Transforming a pluralistic tenure system into unified statutory rights has been a major objective of the development of property law in many developing countries. Many law and development scholars have assumed that unified land rights are a pre-condition to development and that a pluralistic tenure land system is a major source of uncertainty and insecurity. This article challenges this commonly held assumption by way of a case study of Indonesia's effort to unify the laws governing land.

The objective is to record current living customary law and ways in which it is moving in progressive directions so that this information can be used towards justice, as evidence in court cases, and in policy development and political engagement from local to national levels.

Women in many African countries have a legal right to
own land, but this often means little in areas where
“customary law” prevails. As a result, researchers in two
countries have come to believe that women’s security
of tenure depends as much on addressing social
assumptions as on enacting legal reforms.

This paper studies the impact of land tenure on household agricultural productivity in Benin. Compared to households without land ownership or right to land (squatters), results show that land certificate ownership increases by 0.238 the likelihood of investing in agricultural equipment, whereas customary law ownership increases this likelihood by 0.374. The study suggests that public authorities recognise customary rights and reinforce legal land institutions.

The project report summarizes women’s lived-experiences with regard to land reform issues. The research aimed to generate knowledge about the linkages between access, rights, and security, and barriers to land access faced by women beneficiaries of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe. It analysed the allocating processes and authorities, as well as resettlement patterns under the programme, including details of the resettlement model, land size, and date of access to the land.

This research reviews legislation and policies in Zimbabwe that have a direct or indirect bearing on the relocation of communities. The current model for large-scale investments has changed from previous models, where the majority of investment projects were undertaken by international companies with limited governmental intervention. While relocation of communities may be inevitable, it is argued that such actions should take into account constitutional provisions, regional and international best practices.

This paper highlights how women are interfacing with institutions of power at a local level in Uganda in terms of land claims. According to the Land Act 1998, all land is vested in the citizens who own it. Enormous resistance occurred behind the scenes against women’s efforts to include a provision on spousal co-ownership of land. The provision was passed in parliament but it did not appear in the published Land Act (2003:162).

The Katkari are classified as a Primitive Tribal Group with specific measures for legal protection of their rights, and there are provisions in the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) to compensate land owners in cases of expropriation of land. This paper provides a rationale, co-created by the villagers, to continue learning about their land rights, and to explore more actively the options for diversifying community livelihoods.

The animosity created during land contestations makes it impossible for widows, wives and mothers to peacefully settle land claims and use their land. The research evidence provides a platform to advocate for a transformative agenda to improve rural poor women’s access to and control over land and other natural resources. This includes building linkages with the wider advocacy relationships and programmes of International Land Coalition (ILC - www.landcoalition.org).

Land distribution is highly skewed in Africa, where women’s ownership of land is a small percentage of that owned by men. Women frequently lack the resources to acquire land in their own right and are further disadvantaged by discriminatory inheritance laws, customary practices and market structures. This report summarizes presentations at the symposium on women’s rights and access to land.