Focuses on the social protection aspects of children’s property and inheritance rights in southern and eastern Africa. Discusses the relationship between HIV and AIDS and agriculture, food security, and rural livelihoods (including children’s property and inheritance rights). Considers factors that render children’s property rights more vulnerable than adults’ property rights. Reviews literature on social protection of children, emphasizing historical developments, types of child social protection, and recipients and providers of child social protection.

The thesis offers a sociological understanding of intermediary NGOs in the modern world through a study of NGOs and land reform in contemporary Zimbabwe. Since 2000, a radical restructuring of agrarian relations has occurred, based upon the massive redistribution of land. Local empowering initiatives have dramatically asserted themselves against globalizing trajectories. These changes have posed serious challenges to land NGOs involved in land reform either as advocates for reform or as rural development NGOs.

Covers what is ‘land’ and what ‘property’ in the proposed Constitution?; where is land covered; common questions…with some answers; what does the proposed Constitution actually say and not say about land?; so what is the verdict? Concludes that it opens the door to significant reforms and failure to perform could be a matter of challenge in the courts. Ordinary Kenyans will need to hold the State to account in devising appropriate legislation and programmes swiftly and with the maximum of public participation.

An executive summary and recommendations are followed by 5 chapters: on the land question, reform and farm workers; the scope and process of fast track reform; the impact of land reform on farm workers’ livelihoods; food security, vulnerable groups, HIV-AIDS and coping strategies; and after the ‘promised land’ – towards the future. Study reveals that by early 2003, only about 100,000 of the original c.320,000 farm workers were still employed on the farms, the others are jobless and landless and have lost their entitlement to housing, basic social services and subsidised food.

This paper looks at how married women and children are vulnerable to becoming landless. Should something be done? What can be done?

In many parts of Africa, legal services organisations have developed innovative ways for using legal processes to help disadvantaged groups have more secure land rights. Their approaches, tools and methods vary widely – from legal literacy training to paralegals programmes, from participatory methodologies to help local groups register their lands or negotiate with government or the private sector through to legal representation and strategic use of public interest litigation.

Examines the current wave of land tenure reform in Eastern and Southern Africa. Discusses how far tenure reform reflects a shift in powers over property from centre to periphery. A central question is whether tenure reform is designed to deliver to rural smallholders greater security of tenure and greater control over the regulation and transfer of these rights.

Subtitled ‘an analysis of the tenure context and a problem statement for Leap.’ Comprises (i) context – current analyses of tenure, the South African context, tenure security and vulnerability; (ii) multiple tenure arrangements in South Africa – customary tenure arrangements, Registration of Deeds system, local and off register tenure arrangements in rural and urban areas, transitional tenure arrangements; (iii) problem statements – multiple tenure arrangements, vulnerability and tenure; (iv) points of departure for phase 4 – understanding, recognition and integration, vulnerability.

Celebrates the launching of OpenLandContracts, an international repository of land deals created in response to the general lack of transparency surrounding such deals. The contracts are annotated to help users navigate them.

Focuses on tackling land issues in post-conflict states. Root of problem is that most rural populations are little better than squatters on their own land in the eyes of the law. Remedy is to acknowledge customary land rights as equivalent to private property rights.

Revisits Zimbabwe’s land question 5 years after the launching of the ‘fast-track’ land redistribution programme which has created a new paradigm, the consequences of which will take many years to work through the country’s political, economic, and social fabric. Briefly defines old and new versions of Zimbabwe’s land question before outlining salient aspects of the reform process. Assesses the outcomes of the redistribution, the apparent lacuna between land and agrarian reform, and the debate the reform process has kindled.

Examines the policies and practices on land of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). While DFID’s approach to land reform in the 1980s reflected the dictates of modernisation, formal registration and market-led distribution of land of the IFIs, this was followed 1997-2002 by a period where changes were made to move in the direction of a rights-based approach.