Includes introduction, workshop objectives, official opening, panel presentations – current land alienation procedures, issues arising (forest management, land husbandry, land survey, titling and resettlement), small group presentations, charting the way forward, position paper and recommendations.

An appendix from the IIED report above. Includes the role of NGOs, the national conference on land issues 1996, the anti-privatisation demonstration, the land campaign 1997-9, implementation issues.

Investigates the effectiveness of NGOs’ strategies and methods to influence land policy reform. Report based on a study of 7 NGOs promoting land reform and land rights in Mozambique and Kenya. Covers country contexts – NGO sectors and land policy reform; NGOs in the policy process – roles and relationships; assessing the impact of NGOs on land policy processes; key findings and lessons. Studies show that legislation and regulations can be modified, reinterpreted or ignored during implementation, when local level power relations become critical. Thus building the capacity of community groups to take informed action is critical to long-term and sustainable pro-poor policy influence, and monitoring implementation is key for NGOs. Those in the study all feel they need to engage directly with communities if they are to gain legitimacy for advocacy and monitoring

Consultation draft of a DFID Issues Paper on Land Policy by Julian Quan, with the author looking for comments and feedback by the end of November 2002. It revises an earlier version of April 2002, ’following a series of regional workshops on land policy sponsored by the World Bank, and takes account of comments received through that process.’ Includes the significance of land rights for poverty elimination; opportunities and challenges for pro-poor land policy; integrating land into poverty strategies; implications for DFID and the international community; conclusion. Covers access, tenure security, gender, common pool resources, land markets, investment, conflict, HIV/AIDS.

A comprehensive research report covers the literature, includes a large survey of farm households throughout Ethiopia, and surveys the opinions of professionals. Land tenure is now a hotly debated issue; land scarcity and degradation are serious. Tenure security is seen as more important than the form of ownership. Almost three-quarters of farmers surveyed fear future distributions of land. Government is afraid that moving from state to private ownership will lead to massive evictions through distress sales, but over 90% farmers said they would not sell their land if they could. Farmers are more pragmatic than professionals. Government believes that failings of the system can be compensated through increases in productivity as a result of its extension programme, but this is highly doubtful. Larger size holdings perform better than smaller. Informal markets are starting despite a formal prohibition � this should be encouraged. Vast majority believe existing land tenure system is a major constraint to agricultural productivity and that government should open a forum for wider debate on land tenure.

Includes the need for tenure reform; the draft CLRB does not provide appropriate solutions; learning from the African and the South African experiences; why titling is generally inappropriate and ineffective; the unintended consequences of titling programmes; why the draft Bill will not be able to be effectively implemented; the alternative to land titling – learning from new land tenure laws in Mozambique and Tanzania.

An examination of land tenure arrangements in the former homelands of South Africa and of post-apartheid attempts to deal with them. Includes a critique of the new Communal Land Rights Bill. Argues that the very limited capacity of government’s over-centralised land administration has been the bugbear of land reform in South Africa and that over-optimistic predictions of the speed and scope of reforms have haunted officials and politicians who made them. Fears the new Bill will undermine the opportunity to strengthen the land rights of the poor.

A review of all Botswana land-related policies in preparation for a comprehensive new National Land Policy. Covers land rights, land markets and taxation, urban and rural land management, land use planning, legal, institutional and financial issues. Dominant theme is the need to adjust land policy, laws, management and administration to the changes being brought about by economic development and urbanisation, manifested in a rapidly emerging land market. Government concerned over rise of landlessness and hoarding by speculators.

A synthesis of land issues and land policy constraints in Southern Africa prepared for and revised since the World Bank Regional Workshop on Land Issues in Africa in Kampala, 29 April – 2 May 2002. Synthesises key points made in commissioned papers, plenary comments, and facilitated discussions from a Southern Africa working group. Topics include an overview of land issues and special problems and constraints affecting Southern Africa including land administration, community ownership, financial capital and investment, HIV/AIDS, land markets, conflict, and redistribution. Compares the performance of selected countries in linking land policy with poverty reduction and concludes with steps for better incorporating land issues in country level Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers being endorsed by donors.

Hopeful that if the proposed constitutional principles on land reform in the Ghai draft constitution are used as a basis of land policy and law formulation in the future, the main problems will be sorted out. Deplores the possibility of Kenya going to an election before adopting the Ghai draft constitution.

Paper prepared for the FAO’s Southern and Eastern Africa Office. Contains introduction to the impact of HIV/AIDS on land issues – land use, land rights, land administration; country studies; the impact of HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, in Kenya, in South Africa, and general findings and recommendations. Latter include land use strategies, land rights and land administration, and developing solutions.

Includes the dimension of poverty and the need for land; colonisation and decolonisation; the imposition of globalization; indispensable but sufficient; constructing/ building the institutional framework in Mozambique. Cites the key issues cited by Mozambican civil society – no to landless people in Mozambique; no to absentee landowners, those who let the land and do not invest; recognition of testimonial proof of land occupation by the poor; incorporation of common law systems into the legal framework; and stop the bi-modal approach for agricultural development.

Paper written in response to 5 questions asked by the Forum organisers. Under what circumstances can land tenure reform contribute to rural poverty reduction and sustainable natural resources management? How can land tenure reform be carried out in a manner that is pro-poor? What types of actions should donors support in order to promote pro-poor land tenure reform? What actions should be taken to address the particular problems faced by women, indigenous groups and pastoralists in gaining secure access to land? How can the European Commission and Member States work differently so as to raise the effectiveness of development cooperation in tackling rural poverty?

Argues that sustainable development in 21st century South Africa will never be achieved without a radical assault on the structural underpinnings of poverty and inequality inherited from 3 centuries of oppression and exploitation. A large-scale redistribution of land and resources, accompanied by the securing of tenure rights in practice as well as in law, is required for long-term sustainability. Asks how is the government’s land reform performing, and how sustainable are land-based livelihoods?

Includes historical background; customary land tenure; tenants; the customary system of land holding in Uganda today; legal provisions; provisions on equality and non-discrimination; lessons in the Ugandan legislative process; key challenges; lessons for South Africa.

Paper presented at the International Symposium on Communal Tenure Reform, Johannesburg, 12-13 August 2002.

Paper prepared for the FAO’s Southern and Eastern Africa Office. Covers the impact of HIV/AIDS on sub-Saharan Africa; the underlying causes of HIV/AIDS; its economic impact; its impact on the household livelihood strategies; and a conceptual framework. Looks at HIV/AIDS and poverty, regional migration, poverty-driven commercial sex work; the impact on the macro economy and the rural economy, on agricultural production and coping strategies, and women, children and the elderly and HIV/AIDS.

A brief synthesis of a longer report. Provides a micro-level foundation for discussions of land allocation and its relation to poverty within the smallholder sector of Eastern and Southern Africa based on results from household surveys in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique and Rwanda between 1990 and 2000. Addresses (1) why geographically based targeted approaches to poverty reduction are likely to miss a significant share of the poor, (2) why agricultural growth alone is not likely to be a sufficient engine for directly lifting a significant share of small-scale farmers out of poverty, (3) why agri-food productivity growth is needed to create a more dynamic and diversified rural economy, (4) why increased access to land is likely to affect significantly the poverty-reducing effects of agricultural growth. Concludes with implications for the design of poverty reduction strategies.

Paper presented at Surveyor’s Institute of Zambia seminar. Includes the effects of a fragmented customary rural land management system; the need for both land reform and rural land management authorities; the benefits of institutional and land tenure reforms; and a case study example of Botswana.

Newsletter of a South African research group looking at tenure security issues and legal entities, particularly Common Property Associations (CPAs). Stresses the importance of adapting rather than replacing existing institutions that already work. Provides a list of 20 research papers, conference reports etc which can be ordered by email.

Land is again the subject of debate in Mozambique, 5 years after the passage of a land law which won praise for protecting peasant rights while creating space for outside investment. The new debate is about whether land, or at least land ’titles’, should be able to be sold and mortgaged, are whether more emphasis should be put on improving conditions for would-be investors rather than delimiting and protecting peasant land and capacitating communities to deal with investors. Argues that the debate on land is actually a proxy for a debate about rural development. There are sharp divisions within government, the World Bank, donor agencies, and Mozambican civil society. The land debate is also linked to one over rural credit and support for farmers. Looks at what land is available for investors and at the difference between free or vacant land and underused land. The law gives communities the right to delimit and register their land. Delimitation gives communities power, but the process can cause problems, raising expectations and sometimes disinterring old disputes. Although the process is expensive and time-consuming, it may be the only way to protect peasant rights. Cites proposals already made by Mozambicans and foreigners working on the land issue on: continuing the work of the land commission; improving consultation; continuing delimitation; creating a kind of community organiser, facilitator or barefoot planner; enforcement of regulations and agreements; pilot partnerships; credit guarantee funds; increased transparency. Concludes by stressing the central role of Mozambican NGOs, but raises a number of questions about their increased role as service agencies and their ability to do what may be asked of them.

KLA’s submission to the Constitutional Review Commission based on a National Civil Society Conference on Land Reform and the Land Question at Mbagathi 21-23 May 2002. Covers the Commission’s mandate, situation analysis and conclusions. Topics include land relations, land tenure, public land, expropriation, land rights of women, pastoralists, farm dwellers and the urban poor, redress of historical grievances, land administration and management, land market, environmental management, and the land policy process.

The note publicises the existence of the papers which were given at the World Bank’s Africa Workshop, provides the hyperlink references to the pdf files where they can be found, and highlights those which the writer found to be of greatest interest. The Bank would appreciate feedback on its draft Policy Research Paper.

ncludes introduction, the Malawi context, summary of methodology, summary of findings, recommendations. Argues there is a need to ensure that key laws, policies and development strategies be reviewed to ensure that provisions which marginalize those affected by HIV/AIDS are amended. Need for land administration institutions to grasp the present impact and future implications of the pandemic in terms of their own declining internal capacity.

Paper presented at FAO/SARPN Workshop on HIV/AIDS and Land, Pretoria

Series of country papers on HIV/AIDS and land in Lesotho, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, with concluding paper on methodological and conceptual issues. The key questions addressed include: The impact on and changes in land tenure systems (including patterns of ownership, access, and rights) as a consequence of HIV/AIDS with a focus on vulnerable groups. The ways that HIV/AIDS affected households are coping in terms of land use, management and access, e.g. abandoning land due to fear of losing land, renting out due to inability to utilise land, distress sale of land, etc. The consequence of such coping strategies on security of access and rights to land. The changes in land tenure, access and rights to land among different categories of people as a consequence of HIV/AIDS are affecting agricultural productivity, food security and poverty with a focus on women. The future implications for land tenure arrangements for HIV/AIDS affected households and individuals particularly of AIDS widows and HIV orphans. Priority areas for policy interventions with concrete recommendations for securing the land rights of people affected by HIV/AIDS. The areas for research.

Examines policy and legal reforms in the 1990s; strengths of the 1995 Lands Act and civil society concerns about it; policy framework; Lands Tribunal; women’s constraints in customary land, alienation of land, inheritance and accessing urban land, government attempts to promote women’s access and control over land; conclusions and future challenges.

Paper presented at Regional Conference on Women’s Land Rights, Harare, 26-30 May 2002

Includes what is meant by market-assisted agrarian reform, history of land tenure and agriculture in South Africa, framework for agrarian reform, land reform strategies, monitoring and evaluation of land reform, conclusions – land reform and social transformation.

Includes the issue of gender in access to land, a major source of inequality; FIG declarations and guidelines are gender sensitive; why mainstreaming and what is it about?; ideas for an action plan including – gender disaggregated land data and gender sensitive indicators; understanding and working with gender roles under plural legal regimes; making socio-economic studies a part of planning land reforms and cadastral systems; developing simple, local methods of land administration; improving the gender balance at all levels in land administration; ensuring participation of women in implementation.

Covers land use patterns in the Cotton Belt – joint venture companies, smallholders and privados, research questions and characteristics of the 5 study zones, smallholder perceptions of land tenure security and experiences with conflict in the Cotton Belt. Challenges widely held beliefs about land tenure and access in the smallholder sector in Mozambique. Provisions in the new legal framework will not be sufficient to eliminate or adjudicate land conflicts between smallholders. The research results reveal significant variation in the size of household landholdings. Land access was found to be closely linked to key welfare indicators such as income and calorie availability; a weak non-farm economy heightens the importance of land for the welfare of the rural families. These results contradict views held by many that land access is unconstrained for Mozambican smallholders.

Contains arguments for a more radical approach, policy development, the National Land Policy, developing and approving the law, the political context, the Land Law Regulations, the open border model, and the persistence of old approaches. Argues that the 1997 Land Law represented a significant effort to integrate customary and formal legal frameworks, to secure land rights for communities, and stimulate rural development. Analyses from the vantage point of an FAO technical advisor the process by which the law and regulations were developed from unparalleled dialogue and collaboration between government, civil society and technical specialists. Highlights important lessons the process holds for other countries and concludes with an assessment of the challenges of implementing the law and making its promise a reality.

Details the development of contemporary land rights policy and poverty alleviation planning in Mozambique, lessons learned from recent experiences of land reform in Zambezia Province, challenges and strategic options for future support for land reform. Argues that the land reform programme has now reached a critical stage with senior officials believing that measures in the 1997 Land Law designed to protect community tenure are obstacles to investment, and growing support for unfettered privatisation of land rights which would mainly benefit speculators. Looks at capacity and resource issues at provincial and district levels, at community consultations and representation, and the costs of land registration.

Contains rationale for the conference, attendance, key issues emerging for discussions, major outcomes, opportunities for LRNSA, the way forward – plan of action for CSOs.

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.

Ensuring security for farmers is a fundamental economic, social and citizenship issue, raising institutional questions. There needs to be a break with inherited colonial legal dualism. Local management of land and resources is needed. There is no automatic link between land title and security of tenure. Looks at the main approaches adopted in West Africa in the recent past. Fully confirm the role, dynamism and adaptability of family farms. Positive recognition needs to be given to local land arrangements and informal contracts. Decentralisation offers valuable opportunities.

Report on a desktop study commissioned by FAO. Contains introduction; the context for land reform (the legacy of colonialism, women’s access, women in agriculture, HIV/AIDS and land reform); an overview of land reform issues and debates (policy issues, gender equity as a policy goal); land reform and women (case studies from Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe); conclusion (key findings and recommendations); synopsis of land policies by country.

Contains an introduction on land use in Kenya, followed by chapters on land resources, land abuse, emerging trends, and towards a national land use policy. The Alliance has taken up the challenge to undertake a social audit of natural resources to put the case for a national land use policy, spelling out how land and other natural resources should be used and managed in a sustainable manner.

Argues that the debate over land reform in Africa is embedded in evolutionary models, in which it is assumed that landholding systems are evolving into individualised systems of ownership with greater market integration. This process is seen to be occurring even without state protection of private land rights through titling. Gender as an analytical category is excluded in evolutionary models. Women are accommodated only in their dependent position as the wives of landholders in idealised ’households’. Argues that gender relations are central to the organisation and transformation of landholding systems. Women have faced different forms of tenure insecurity, both as wives and in their relations with wider kin, as landholding systems have been integrated into wider markets. These cannot be addressed while evolutionary models dominate the policy debate. Draws out these arguments from experiences of tenure reform in Dodoma, Tanzania, and asks how policy-makers might address these issues differently.

A review of Zimbabwe in 2001, focusing on the land question and farm workers. Reflections on conferences on Zimbabwe in Copenhagen and on farm workers in Southern Africa in Harare, with a section highlighting the key issues brought out in a new book on farm workers in Zimbabwe. Argues that issues around farm workers need to be seriously rethought and debated across the political spectrum and that land is a part of a much wider crisis of governance.

This 78-page Policy (replacing with small but significant changes earlier versions) was approved by Cabinet on 17 January 2002. A summary of main policy recommendations is followed by 10 chapters: 1. Introduction; 2. Historical evolution of land policy; 3. Overview of land problems; 4. Land tenure reforms, acquisition and disposition; 5. Land administration and resettlement; 6. Land use planning and development; 7. Surveying, mapping and cadastral plans; 8. Titling, registration and dispute settlement; 9. Environmental management; 10. Inter-sectoral coordination.

Includes background information; government policies on agriculture and land use; challenges in land planning; landlessness, investment and market driven land planning; the Uganda Land Alliance work on natural resources and land use planning; examples of environmental and industrialization conflicts; recommendations and conclusion.

Paper presented at the International Conference on Agriculture beyond Trade, Paris, 8-10 January 2002.

A wide-ranging examination of the history of the land question in Uganda, and diagnosis of land policy development, principles, and implementation. Suggests a number of concrete policy guidelines for a future national land policy.

A short report on the national Land Tenure Conference. Argues that the thorny issue of tenure reform is at last being taken seriously. Land administration in the former homelands is in chaos. Those living on commercial farms have precarious tenure. Traditional leaders are digging in their heels over control of communal land. Need for robust political leadership and allocation of resources to ensure that rights become real. Hopes conference will be followed by a lively process of public consultation and debate.

Proceedings of a seminar hosted by SARPN and the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking, University of Natal, Durban. Contains 1. Introduction; 2. Overview of the current situation; 3. Overview of existing land reform HIV/AIDS policy and integration into Department of Land Affairs programmes; 4. Identification of key issues and challenges; 5. The challenge: developing a way forward.

A short analysis of the new draft Communal Land Rights Bill and of the tenure problems in the former homelands. Argues that the bill would greatly strengthen the powers of unelected traditional leaders at the expense of ordinary rural dwellers.

Comprises introduction; immediate background; Lisa Jones’ summary of the National Land Policy; thoughts on the Policy now; the future – the key question of resources; NGO experiences elsewhere of implementing land policy and law; annexes with extract on land and settlement from the PRSP, and extracts from previous comments on the draft Land Policy. Suggests that, since the Policy is likely soon to be approved, LandNet Rwanda should focus its attention on implementation.

Paper for a LandNet Rwanda workshop. Contains a conceptual framework on land and poverty; land attributes and the seeds of poverty including tenure issues; critical challenges to policy makers. Includes a descriptive summary of land problems from a recent university survey. Argues that land policies are fragile when mechanistically determined from the top, and need to involve the people in arbitration of disputes. Concludes that there can be no answer to poverty that does not take account of land.

Includes objectives, programme, welcome message, official opening, hopes and fears, introduction to LandNet, presentations, group work on land rights, redistribution, decentralisation, and the role of civil society, key issues, closing. The workshop endeavoured to publicise the findings of grassroots consultations on land carried out by LandNet members in order that these be incorporated into the forthcoming National Land Policy and the PRSP. Among the issues raised were insecurity and inequitable distribution and the ways in which land disputes are currently handled.

South Africa is reviewing its plans and progress towards sustainable development ahead of the 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg. Argues that more attention needs to be given to land reform as a key component of sustainable development strategy. Raises a number of questions and concerns that need debate before the Summit and beyond. Focuses particularly on land reform, poverty and livelihoods, and on land reform and the environment.

A summary of a larger study commissioned by DFID Ghana. Covers findings of the study and suggestions for moving forward. The conclusions include that tenure insecurity is more widespread than generally recognised, its sources are complex, current strategies are inadequate, promising conditions exist, reform rather than improvement is needed, a community based approach is the way forward. The National Land Policy is not pro-poor, nor are classic titling approaches serving the poor.

The first volume in a series of KLA proposals on legislative and policy framework principles designed to assist Kenyan citizens to contribute to the land and constitutional review processes, Focuses on key issues of public land management and administration. Argues that indigenous land use systems should be formally recognised by law and makes a number of specific recommendations designed to secure greater accountability.

Addresses the research question, do different land tenure conditions affect farming systems, organisation and performance among Zambian small farmers, and if so, how? Discusses the widespread demand for title, even on customary lands, and concludes that this is a defensive measure, based on a desire for secure possession and for bequeathment and the protection of fixed investments.