Skip to main content

page search

Issuespatrilineal lineageLandLibrary Resource
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11

Caught between Customary and State Law: Women’s Land Rights in Uganda in the Context of Increasing Privatization of Land Tenure Systems

Reports & Research
May, 2012
Uganda
Africa

Includes women’s land rights and tenure security in a context of legal pluralism and land tenure privatization; competing legal systems and land rights protection on the ground � what is going wrong? Argues that in a context of increasing land scarcity, high population pressure and progressing land tenure privatization, men are increasingly taking advantage of their superior position within the patrilineal tenure system, advancing their own interests at the expense of weaker family members, first and foremost the women in the family.

Strengthening women’s voices in the context of agricultural investments: Lessons from Tanzania

Reports & Research
July, 2016
Tanzania
Africa

Provides a backdrop of relevant policies and practice; a gender analysis of the policy framework governing land and investments; and recommendations on how to work towards land rights securing and better inclusion in land governance processes for women in Tanzania. Concludes that implementation of laws, including key gender equality principles, has been weak, and gender inequality in land access persists largely due to the continued dominance of (patrilineal) customary land laws and practice.

Lineage and land reforms in Malawi: do matrilineal and patrilineal landholding systems represent a problem for land reforms in Malawi?"

December, 2012
Malawi
Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper is about land tenure relations among the matrilineal and patrilineal cultures in Malawi. Data from the National Agricultural and Livestock Census are used to characterize marriage systems and settlement and landholding patterns for local communities. Marriage systems correspond to customary land tenure patterns of matrilineal or patrilineal land holding. The differences between the two major ways of land holding represent a particular challenge for land reforms intending to unify rules for land tenure and land devolution.

The gendered impacts of large-scale land based investments and women’s responses

Reports & Research
June, 2020
Global

This scoping study analyses gendered impacts of large-scale extractives, hydropower and agribusiness investments that result in communities’ changed access to and control over land, water and other natural resources. Large-scale commercial pressures on natural resources have been on the rise over the course of the past decade leading to growing concerns on their costs, benefits and human rights impacts.

Gender, the Status of Women, and Family Structure in Malaysia

Peer-reviewed publication
May, 2017
Malaysia

This paper addresses the question of whether the relatively high status of women in pre-colonial South-east Asia is still evident among Malay women in twentieth century Peninsular Malaysia. Compared to patterns in East and South Asia, Malay family structure does not follow the typical patriarchal patterns of patrilineal descent, patrilocal residence of newly married couples, and preference for male children.

Women’s Land Rights and COVID-19

Policy Papers & Briefs
July, 2020
Global

In the six months since the coronavirus began its global spread, more than 15 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 600,000 have perished, causing governments around the world to institute lockdowns and shut down businesses while entire industries have been devastated.

Lineage and land reforms in Malawi: Do matrilineal and patrilineal landholding systems represent a problem for land reforms in Malawi?

Peer-reviewed publication
October, 2014
Malawi
Norway
United States of America

Based on government statistics and interviews with villagers across Malawi this article argues that customary matrilineal and patrilineal land tenure systems serve to weaken security of land tenure for some family members as well as obstructing the creation of gender-neutral inheritance of lands. Data from the National Census of Agriculture and Livestock 2007and the 2008 Population and Housing Census are used to characterize marriage systems and landholding patterns of local communities. Marriage systems correspond to customary land-tenure patterns of matrilineal or patrilineal cultures.

Lineage and land reforms in Malawi: do matrilinear and patrilinear landholding systems represent a problem for land reforms in Malawi?

Reports & Research
December, 2013
Malawi

This paper is about land tenure relations among the matrilineal and patrilineal cultures in Malawi. Data from the National Agricultural and Livestock Census are used to characterize marriage systems and settlement and landholding patterns for local communities. Marriage systems correspond to customary land tenure patterns of matrilineal or patrilineal land holding. The differences between the two major ways of land holding represent a particular challenge for land reforms intending to unify rules for land tenure and land devolution.

Women and Community Land Rights: Investing in Local Champions

Reports & Research
June, 2021
Tanzania
Mongolia
Global

For more than five years, the Women’s Land Tenure Security (WOLTS) Project has been investigating the intersection of gender and land relations in mining-affected pastoralist communities in Mongolia and Tanzania. The aim has been to develop a methodology for long-term community engagement and capacity building to protect and support the land rights of all vulnerable people – thus to fully mainstream attention to gender equity in land tenure governance within a framework that would facilitate improvements in community land rights across the board.

Discriminatory Cultural Practices On Youths And Women’S Access To Family Land Among The Ndali: Insights From Local Leaders In The Southern Highlands Zone In Tanzania

December, 2021
United States of America

This paper presents empirical evidences of cultural barriers to women and the youths in accessing family land among the Ndali tribe, drawing insights on the cultural practices and social norms. The evidence emanates from discussions with local leaders: members of Village Land Councils and members of the Village Councils from six villages namely Itumba, Isongole, Nyenzebwe, Mlale, Ilulu and Izuba.