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 the figures and what they tell us: the vast majority of farms in the world today are small and getter smaller; small farms are being squeezed onto less than a quarter of global agricultural land; we’re fast losing farms and farmers in many places, while big farms are getting bigger; despite their scarce and dwindling resources, small farmers continue to be the world’s major food producers; small farms not only produce most of the food, they are also the most productive; most small farmers are women, but their contributions are ignored and marginalised.

Since the global food crisis of 2008 the Tanzanian government has made food security through increases in agricultural productivity a policy priority. The emphasis is on commercialisation, with a particular focus on large-scale rice and sugarcane production. Gender equity within African agricultural production is a critical issue; yet limited empirical research exists on the gender implications of agricultural commercialisation now taking place in the region. Presents findings from fieldwork in Kilombero District in 2013-14.

Publication features the key provisions on land governance in recent relevant international frameworks. Presents where new issues or themes appeared, issues that have gained additional support and those that have received less attention. Also highlights the particularities, strengths and potential gaps of the individual frameworks, as well as their similarities, complementarities and differences. Emphasizes the critical role of land governance in the realization of human rights, enjoyment of secure land rights and in the overall achievement of sustainable development objectives.

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.

Contributes to the research gap on host country governance dynamics by synthesizing results and lessons from 38 case studies conducted in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia. It shows how and why large-scale farmland investments are often synonymous with displacement, dispossession, and environmental degradation and, thereby, highlights 7 outcome determinants that merit more explicit treatment in academic and policy discourse.

Contains introduction; conflict in Rwanda; background to the development of the draft land policy; the context: land scarcity and distribution; aims and modalities of the draft land policy – consolidation, access to land for the landless, registration and tenure security, grouped settlements, land use and environmental protection; conclusions and recommendations.

Following a workshop in Benin in February, details examples of land grabbing in Cameroon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mali, Congo, DRC, Gabon, Benin.

Ensuring gender equality with respect to land rights is hailed as a key element of the recent land reforms, but actual results are limited. Achieving gender equality requires a comprehensive focus on land, family and other laws, including customary, and on their implementation on the ground. Summarises the findings from a series of reports reviewing progress made and challenges remaining to achieve gender equality with respect to land rights.

Introduction, policy issues on farm workers in the land reform discourse, current political realities, the fast track land reform programme, conclusion.

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.

Includes public lands, land monopolies, examples of total and partial state monopolies on land, ideas implicit in the state monopoly on land. Aims to clarify different conceptions of state-owned land so we can better assess their implications for land policies.