Presentation to an international workshop on Making Land Rights More Secure held in Ouagadougou. Its main headings are: why discuss making land rights more secure?; legislation from Independence onwards; in the 1980s growing legal recognition of private property rights; emerging findings cast doubt on assumptions; in the 1990s innovative new approaches; in West Africa, five new approaches; a range of legal and institutional innovations; decentralisation – opportunities and risks; processes underway; securing land rights, a new look; improve understanding of local institutions for managing land; exchanging experience and debating the options; new findings to share; key issues to examine.