Effective reform pathways for addressing women’s access to land and tenure security in Africa are yet to be found despite their role in feeding the population. With the adoption of the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa (2009) and the launch of the African Land Policy Centre (2017), hopes were high that existing precarious women’s access to land, tenure and food security might be transformed to opportunities. Prevailing discourses, however, still advocate for land reforms attuned to gender equality with a neo-classical chord.

Les femmes de la région de l’Extrême-Nord du Cameroun font face à un environnement sociologique qui limite leur accès au foncier : mariage, illettrisme et ignorance des dispositions règlementaires, complexité et coût des procédures de sécurisation foncière, facteurs financiers... Par ailleurs, l’accès des femmes au foncier est accompagné des perceptions locales à la fois positives et négatives, mais qui reste fortement influencées par la coutume et les règles traditionnelles.

Gender gap in ownership of agricultural land is still wide in many developing countries, mainly in favour of men. In some of these countries, both patrilineal and matrilineal systems are practised and recognized by governments. Tanzania is one of the countries in which both systems are practised. This paper explores the extent of gender equality in ownership of agricultural land in Kisarawe and Mkuranga districts which are typical rural agricultural settings and mainly matrilineal societies in Tanzania. It also attempts to examine women’s benefits from agricultural activities.