resettlement and repatriation planning. The violence in Sudan is noted to have displaced over three million people between April and July 2023, with over 700,000 seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, and 170,000 of those in South Sudan. Most of the returnees lack any means to travel to their communities of origin and many have been away a long time; property disputes in those areas are rife after a series of natural disasters and internal conflicts, so most of the new returnees lack a clear home to go back to. The report makes a series of recommendations for the Government of South Sudan, UN agencies, and the US and other donors, to deal with the crisis in the short-term, and it provides a useful background to understanding the longer-term issues around land and property rights that will need to be carefully addressed.

This 17-page summary of the contributions made by the CSO member organisations of the National Land Coalition in Togo, since its founding in 2012, provides a clear and well-illustrated example of successful collaboration behind land rights. The document outlines the state of land in Togo and uses a timeline to show how the NLC’s efforts have progressed to pilot implementation from 2022 of the country’s Land and Property Code at grassroots level. The Code, adopted in 2018, advocated for secure, equitable rural land rights, combating land grabbing, advancing community land registration, and improving policies and practices related to land and natural resource management, small-scale farming, and food security. The document highlights strategy objectives, theory of change, and major outcomes, including support for the new Code and strengthening of dialogues on land between government and CSOs. Key challenges are also highlighted for the promotion of gender equity and justice. The summary concludes with key lessons learned in this successful partnership.

This update of Rights and Resources Initiative’s (RRI) previous assessments of the state of land ownership globally includes comprehensively and collaboratively researched data for the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, updated since the first edition came out in 2015. RRI is a global Coalition of 21 Partners and more than 150 rightsholders organizations and their allies dedicated to advancing the forestland and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, local communities, and the women within these communities. While headlines and key messages are pitched at the global level, legislative developments in Kenya and Liberia are highlighted as outcomes of sustained advocacy and civil society engagement on land rights and tenure security. For SSA as a whole, the total area owned by Indigenous Peoples, Afro- descendant Peoples, and local communities is reported to have increased from 128.08 million Ha in 2015 to 165.49 million Ha, equivalent to an increase from 7.42% to 9.59% of the total SSA land area. The data covers only 23 countries in SSA, and the authors note that most of the increase came in Kenya and Liberia, as a result of the passing of the 2016 Community Land Act in Kenya and the 2018 Land Rights Act in Liberia. This may be indicative of how more secure tenure rights for local and indigenous peoples across the continent can be achieved by continued civil society engagement with governments to achieve policy, legal and regulatory reforms. The authors note, however, the shrinking of civic space that has occurred in many countries as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, as an area to be watched. Also noted is a new law recognizing the rights of Indigenous Pygmy peoples in the DRC, adopted in 2022 and whose impact has yet to be seen. The detailed endnotes spanning 33 pages of the report contain invaluable references to data sources on the 23 SSA countries covered in the research.

This State of Land Information (SOLI) report from the Land Portal assesses the state of land data in Botswana against principles of land data openness, land information availability and accessibility, and overall good land governance. The report is one of a series produced by the Land Portal, featuring in-depth analysis of country level land information and making recommendations for targeted interventions to improve compliance with international open data standards. The report identifies the various public sector sources of land data and information in Botswana, including the Department of Surveys and Mapping, and the Ministry of Lands Management, Water and Sanitation Services, both of which provide data only on request; the State Land Integrated Management System and the Tribal Land Integrated Management System, neither of which is publicly accessible); and the Botswana National Archives and Records Service (BANARAS) and various academic institutions, all of which are publicly accessible. The report examines the availability of land data and information they provide according to six key land data categories. Botswana’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information is reviewed, and Botswana’s international and national commitments to access to information and its instruments for data and information governance are examined to assess for transparency about the purpose for collecting, storing and disseminating information. The report concludes with an evaluation of the openness of land data and information in Botswana by assessing it against 10 international best practice criteria. The report concludes that, overall, the state of land information in Botswana is only slightly open.

This State of Land Information (SOLI) report from the Land Portal assesses the state of land data in Zambia against principles of land data openness, land information availability and accessibility, and overall good land governance. The report is one of a series produced by the Land Portal, featuring in-depth analysis of country level land information and making recommendations for targeted interventions to improve compliance with international open data standards. The report identifies the various public sector sources of land data and information in Zambia, including the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, the Ministry for Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, the ZAMSTATS website of the Zambian Statistical Agency, and the Zambian Geographical Portal, and examines the availability of land data and information they provide according to six key land data categories. Zambia’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information is reviewed, and Zambia’s international and national commitments to access to information and its instruments for data and information governance are examined to assess for transparency about the purpose for collecting, storing and disseminating information. The report concludes with an evaluation of the openness of land data and information in Zambia by assessing it against 10 international best practice criteria. The report concludes that, overall, the state of land information in Zambia is partially open.

This research report from Refugees International is one of a series on internal displacement. It looks closely at the urban dimensions of internal displacement in Somalia and makes a series of recommendations for the federal government and for the international community, to support durable long-term solutions for IDPs in urban informal settlements. The report explores the drivers behind displacement in Somalia as well as its changing nature. It highlights how climate-related challenges and events have become an increasing cause of displacement in recent years, more so than conflict, and how urbanization is changing the landscape of Somalia as a whole. The authors note that Somalia has more than 2,400 IDP sites, of which some 85% are informal settlements on private land in urban centres. They acknowledge the progress that has been made on paper in recent years, with several new laws passed to support IDP rights providing a positive foundation for policy change. Yet these laws remain to be implemented and thus have little impact yet on Somalia’s millions of IDPs.

This book examines the impacts of land tenure reform interventions implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. Since 2000, many African countries have introduced programs aimed at providing smallholder farmers with low-cost certificates for land held un-der customary tenure. Yet there are many contending views and debates on the impact of these land policies and this book reveals how tenure security, agricultural productivity, and social inclusion were affected by the interventions. It analyses the results of carefully selected, authoritative studies on interventions in Benin, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe and applies a realist synthesis methodology to explore the socio-political and economic contexts. Drawing on these results, the book argues that inadequate attention paid to the core characteristics of rural social systems obscures the benefits of customary tenure while overlooking the scope for reforms to reduce the gaps in social status among members of customary communities

This short article highlights some of the impacts of the Women’s Land Tenure Security (WOLTS) project’s work in Tanzania from 2016 to 2023 and has been published in English and Kiswahili on various websites. The article explains the important role of trained gender and land champions, chosen from local communities, in building local confidence and critical mass to protect community land and especially promote the land rights of vulnerable groups such as widows and women who have not borne children. The author reflects on personal experience of visiting different communities with some of these champions and seeing the impact they were having on those they met.

Destaque Rural is a series produced by the Mozambican NGO Observatorio do Meio Rural (Rural Environment Observatory). This paper looks at the return of displaced people in the northern province of Cabo Delgado which has been badly affected by violence attributed to Islamic insurgents. While not explicitly about land rights, it paints a useful picture for understanding the links between conflict, widespread poverty despite significant private sector investment, and the abuse of local rights by state agencies including the police, army, and local government.  A slow but encouraging post-violence recovery is happening in areas abandoned during the worst of the violence in 2021 (when it reached Palma, a key coastal town and operational base for the massive TotalEnergies natural gas project). Yet even as local government re-establishes itself and services are gradually restored, there is still a persistent “asymmetry of access to State resources (jobs, subsidies and economic support)” and “suspicions of little transparency in resource management”. The paper calls for a holistic response including institutional strengthening, support for small farmers, and the defence of human rights. The fact that the State appears to have learned little from the violence and destruction – the mix of mistrust and inequality will continue to cause resentment and feed conflict – is a lesson for land and resources governance reforms in  post-conflict situations.

This tribute to Robin Palmer was authored by his long-time friend, collaborator, and fellow member of Mokoro, Martin Adams. It speaks to his tremendous contribution to land rights and land tenure security for all, not least through this website. The article includes selections from some of the many messages and tributes received by Mokoro after Robin’s passing from colleagues across the world.

This tribute to Robin Palmer was authored by the land rights scholar and activist Professor Ian Scoones of the University of Sussex’s Institute of Development Studies. Robin and Ian shared a common interest in land rights in Zimbabwe and the southern African region. The article tracks Robin’s academic and publishing history alongside the progression of his career supporting land rights in Africa and globally.

This tribute to Robin Palmer was authored by his fellow land rights collaborator at Oxfam, Craig Castro, and was published on Oxfam’s From Poverty to Power blog. The article shares lessons from Robin’s many achievements and the impact and influence on the many people he met and worked with over the years.

This State of Land Information (SOLI) report from the Land Portal assesses the state of land data in Malawi against principles of land data openness, land information availability and accessibility, and overall good land governance. The report is one of a series produced by the Land Portal, featuring in-depth analysis of country level land information and making recommendations for targeted interventions to improve compliance with international open data standards. The report identifies the various public sector sources of land data and information in Malawi, including the Ministry of Lands, the Ministry of Local Government, the Malawi Spatial Data Platform (MASDAP), the Malawi Housing Corporation, Traditional Land Administration Management offices, and the Malawi National Statistical Office, and examines the availability of land data and information they provide according to six key land data categories. It also reviews several private sector holders of land information in the country. Malawi’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information is reviewed, and Malawi’s international and national commitments to access to information and its instruments for data and information governance are examined to assess for transparency about the purpose for collecting, storing and disseminating information. The report concludes with an evaluation of the openness of land data and information in Malawi by assessing it against 10 international best practice criteria. The report concludes that, overall, the state of land information in Malawi is only slightly open.

This report covers a meeting held in Maputo in January 2023 to discuss the status of women’s land rights in Mozambique, and the role of women in the recent dialogue over revision of the National Land Policy.  The meeting was organized as part of a wider initiative by PLAAS  (the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa), and an established Mozambican NGO, Livaningo.  The meeting report outlines the current situation of women’s land rights in Mozambique, with varying official and civil society views expressed about land rights titling for women and the formalisation of customary rights.  Despite having a relatively progressive Land Law in place since 1997, the meeting discussed concerns about a lack of respect for national policies, community rights, and particularly women’s land rights.  Attention is drawn to the continuing influence of patriarchal cultural practices within communities that exclude women from programmes to register title over land parcels, alongside implementation problems within the land administration system. The report highlights the limited role women have played in development of the new National Land Policy, concluded and approved in late 2022),  with speakers asking why women who work the land are still not consulted.  The report ends with a list of recommendations that are continentally-relevant, underlining that women’s land rights is not just about securing title deeds but also about ensuring that women participate in decision-making and have a voice in land governance issues in general.

This is an important and highly recommended article in an era of advancing climate change. It sees land expropriation as a ‘hidden danger of the response to climate change’, with the poor most likely to be affected.  Three conditions for fair expropriation are identified: 1) land rights are effectively recognized by law; 2)  an adequate expropriation process is well detailed in law and there is administrative capacity to implement it; and 3) formal legality and due process are respected and access to justice is adequate. Using Mozambique and the catastrophic impact of Cyclone Idai in 2019 as a case study, the paper shows how weaknesses in all three areas led to serious land rights abuse by official agencies confronting an undeniably urgent humanitarian challenge. Two groups of people were affected: those on the coast with no formal rights over their land and homes and thus subject to ‘enormous state discretion’ with regard to how they were treated and compensated; and those inland and also lacking documented rights, whose land was expropriated to resettle displaced coastal communities. The urgency of the situation appeared to justify setting aside the basic principles of Mozambique’s ‘fairly protective’ land law, but what is striking in the paper is how this response resembles the norm in Mozambican land governance: what happened with Cyclone Idai happens all the time when state agencies manage land acquisition by private investors. You do not need a natural disaster for the rule of law to be set aside in countries where injustice and malpractice occur even in ‘normal’ times; and this tendency is merely exacerbated when disaster strikes. The chilling message is that as ‘climate change’ inexorably causes more mayhem, the ‘hidden danger’ of illegal and poorly managed expropriation is going to become far more frequent.

This State of Land Information (SOLI) report from the Land Portal assesses the state of land data in Namibia against principles of land data openness, land information availability and accessibility, and overall good land governance. The report is one of a series produced by the Land Portal, featuring in-depth analysis of country level land information and making recommendations for targeted interventions to improve compliance with international open data standards. The report identifies various sources of land data and information in Namibia, including from the National Spatial Data Infrastructure of the Namibia Statistics Agency down to local government data on households in informal settlements held by the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, an NGO, often in partnership with local authorities. Most land data in Namibia, however, falls under the custodianship of one of five national government bodies: the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The report examines the availability of land data and information they provide according to six key land data categories. Namibia’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information is reviewed, as well as international and national commitments to access to information. Namibia’s instruments for data and information governance are examined to assess for transparency about the purpose for collecting, storing and disseminating information. The report evaluates the openness of land data and information in Namibia by assessing it against 10 international best practice criteria, and concludes that, overall, the state of land information in Namibia is partially open, with assessments ranging from legal and policy data being fully open to data on land values not being open at all.

This article looks at how Maasai pastoralists are diversifying into different livestock and non-livestock responses to the fragmentation of traditional rangelands, climate stress, and restricted mobility. Unpredictable rains and extreme climate events are undermining the ecosystems that gave rise to pastoralist production systems. The Maasai are adopting new responses to secure their livelihoods, and these are strongly conditioned by existing patterns of social differentiation and power relations. The analysis moves beyond debates about the “peril to pastoralists” to look at how changing patterns of production, accumulation and agrarian politics impact on access to land and water resources, and how responses are conditioned by pre-existing patterns of social differentiation and land and resource use rules. Education emerges as a key variable, with younger Maasai men in particular “better placed to access information on and navigate changing rights-based access mechanisms” while making use of the “prevalent moral economy … to legitimize … claims to land allocation”. Younger Maasai women are also developing their own diversification responses but the same ‘moral economy’ excludes them from certain responses that depend on access to land and resources  – “gender, age, and education influence resource access as a ‘dynamic and constantly re-negotiated process’”.  The article also shows how adaptive customary systems are, with effective though not always equitable responses to changing conditions and opportunities. It has important implications for support programmes for pastoralists and for all societies where land and resource access is being renegotiated in response to climate, economic, and political changes.

This State of Land Information (SOLI) report from the Land Portal assesses the state of land data in Senegal against principles of land data openness, land information availability and accessibility, and overall good land governance. The report is one of a series produced by the Land Portal, featuring in-depth analysis of country level land information and making recommendations for targeted interventions to improve compliance with international open data standards. The report identifies the various public sector sources of land data and information in Senegal and notes that laws and policies are widely available online. Senegal’s commitment since 2018 to the Open Government Partnership is lauded. However there is an almost total lack of land data publicly available or accessible online or offline, due to implementation issues. Only the state is authorised to request the registration of immoveable property or to allow access to records. The Directorate of Taxes and Domains is responsible for title registration, and records are held by numerous private surveyors and by the Department of the Conservation of Property and Land Rights. Land use data is the responsibility of the Department of Urban Planning and Architecture, and the National Agency for Statistics and Demography hosts a range of land development data and a cartographic website, but information is only available electronically. The report examines the availability of land data and information they provide according to six key land data categories. Senegal’s legal framework for data governance and for opening up information is reviewed, and Senegal’s international and national commitments to access to information and its instruments for data and information governance are examined to assess for transparency about the purpose for collecting, storing and disseminating information. The report concludes with an evaluation of the openness of land data and information in Senegal by assessing it against 10 international best practice criteria. Very little of the country’s land data was available online or otherwise accessible at the time the report was prepared, although various new initiatives in support of open data are noted. The report concludes that, overall, the open land data ecosystem in Senegal is very limited, but with multiple opportunities for improvement.

Malawian President, Dr Lazarus Chakwera, has put forward a directive to establish ‘mega farms’. The Ministry of Agriculture have moved to establish these farms by calling for expressions of interest from ‘eligible and capable players’ from the private sector. The President made the directive during the Agriculture Commercialization conference in Lilongwe in June 2022 following through on campaign promises made two years earlier. The article provides an overview of the President’s move toward mega farms and the process going forward in establishing new farms that include a 5,000 hectare estate in Dwambazi.

The reality that significant improvements in security of tenure at scale in rural Africa are still needed nearly a decade after the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) suggests a need to explore its limitations and consider what it would take to realize its objectives. The article documents significant impacts of the VGGT reform processes and highlights illustrative or “one-off” results.

The land crises and large-scale land grabs affecting many African countries today stem from historical and colonial mistakes whose problems remain. The systems, policies and laws that are being pushed to “register” and “formalise” land ownership do not put into consideration the cultural and historical aspects that govern land in many countries on the continent. Professor Sam Lwanga Lunyiigo asks pertinent questions about this push and about implications of customary land registration in Uganda.

The Key Messages on Sustaining Peace through Women’s Empowerment and Increased Access to Land and Property Rights in Fragile and Conflict-affected Contexts were intended to provide a reference on how to empower women and protect their housing, land and property rights in fragile and crisis affected contexts, and to set out why this is an essential element to sustain peace and stability. The publication includes a list of resources to further inform the development of related programmes and projects.

Women in the districts of Bombali and Pujehun, affected by the large-scale land acquisition by multilateral companies, have called on the government to ensure inclusiveness in decision-making and good governance of their lands. They argue that most decisions relating to land in Sierra Leone are not inclusive of women, hence any family that does not have a male child stands to forfeit their lands. A local MP noted that 75 percent of the lands in the Sahn Malen chiefdom are owned by the company with title for 75 years.

In many parts of the world large-scale projects such as agribusiness plantations, mines and infrastructure have heightened the policy imperative to recognise the rights of socially, politically and juridically marginalised people – from small-scale farmers to forest dwellers, pastoralists, artisanal fishers and people living in informal settlements, including many who identify as Indigenous Peoples. Yet effective responses to land justice issues often require not just securing certain precarious rights, but also addressing imbalances between the rights and obligations of different groups. Includes between extraction and stewardship, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, bundles of rights and obligations, from concepts to context.

Includes overview, the problem: Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) finance a destructive model, current situation: DFIs write off loans, impacted communities face repression, human rights abuses, the role of European DFIs, recommendations. The negative outcomes experienced in the case of Feronia Inc. continue to be repeated across Africa, including allegations of severe human rights violations, dispossession of community land, environmental destruction, and pollution, inducing conflict within local communities, creating dependency on insecure and underpaid jobs, whilst undermining food sovereignty, self-determination, and community resilience.

Includes history of the project, the scale down, the role of European DFIs (Development Finance Institutions), recommendations. The issues of concern and damages often expressed by a critical mass of the Addax project communities have been confirmed. The communities were taken by surprise when the project was first scaled down and then sold twice. The DFIs have failed to provide timely information on obvious risks of failure and to act accordingly. All this created harm that could have been avoided. In the end, communities did not have access to justice.

Includes Socfin in Sahn Malen, Pujehun District, lack of free, prior and informed consent, inadequate compensation for loss of land and crops, failure to mark boundaries of family land before clearing the land, indecent labour conditions, root causes of the Malen issues, recommendations.

Includes the literature rush, a longer-term perspective, contingent outcomes and flawed models, the place of legal research and action. Analytical work can help identify entry points to support governments and activists in reconfiguring public policies, such as on land governance, foreign investment and rural development. It can help consolidate systems for continued monitoring, shift more spotlight onto researchers and practitioners in the global South and strengthen alliances and shared learning spaces that cross national boundaries.

This comic is based on field research conducted around the Feronia palm oil plantation in Tshopo province in north-east DR Congo as part of a project on ‘environmental defenders and atmospheres of violence’. The story focuses on people living next to the Feronia concession and how they experience and fight against the company. While the names in the comic are fictional, the described events are based on testimonies gathered during field research. This includes accounts of repression and heavy-handed responses by the security services, which highlight the dangers faced by those defending their land, their livelihoods, and the environment.

Some communities that have successfully created by-laws and community land governance committees that meet the Land Rights Act’s requirements for women’s participation can now continue with the land documentation process in a more representative and inclusive way. When land management committees represent a wider cross-section of the community, they can significantly improve land and natural resource management. Women often know more about boundary lines, because they are the ones engaged in agroforestry activities such as growing food and collecting firewood.

The 2021 Conference on Land Policy in Africa opened with a resounding call for African countries to develop pro-poor land policies and inclusive land tenure rights, particularly for women and youth. Anything related to land needs strong political will, people buy-in, and close collaboration. Climate change has raised the risk of deforestation and land degradation. In recent years, a surge in the purchase of African land by foreign companies and governments to grow food and other crops for export has also set alarm bells ringing on and off the continent.

Africa’s Catholic bishops have criticized the appropriation of land, natural resources and other economic assets by private companies and called on national governments to show greater concern for local community rights and needs. They said: ‘The impunity of corporate and elite capture of African land and natural resources and the damage this is doing to Africa’s food systems, to our environment, our soils, lands and water, our biodiversity, our nutrition and health is a major concern. Land grabs push people off the land, fuelling conflicts and provoking displacement.’ They expressed concern that land deals in 2021, covering more than 62 million acres, had been concluded ‘by private actors encouraged and financially supported by governments and public development banks.’ Such business ventures continued to reflect European perspectives because of ‘the legacy of colonialism and huge differentials of power and capacity.’

Describes how inclusive technology, a gender-responsive documentation process and shifting gender norms are empowering women through secure land rights. Includes recognising women as landowners, leading by example, securing land, securing futures.