The law is supposed to protect a woman’s rights to land. The law is failing, and husbands can ignore their wife’s legal rights. Why? And what should be done about it?

Includes the drivers of change; changes in ‘customary’ land management institutions – evidence from West Africa; changes in intra-family relations; changes in land transfer mechanisms – evidence from West Africa; case study of changes in ‘customary’ resource tenure systems in the inner Niger Delta, Mali. Concludes with implications for policy and practice.

State/people forest relations are at a turning point in Liberia. The crux of the issue is property relations and how the rights of rural Liberians to forests are treated in law and in practice. Central to the problem and the solution is the status of customary land rights. The paper tracks what happened to the natural rights indigenous Liberians have to their lands and the valuable forests that grow on them. It looks back at the treatment of customary land tenure over the century-long process of forming the modern Liberian state.

Chapters cover introduction and background; land tenure; housing; inheritance and marital property legislation; poverty reduction strategy; land management systems; implementation of land and housing rights; good practices; conclusions; recommendations. Argues that the challenge is to take the steps necessary to speed up full implementation of the Flexible Land Tenure System so as to revitalise the hopes and aspirations of the thousands of poor families living in informal settlements.

Discusses highlights from a recent academic article exploring whether 3,000 bilateral and regional investment treaties protect ‘land grab’ deals and how these impact the land rights of rural people. Argues that, if not properly thought through, international treaties to protect foreign investment could compound shortcomings of local and national governance, undermining the rights of people impacted by the investments.

Examines progress made on land related provisions in the 2005 Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with special reference to Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states in central Sudan. Includes history of the land issue in the two contested areas; the CPA and progress in meeting land commitments; is there anything to learn from the rest of Africa on land matters?; conclusions and recommendations; overview of 20th century land legislation in Sudan.

A summary of a larger study. Examines the relationship of people’s rights in land to the manner in which they may be involved in the management of forests in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho and to a lesser degree Botswana and Swaziland. Includes examination of property relations, state power, land reform, recognition of customary rights, the changing nature of tenure, and the impact of new land law on community forest rights.

The Ugandan government is convinced that only by giving everyone titles to their land will people have security of tenure, and it is investing everything in pushing this through. However, this policy is based on ignorance about how customary tenure actually works, and on some dangerously false assumptions about what happens when ownership of land moves from one tenure system to another. Violence and conflict have already been the result. Looks at less conflictual options to achieve the same goals and ensure that rights are protected.

Covers world agriculture, a changing context; scale and geography of the phenomenon, key players; the nature of the land deals, process and terms; implications for local land access; conclusion and recommendations.

Includes understanding the commons, getting to the sources of vulnerability, recommendations – making the playing field more equal for the poor.

A detailed guide covering communal land boards, communal land areas, allocation of customary, grazing and leasehold rights in respect of communal land, general provisions.

Contains ‘land grabbing’ starts at home; the commodity slide; the land footprint of international economic treaties. Argues that systemic action is needed to strengthen local land rights and voices in land governance.