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.

Includes experiences from the field (East Africa, Malawi, Cameroon, Senegal, Colombia, Pakistan). Lessons learned include participation-oriented research methods are recommended. Merely passing legislation is of little effect without the necessary resources for implementation, monitoring reforms or effective sanctions. Crucial to consult and involve women when designing reforms and monitoring their implementation. Addressing land injustices requires varied approaches. Vital to establish and maintain links among research, policy, practice and people.

Covers analysis of the study sites in Seke, Buhera, Chimanimani and Bulawayo Districts, land and property rights of widows and other vulnerable women in those sites, livelihood strategies, obstacles and options, policy issues and recommendations. The study highlights the vulnerability of widows to property-rights violations.

An article and radio talk replete with photos concerning a story of land grabbing in the village of Ruasse, Zambezia, northern Mozambique by a Portuguese company, Quifel. By law, companies are supposed to negotiate with communities, but no company seems to be taking the law seriously. The case also cited in the Norfolk & Hanlon World Bank presentation of April 2012.

Examines the evolution of collective land tenure regimes in East Africa including how they affect pastoral communities living on these lands. Attempts to identify the drivers and impacts of changes in collective land access since the 1900s. Focuses on un-adjudicated communal lands and 2 types of group ranches – those that are intact and those that have been subdivided. Analyses the changes in these tenure regimes from the colonial era to the present day and provides a discussion around the drivers and effects on pastoral communities and their livelihoods.

A Background Briefing covering the issue, the UK’s help for resettlement, Zimbabwe Government policies, UK land resettlement policy from 1997, DFID support for land resettlement – the way forward, other DFID support for poor people in rural areas. Says the UK believes that Zimbabwe needs land reform to reduce poverty, that the principles agreed at the 1998 Land Conference should be observed, and that the UK is willing to fund schemes which are focused on helping the poor and are transparent.

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.

Inclusive business models have attracted renewed interest as part of wider debates about growing agricultural investment in developing countries. Report discusses joint ventures in South Africa’s agricultural sector. The South African experience features major specificities linked to the country’s history and recent land reform programme. Land reform beneficiaries entered into a range of joint ventures with commercial partners.

Announces publication of a manual on the creation of land reform joint venture partnerships. These are commercial partnerships between landowners and historically excluded worker households or local communities. The manual is intended to assist those involved in commercial land reform ventures. Also provides details of the Land Reform Credit Facility.

Summarises the 12 presentations made at the workshop, 8 of which concerned Mozambique, the remainder Sao Tome & Principe, Angola, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde. Topics include the work of the inter-ministerial Land Commission, the Technical Annex of the Land Law, DINAGECA, and a training video A Nossa Tera (available in Portuguese and English). Concludes with a summary of the seminar outcomes and a note on their transferability to Anglophone countries.

A serious study of a neglected field, drawing on research, workshops, and personal and organisational testimonies. Covers Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Aims to raise awareness of the heavy impact of HIV and AIDS on women’s property rights and livelihoods, and the active steps being taken by many grassroots organisations to respond to the crisis. Looks at a number of creative initiatives such as the Memory Book Project in Uganda.

Includes introduction, some lessons of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, impacts on people, implications for land reform � impacts on institutions, relationships between affected people and affected institutions, some proposals. Argues the need to understand how the pandemic affects the work of organisations such as Oxfam and to anticipate its future directions and their likely impacts on land reform.