Includes the predicaments, concerns and challenges faced by rural women – commercialization of natural resources, how rural women value land, from ‘women’s crops’ to ‘men’s crops’, plantation economies and rural women, the water factor, women are not parties to the deal. Towards solutions for rural women, invest in local food systems, women’s rights to land, build toward collective action. Conclusions and recommendations.

The symposium was held in Dar es Salaam on 1-2 March 2005. Report includes summaries of the 9 papers presented, issues discussed, policy recommendations and recommendations for future action. The papers cover implementation – overview, practical experiences, strategic plan, community based experiences, technical analysis, gender issues, wildlife management, privatisation, land in the context of the National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction. Participants believed there was a need for increased involvement of CSOs in monitoring and supporting implementation of the Land Acts.

Civil society formations in Africa have historically played an important part in the establishment of organising people in the pursuit of common goals. The majority of Africa’s people reside in rural areas where they derive their livelihoods from land, and for this majority secure access to land is the foundation of any efforts to alleviate poverty. Land reforms in Africa are at various stages of development in a number of countries, partly in response to pressures for liberalisation and privatisation from the World Bank and other like-minded institutions.

Includes abstract, introduction, the Land Act 1979, land ownership, grant of title to land, need for land policy, current land reform proposals, draft White Paper proposals, and strategic options – access to land, land markets, participation.

Argues that the seizure of farmland for commercial diamond mining in Angola’s Lunda provinces is causing widespread hunger and deepening poverty. Fields are destroyed where crops are cultivated and arbitrary measurements taken to determine how much to pay the peasants; only US$0.25 per square metre of land seized. The law which ought to provide some protection is routinely ignored. Calls on the companies involved to start negotiations with farming communities to ensure fair compensation for people who lose access to their land through the granting of diamond mining concessions.

This workshop brought together 75 delegates from governments, NGOs and research institutions and universities from all over Africa. Report covers consultation, process, legislation, tenure, titling, race in Southern Africa, donors, the World Bank, corruption, the future.

South Africa is reviewing its plans and progress towards sustainable development ahead of the 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg. Argues that more attention needs to be given to land reform as a key component of sustainable development strategy. Raises a number of questions and concerns that need debate before the Summit and beyond. Focuses particularly on land reform, poverty and livelihoods, and on land reform and the environment.

Includes background on poverty and land, stated objectives of land reform, achievements under the land reform programme, gender considerations, the case of farm workers, lessons learnt, prospects for land reform, strategic options, the role of donors.

Covers purpose of the conference, proceedings, overview of land reform in the region, facilitating policy recommendations, general policy recommendations – policies and programmes complementary to land reform, policy processes and political dynamics, the role of civil society, state capacity – the way forward, references, country tables, and keynote address by Martin Adams.

A brief synthesis of a longer report. Provides a micro-level foundation for discussions of land allocation and its relation to poverty within the smallholder sector of Eastern and Southern Africa based on results from household surveys in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique and Rwanda between 1990 and 2000.

Paper prepared for the FAO’s Southern and Eastern Africa Office. Covers the impact of HIV/AIDS on sub-Saharan Africa; the underlying causes of HIV/AIDS; its economic impact; its impact on the household livelihood strategies; and a conceptual framework. Looks at HIV/AIDS and poverty, regional migration, poverty-driven commercial sex work; the impact on the macro economy and the rural economy, on agricultural production and coping strategies, and women, children and the elderly and HIV/AIDS.

Provides a micro-level foundation for discussions of income and asset allocation within the smallholder sector in Eastern and Southern Africa, and explores the implications of these findings for rural growth and poverty alleviation strategies in the region. Results are drawn from nationally representative households in five countries between 1990 and 2000: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, and Rwanda.