A comprehensive review covering stages in the development of Zambia’s land policy; land administration – customary land and leasehold tenure; land titling; current land policy consultation process; outstanding land policy issues – alienation of customary land, land market issues, problems faced by the poor in securing land rights, legal framework; development aid for the land sector in Zambia and possible DFID support.

An examination of land tenure arrangements in the former homelands of South Africa and of post-apartheid attempts to deal with them. Includes a critique of the new Communal Land Rights Bill. Argues that the very limited capacity of government’s over-centralised land administration has been the bugbear of land reform in South Africa and that over-optimistic predictions of the speed and scope of reforms have haunted officials and politicians who made them. Fears the new Bill will undermine the opportunity to strengthen the land rights of the poor.

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.

A working draft which ‘should not be quoted and interpreted as the policy of the Government of Zambia or any other government ministry or department until it has been finally agreed and adopted’. Has a brief background section and a brief section on vision, rationale, guiding principles, and objectives. The bulk is devoted to ‘situation analysis, challenges and policy measures’.

Chapters include the land question, land policy issues, constitutional reform, land reform issues, land use management principles, land administration, land issues requiring special intervention, institutional framework, support agencies, land policy implementation framework, proposed organizational structure. This draft contains numerous corrections to the text, but the policy making process appears to have become stalled in the current crises. It has recently been made public thanks to the assertiveness of the Kenya Land Alliance.

Covers the Tribal Land Act, tribal land administration, customary law, Land Boards, some long-standing issues, problems encountered. Concludes that there are serious problems concerning the administration of tribal land, mainly due to poor governance and ill-advised changes to the Tribal Land Act and its regulations.

Examines the role of development cooperation in land reforms and the extent to which donor organisations have addressed concerns related to gender equality. Reviews the reforms in 15 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, with a focus on Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Nicaragua. Legislation upholding gender equality is now present in different degrees in most of the countries examined. However, implementation often does not follow suit and women still face discrimination, in part due to social and cultural barriers and the inaccessibility of institutions able to support them.

Argues the need for long term perspectives on implementing land reforms, to address people’s perceptions and practices, to decentralise authority to the local level, and to mainstream women’s rights into every activity relating to land, land administration and land dispute settlement.

Includes uneven implementation, to title or not to title?, a demand-driven land reform please, a decoupled land administration structure, don’t forget the villages, Tanzania’s new wave land reform, recommendations. Argues that much could be achieved if higher level authorities and NGOs systematically strengthened the village authorities and enabled them to deliver their services. But as long as this level is forgotten, land reform will not work in practice.

Includes strategic plan for implementation of the land laws, implementation activities: setting up local land administrations and dispute mechanisms, lessons learned and challenges ahead.

A critical review of the directions that post-conflict state-building is taking, particularly the implications for post-conflict land administration that current approaches are mandating as the ‘correct’ approach. Influenced by the author’s work for UN agencies on local government and land issues in Liberia and Somaliland.

Tanzania’s land reform from 1999 has been evaluated as among the most gender-sensitive of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. However there is a gap between the legal framework and what is happening on the ground. This paper analyses the challenges related to the protection of women’s rights to land in rural areas. It provides detailed information on reform implementation experiences so far by analysing a number of government and NGO interventions.