Report of consultation of NGOs on land policy advocacy. Covers advocacy, policy and law, and designing a framework for effective land policy advocacy.

Includes the sustainable livelihoods framework, critical tenure-related livelihood questions, tenure insecurity in Amhara Region of Ethiopia and in Southern Africa, a country-by-country assessment, and discussion of what can be learned to illuminate post-transition land tenure reform.

Includes landlord-tenant relations, the Kibaale land question, pastoralists, gazetted land, IDPs and returnees in Northern Uganda, conflicts about refugee resettlement camps, the impact of oil discoveries, deficits in dispute resolution and land administration, corruption, ignorance of the law.

It is often assumed that transferring land to rural households will provide people with valuable assets that can be productively used to enhance their livelihoods. Unfortunately, few rural people or land reform beneficiaries are perceived to be using land productively because they do not engage in significant commercial production for the market. Transferring land to subsistence users is therefore seen as a waste of resources.

Analysis of women’s access to land in West Africa shows that they are central to agricultural development as land users, but rarely have the same access as men. They mainly have limited and temporary rights, although situations do vary. Increasing efforts are being made to remedy this through legislative texts and various bodies and NGOs, but it is particularly difficult in a context of social change and when other social categories, including men, may be in precarious land situations. How can we hope to secure women’s rights if those of men are not secure?

The authors currently work for the tenure reform group within the South African Department of Land Affairs. Their paper provides an overview of South African land reform policy, its scope (redistribution, restitution, tenure reform), milestones in the institutional development of the Department of Land Affairs, and institutional issues that still have to be resolved.

Part of the ongoing process of developing Uganda’s Draft National Land Policy. Definition of critical policy issues, statement of the problem, possible emerging policy options. Looks at clarity and certainty of land rights, constitutional and legal frameworks, land-rights administration, land use and management, implementation issues.

Concluding chapter aiming to synthesise key findings of research papers and perspectives in a volume on land and livelihoods in Zimbabwe. Proposes a strategic policy roadmap in 4 phases for re-engaging government, donors and civil society in land and agrarian reform in Zimbabwe.

Report on a Southern African consultation of donors and civil society organisations held in Benoni on 3 May 2001. Its purpose was to review progress with land reform and what donors might do in its absence. Traces current developments in the region. Argues that donors should not walk away when things turn sour, that land reform is a long-term iterative process, needing the involvement of many stakeholders. Unequal ownership of land is an increasing threat to political stability. Strengthening civil society during periods of government inaction is of value for what follows.

Analyses context within which the National Land Policy ascribes to tackle gender. Looks at influencing policy context, theories and evidence, access to and control of land, current policy response, and key implications for the PSIA (Poverty Social Impact

Begins with a brief overview of South Africa’s redistribution programme. Offers an interpretation of ‘what went wrong’ with the land redistribution programme that prevailed between 1995 and 1999, followed by a scan of the problems that do or will limit the revised redistribution programme in respect of its rural development objective. Concludes tentatively with remarks about the burden of redistribution in redressing past injustices, and explains how the revised redistribution programme is especially ill suited to this purpose.

Three separate ‘on my mind’ articles by Professor Mbilinyi: Making National Land Policy inclusive and people-centred; In whose interest will this National Land Policy be?; Questions about the National Land Policy, 2016. Draft NLP just released for external consultation. Shares the views of other researchers.