Land tenure reform policy has been affected by many different types of decentralization, but the literature has rarely explicitly addressed the implications of this. The paper provides a review of how the issues of decentralization are linked to land tenure reform in theory and practice. Begins with clarifying some key terms, then looks at contending perspectives on decentralization and how these relate to the UNDP’s pillars of democratic governance. Reviews the different types of land tenure reform in terms of the role of centralized and decentralized institutions, illustrating strengths and weaknesses, gaps and challenges with experience from a range of developing countries. Turns to conclusions and policy recommendations, considering how decentralized approaches to land tenure reform can contribute to goals such as gender equity, social cohesion, human rights, and the identity of indigenous peoples.
Date: June 2008

Contains executive summary; food insecurity and the AIDS epidemic; barriers to women’s farming; women’s land rights; economic and social empowerment; violence against women; inheritance rights and property grabbing; politics, ideologies and vested interests; recommendations.

Land policy in Ethiopia has been controversial since the fall of the Derg in 1991. While the current Ethiopian government has implemented a land policy that is based on state ownership of land, many agricultural economists and international donor agencies have propagated some form of privatised land ownership. Traces the antagonistic arguments of the two schools of thought how their antagonistic principles of fairness vs. efficiency are played out and have trickled down in the formulation of the federal and regional land policies especially on the new Oromia regional land policy.

Includes case studies: land market dynamics and land reform in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga; current government programmes and policies; South Africa’s land market and land reform; private sector contributions to land reform; 3 agri-business sectors and land reform – fruit, timber, sugar; research conclusions: key challenges to land reform now; where are we now, and where are we heading?; getting back on track: CDE’s recommendations. Of considerable concern that the Director-General of Land Affairs recently said that at least 50% of government land reform projects have failed to make their beneficiaries permanently better off. Much empirical evidence to show that the private sector and markets make major contributions to South Africa’s development in general and to land reform in particular. CDE believes it is vital to understand private sector perspectives on land reform and that the positive role of the private sector in land reform can and should be expanded.

Land and decentralisation policies in Senegal have been closely linked since independence in 1960. Public lands are currently managed by the local governments of municipalities and rural communities, with the latter responsible for the land and natural resources in unprotected parts of their territory, and the former empowered to issue building permits. The law also provides opportunities for rural communities, municipalities and regions to be involved in managing special areas such as classified forests, national parks and protected spaces, thereby recognising that land and natural resources cannot be managed effectively unless the communities concerned are engaged in the process through their local governments. Popular participation depends on several factors: how far the central government and administration are prepared to go in involving local people and local governments, and therefore what rights they grant them; the competences and resources available to communities; and the human and financial resources that local governments can call upon in order to fulfil their roles. Explores these issues and discusses their effect on decentralisation and land management in Senegal.

This paper presents the legal framework and methods of producing information about land in Benin, and looks at the complex modalities of determining, recognising and ‘translating’ rights in rural and urban areas (the Rural Land Plan and Urban Land Registry). It provides observations on several current issues, particularly the political and administrative decentralisation that is fundamentally changing the country’s institutional landscape.

Report is in 3 parts: literature review findings, field study findings, recommendations. Divided into land justice and family justice and concludes by defining strategic interventions for the Justice, Law and Order Sector. Finds a dominant preference for disputes to be resolved at the lowest level possible, that lack of legal aid remains a big hindrance to access to justice, and that the conflict-affected districts of Lango, Acholi, Karamoja and Teso deserve special attention as a matter of urgency to resolve emerging land disputes and conflicts.

This paper developed from an articulated process to address the rights to land of pastoral groups, within a holistic perspective and accounting for changes brought about by climate change. It brings together the inputs made by over 120 participants in a web-based forum organised in 2006 and managed by the International Land Coalition on pastoral land rights. Further materials and lessons have been drawn from a number of projects and experiences all around the world, in order to provide a comprehensive update about the rights of nomadic and pastoralist groups and natural resources. Elements for discussion have also been contributed by another web-based forum organised by the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism in 2007, focusing on climate change, adaptation and pastoralism, which received contributions from more than 80 participants belonging to or working with pastoral groups in different regions of the world.

In many parts of Africa, legal services organisations have developed innovative ways for using legal processes to help disadvantaged groups have more secure land rights. Their approaches, tools and methods vary widely – from legal literacy training to paralegals programmes, from participatory methodologies to help local groups register their lands or negotiate with government or the private sector through to legal representation and strategic use of public interest litigation. The challenges they respond to also vary – from managing local land conflicts to challenging gender discrimination, through to securing land rights within the context of oil pipelines and mining projects. While some of this experience has been documented, much of it has not. Only a very limited part of this experience has fed into international debates, and there have been few opportunities for lesson-sharing and cross-fertilisation among practitioners. This report, based on a workshop at the University of Ghana in March 2008, aims to feed lessons from this local innovation into international processes. Includes cases studies from Cameroon, Mali, Mozambique, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Congo.

Includes the legal process of land reform in Namibia; the framing of the Kessl case; Article 16 and land expropriation; Article 18 on administrative justice; a new jurisprudence of land reform in Namibia? The case repeatedly upholds the legality of the principle of land expropriation, but finds that the Ministry’s administration of it has violated Namibian law on several grounds. The judgement undermines the Government’s credibility in terms of its ability to plan and manage its own land reform programme. This opinion charts the way to a new Namibian jurisprudence that can break the deadlock on land reform, moving the process forward with full commitment to the rule of law and is highly significant for the future of land reform in Namibia and Southern Africa generally.

Includes the grabbing of parastatal land, Agricultural Development Corporation farms, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya Industrial Estates, Kenya Railways Corporation, National Social Security Fund, Kenya Food and Chemical Corporation Limited, State House and Military land.

ODI’s Humanitarian Policy Group held an event to explore the role that land issues have played in the current crisis in Kenya. The HPG Policy Brief released to coincide with the event argues that it is essential that humanitarian actors understand land issues as they seek to assist displaced populations and facilitate the process of return or resettlement.

Contains introduction; global – a new threat to poor people’s land – biofuels, older threats, decentralisation; regional � ten years ago, regional land policy review, 2006-7, donors, governments and civil society, the policy-implementation gap, decentralisation, your research programme – DLRSA; conclusion. Argues that since policy engagement at the national level in the past decade has not brought too many successes, more might be achieved in future at the decentralised local level.
22-23 April 2008 (PLAAS Workshop on Land Reform from Below: Decentralised Land Reform in Southern Africa)

Demonstrates how secure land rights are particularly important in helping to reverse three types of phenomena: gender discrimination; social exclusion of vulnerable groups; and wider social and economic inequalities linked to inequitable and insecure rights to land. Argues that policymakers should adopt and implement the continuum of land rights because no single form of tenure can meet the different needs of all social groups. However, a range of land tenure options enables both women and men from all social groups to meet their changing needs over time. This study can assist policy-makers to understand and apply practical ways in which people’s land rights can be made more secure and improve land policies as a basis for fairer and more sustainable urban and rural development.

Includes recent research on children’s property and inheritance rights in Southern and Eastern Africa; inheritance, relevant legislation and policy and the justice system in Zimbabwe; research in Mutoko, Seke, Binga and Manjolo Districts; discussion and recommendations.

Includes women and livelihoods; gender equality in land policy and policy development; the Communal Land Reform Act; women’s rights to land and livestock; conclusion and recommendations.

Based on field research conducted by two grassroots organizations, CINDI-Kitwe in Zambia and GROOTS Kenya, to map and document cases of property grabbing from children, in particular those who became orphans due to AIDS. Includes problem analysis and study objectives; presenting children’s experiences in Zambia and in Kenya; conclusions and lessons learned.

A contribution to the current vibrant debate on land in Kenya following recent upheavals. Argues the need for a radical restructure of the way property relations are governed because what is being contested today is not just property but power over property. Makes practical suggestions for genuinely local democratisation of land governance. Need to act on identified illegal allocation of public land; devolve, not de-concentrate, land administration and to the most local level possible; and vest radical title in real communities, not district/tribal territorial domains.

Despite programmes for rural land reform and redistribution around the world, inequitable land distribution and rural poverty remain profound in much of the rural South. Suggests a new approach to land reform and rural development. ‘Rural territorial development’ is based on and encourages shared territorial identity (distinctive productive, historical, cultural and environmental features) amongst different stakeholders and social groupings. Builds on the fact that rural people’s livelihood strategies are complex and often mostly non-agricultural in nature. Works by (1) promoting collaboration between different sectoral agencies, levels and administrative units of government, and with civil society and private sector actors, within distinctive geographical spaces; and (2) creating new, inclusive multi-stakeholder fora for participatory development planning and implementation at the meso scale – working across groupings of local municipalities, which are often too small on their own to drive economic development.

Includes the return process, public knowledge of land rights, land conflicts and dispute resolution, post-conflict vulnerable group issues, performance of land administration institutions, recommendations. Finds the issue of return not adequately dealt with in the NLP. 92% have returned in Lango, but only 5% in Acholi. Increasing number of land conflicts, high levels of misgiving and distrust of central Government’s intentions, almost no knowledge of the Uganda Land Act, misgivings over demarcation and land registration, statutory and traditional dispute resolution institutions lack capacity, Land Tribunals dysfunctional, rising concerns over compensation rising, a host of tensions.

Summarises the main presentations by Alex de Waal, John Unruh, Liz Alden Wily and Chris Huggins and responses by discussants based on these broad topics: why humanitarian organisations need to tackle land issues; legal pluralisms in humanitarian approaches; land in emergency to development transitions: who does what?; land in return, reintegration and recovery processes; transitional programming; protection and legal aid.

Contains introduction; resources and civil war in South Sudan; the Sudanese Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the land question; issues for discussion and further study; the future of customary tenure; conclusions.

Presentation of civil society views for pro-poor land policies and laws in Zambia. Includes introduction and background; overview of the land policy options paper; context setting for policy development; policy options; implementation framework. Lays emphasis on protection of customary land, ability to convert leasehold back to customary land, need for size limits, 30% state land allocation should go to women, awareness raising on joint registration.

A study in the Oromiya and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples regions of Ethiopia assesses the impacts of land registration and certification since 2004, including joint certification for husbands and wives. Includes gender implications of land certification and empowerment of women, position of polygamous wives, perceptions of benefits of the reform, recommendations.
Date: January 2008

Includes migration and displacement; the issue of resettlement; policy on resettlement in Zambia; resettlement schemes on the Copperbelt Province; implementation of the resettlement scheme at Kambilombilo.

Southern Africa-Nordic Centre Conference, University of Western Cape

Contains case studies of earthquakes in Pakistan, Indonesia, Bhuj, India and Bam, Iran, of hurricanes in Grenada, Louisiana and Central America, and of floods in Mozambique. Followed by key findings and lessons learnt from the case studies and other research, and recommendations. Looks at potential tools for addressing land issues after natural disasters and an analytical framework.

The reform of land tenure institutions is now back on the national and global policy agendas. While at a certain level of generality the principle of gender equality in access to resources, including land, has been endorsed by a diverse range of policy actors, there are many tensions and ambiguities likely to obstruct women’s effective access to land and its contribution to decent livelihoods. There are important questions about liberalisation policies vis-a-vis land, given the well documented difficulties that low-income women in particular face in accessing land through markets. Moreover, access to land can only play a complementary role in women’s (and men’s) livelihoods, and one that needs to be matched by income from employment. But many developing countries today confront formidable barriers to industrialisation and employment generation. There are also troubling implications from a gender perspective in the current endorsement of ‘customary’ systems of land tenure and decentralisation of land management. Women’s rights advocates fear that this can play into the hands of powerful interest groups hostile to women’s rights.

Contains background, key actors and institutions, key problems and risks, possible scenarios, main recommendations.

Contains introduction, 3 farms – the beginnings of land expropriation in Namibia; the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act 6 of 1995; the process of land reform in Namibia; the resettlement programme revisited; farm workers and resettlement; conclusions and recommendations. Argues that Namibia has to reconceptualise its agrarian model because the present land reform programme is setting impoverished black farmers up to fail.

State/people forest relations are at a turning point in Liberia. The crux of the issue is property relations and how the rights of rural Liberians to forests are treated in law and in practice. Central to the problem and the solution is the status of customary land rights. The paper tracks what happened to the natural rights indigenous Liberians have to their lands and the valuable forests that grow on them. It looks back at the treatment of customary land tenure over the century-long process of forming the modern Liberian state. Through fieldwork, the study identifies customary property norms as operating today. It finds that colonial policy with regard to indigenous land interests was uncharacteristically benign, as was the imposition of indirect rule. Together these have created a foundation on which democratic land relations may be rebuilt. There is also genuine vibrancy in collective norms of customary tenure closely linked to the role of forestland in the rural economy. Interference in customary property rights is severe but mainly recent. Favourable conditions for remedying the situation exist. Remedial rather than radical action is required. Practical steps towards achieving a solution are suggested. Much rests on the proposed Community Rights Law.

Includes land rights and conflict, humanitarian challenges, the political and legal framework, economic reform and governance issues, human rights and humanitarian organisations in Angola, corruption and forced evictions, the demobilisation process, rural land grabs, recommendations.

Focuses on the social protection aspects of children’s property and inheritance rights in southern and eastern Africa. Discusses the relationship between HIV and AIDS and agriculture, food security, and rural livelihoods (including children’s property and inheritance rights). Considers factors that render children’s property rights more vulnerable than adults’ property rights. Reviews literature on social protection of children, emphasizing historical developments, types of child social protection, and recipients and providers of child social protection. Presents a rights’ framework for the social protection of children and assesses children’s social protection and property/inheritance rights in the context of international agreements and national instruments, including National Plans of Action, as well as succession and land laws. Presents and analyses several case studies of programmes concerned with children’s property and inheritance rights and social protection issues in Southern and Eastern Africa. Offers recommendations regarding priority policy and programmatic areas for children’s property rights and social protection in the context of HIV and AIDS.

Includes setting the scene; understanding gender and property rights in the era of AIDS; legislation, training and capacity development; advocacy, mobilisation and networking; political dialogue; linking gender, property rights and livelihoods; taking stock – where are we and where should we go?; recommendations and ways forward; annexes.

Since the 2005 Land Summit, new approaches to land reform have been on the agenda, yet there remains little clarity on the way forward. The main focus has been on means of accelerating the redistribution of land through new modes of acquiring land. Acquisition is an important matter but if treated in isolation risks mis-specifying the core problems evident in land reform in South Africa. A new phase of land reform located within a wider agrarian reform is needed and will require new institutional arrangements. Any alternative strategy will have to revise the institutional mechanisms that have been handling land reform thus far: are the procedures and the institutions that are in place to design and implement land reform adequate and appropriate to the kind of new tasks envisaged? What new farming units and activities are intended, and what post-transfer support will be required to make this agricultural system productive? This paper explores mechanisms appropriate to one kind of agricultural alternative: a vision of a productive, small-scale essentially household farm sector. Draws on experiences from Latin America and elsewhere in Africa.

Includes patterns of land use in land reform; how land use is currently planned; livelihood impacts of land uses in land reform; dynamics in the commercial farming sector; international experiences; towards alternative land uses and livelihoods; conclusions; recommendations.

Includes how land is currently identified and acquired; recognising and responding to demand; what do we know about land needs?; innovative ways of working with needs / demand and supply; land prices; towards alternatives; conclusion; recommendations.

Contains introduction – the challenge of tenure reform in South Africa; tenure issues in resettlement: redistribution and restitution; tenure security of farm dwellers – securing long-term tenure under ESTA, labour tenants, ways forward; conclusion and recommendations on resettlement and farm dwellers.

Contains summary of proceedings, discussions and feedback, and list of resolutions. Topics include the need for reform, the road map to land reform, framework for stakeholder support – funding arrangements, urban land reform.

This report draws lessons from experience of using legal processes to secure local resource rights within the context of foreign investment projects in Africa. Security of local resource rights is a major challenge in many parts of Africa. The analysis of relevant law reveals that resource rights associated with more powerful interests (foreign investment) tend to enjoy greater legal protection compared to those held by local resource users. However, legal tools accompanied by adequate capacity-building efforts can help redress this imbalance and strengthen protection of local resource rights. By increasing local resource control, effective use of these tools can help disadvantaged groups gain greater control over their lives (‘legal empowerment’).

Reflections based on personal experiences as an academic and as Oxfam’s former Global Land Adviser. Cites a number of institutions on how they conceive of the role of donors in land matters, including the recent DFID policy paper on land, which the author hopes will encourage country level DFID staff to engage. Looks at changing contexts of donor involvement in land issues, including World Bank approaches. Examines contrasting interpretations of the role of NGOs on land issues, stressing that context and history are critical. Contains detailed case study of law making, campaigning, awareness raising and defending a progressive law in Mozambique as an example of some of the complexities of donor and NGO involvement, the importance of individuals, the need for greater donor cooperation and for adopting a long-term approach. Concludes that people who work in the land sector need to be encouraged to exploit the spaces available to them, push out the boundaries of where they find themselves, and make a difference.

Conference on Legalization of Land Tenure and Development, University of Leiden

International comparative study of strategies for settlement support provision to land reform beneficiaries by Susan Tilley (RR26);
Business models in land reform by Edward Lahiff (RR27);
Bakwena ba Mare a Phogole (Klipgat) community restitution claim by Susan Tilley and Ntombizabantu Nkazane (RR28);
Groenfontein-Ramohlakane community restitution claim by Susan Tilley, Ntombizabantu Nkazane and Edward Lahiff (RR29);
Restitution and post-settlement support: Three case studies from Limpopo by Tshililo Manenzhe and Edward Lahiff (RR30);
Bjatladi community restitution claim by Susan Tilley and Edward Lahiff (RR31);
The impact of land restitution and land reform on livelihoods by Ruth Hall (RR 32); eMpangisweni community trust claim by Susan Tilley (RR33);
Schmidtsdrift community land claim by Karin Kleinbooi (RR34);
Covie community land claim by Karin Kleinbooi and Edward Lahiff (RR35);
Land redistribution and poverty reduction in South Africa: The livelihood impacts of smallholder agriculture under land reform by Edward Lahiff, Themba Maluleke, Tshililo Manenzhe and Marc Wegerif (RR36)

A new DFID Policy Paper on land, divided into four sections: landmark issues (unequal distribution and insecure tenure); how secure access to land can promote shared growth; good governance � the vital ingredient in land reform; DFID’s approach to land issues. DFID is currently supporting work on land in 21 countries, including Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Argues that ‘while it is important to keep working for good governance overall, the land sector demands dedicated focus’. The governance section includes empowerment of landless people (Bangladesh); tackling forced evictions (Kenya); dispute resolution: legal support for poor people (Tajikistan); land rights in post-conflict situations (Rwanda, Mozambique, Angola, Tajikistan, Afghanistan). ‘DFID responds strategically when there are political opportunities to make progress on land reforms’. Will give appropriate emphasis to improving women’s rights of access and inheritance.

Analyses context within which the National Land Policy ascribes to tackle gender. Looks at influencing policy context, theories and evidence, access to and control of land, current policy response, and key implications for the PSIA (Poverty Social Impact

Highlights the conceptual linkages between HIV and AIDS, productivity, and land-tenure security. Points out the transitional effects of the epidemic on household asset endowment. Checklist of issues and considerations for analysis of HIV and AIDS on land tenure and use in PSIA (Poverty Social Impact Assessment) undertakings based on survey evidence and a specific site study on systematic demarcation in Rukarango, Ntungamo District.

Offers a series of steps on how to stop border conflicts by marking the borders.

Includes returning to the old or creating something new?; protecting land rights through systematic demarcation; recognising land rights; strengthening land administration; those left behind; recommendations

Includes land and conflict, returnee land access, the role of international humanitarian organisations, policy and law reforms, drawing a line under crisis.

Includes large refugee returns to a small country, land access for returnees, re-establishing security of tenure, key lessons, land sharing, remembering the 1994-5 return, the Pinheiro Principles.

This review of land issues in twenty countries in Southern and Eastern Africa is the third since 2004. The idea of conducting a regular review arose in an informal meeting of land rights activists in Pretoria in 2003 concerned about the seeming lack of progress with land reform in the region and what might be done to improve land rights delivery. It was recognised that there was a lack of systematic information as to what was actually happening and the need to track the progress of the various national programmes underway, as well as monitor land rights under serious threat. The countries covered are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, DRC (Eastern), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Sudan Transitional States, Southern Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Ends with concluding thoughts.

Part of the ongoing process of developing Uganda’s Draft National Land Policy. Definition of critical policy issues, statement of the problem, possible emerging policy options. Looks at clarity and certainty of land rights, constitutional and legal frameworks, land-rights administration, land use and management, implementation issues.