Rwanda has provided a picture of promising change for improving gender equalities in land rights. This report draws upon extensive qualitative field research in 20 sectors of Rwanda to examine the current state of gendered rights to land in practice. Among Rwandan communities, there is now widespread knowledge of laws granting gender-equal rights. More and more women are receiving inheritance and inter-vivos gifts and are increasingly receiving these in equal shares, while formally married women are exercising greater decision-making power over land held jointly with their husbands.

Examines political and social dynamics of foreign agricultural investment in Ethiopia. Concludes that this expansion is part of a government move towards an export-led development strategy, so the micro-benefits come at the cost of increased risks to those living in the vicinity of new investments, particularly politically marginalised pastoralist populations.

Contains cleaning up the mess at Lands? – an exclusive interview with Hon. Amos Kimunya, Minister for Lands and Settlement; land: political patronage’s greatest weapon – an interview with Odenda Lumumba, National Coordinator, Kenya Land Alliance; corruption thriving in informal settlements – an interview with Jane Weru, Executive Director, Pamoja Trust; land: Kenya’s simmering powder keg by Odindo Opiata, Kituo cha Sheria; land rights for poor people key to poverty reduction, growth – World Bank (Policy Research Report).

Report presents grassroots women’s approaches to access justice with a focus on land and property rights in Africa. This community empowerment-based research undertaken by the Huairou Commission and its partner groups across 7 African countries – Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe – showcases women’s rights challenges and effective strategies to improve women’s access to justice. These groups are making an impact through strategies such as community mapping exercises, local-to-local dialogues, and developing community watchdogs and training community paralegals.

Provides an overview of different forms of shared tenure, whether between husband and wife, stable partners, extended families, women’s groups or communities. Analyses to what extent they are beneficial to women. Includes a preliminary examination of the impact of shared tenure on women’s effective land and housing rights, on women’s access to credit and on domestic violence. Seeks to contribute to the development of tools and strategies towards women’s security of tenure.

Research conducted under the UN Peacebuilding Programme in Acholi where land conflicts have increased after the peace agreement. Involved community members and statutory and traditional leaders. Examined existing practices for the sustainable transformation of land related conflict. Revealed efficacy of existing community level mechanisms in effectively resolving land disputes. Need to resolve the legal status of local councils.

Despite increasing attention in recent years, little evidence has been available on the issue of women, land and corruption in Africa to inform effective policy-making. There has been no compilation of relevant background information, lessons learnt and approaches to tackling land corruption as it affects women. This publication aims to address that gap, providing practitioners and decision-makers with a compendium of research findings, contextual information and practical solutions to help fulfil women’s land rights.

Includes methodology and research sites; land, the law and women’s rights in Uganda; women’s rights – lost in the land rush; economic policy and land as a commodity; women’s rights activists – promoting women’s land rights; recommendations. Uganda’s eco-feminist movement is one of several working at the interface of environmental degradation, corporate human rights abuses and patriarchy, urgently building women’s campaigning and resistance skills.

The Namibian part of a 3-country project which also covered Zimbabwe and . Includes land reform and poverty: national policy context; regional contexts: Hardap and Omakeke; Affirmative Action Loan Scheme; Farm Unit Resettlement Scheme; group settlement schemes; rethinking viability: reflecting on the research findings; policy implications.

Women for Women International has worked with over 84,000 marginalised women in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and commissioned research to explore these women’s land rights. The study found that the women could not own land, even through inheritance, while men controlled the sales of the items that their wives farmed.

Contains a brief review of the land issue in DRC; women’s access to land: secondary land rights; the place guaranteed to women in initiatives to reform the land system; conclusions and recommendations. Women’s access to land must be placed within the context of the complex and pluralistic land crisis and bloody conflicts that continue to destabilise that part of the DRC. Essential resources, such as credit, quality seeds, technology, information and access to markets are cruelly lacking.

First newsletter from ZERO-Regional Environment Organisation, which has embarked on a 5 year research and advocacy programme on land in Southern Africa. Provides details of the programme and of ZERO’s regional activities.