This study relates to an on-going debate as to whether customary African land tenure must be reformed or converted to a statutory, individualised land tenure system (often referred to as a ‘titled’ system) as a pre-requisite to agricultural development. Past arguments in favour of titling claim that traditional tenure is insecure for the small farmer and thus creates disincentives for land improvements; that it prevents land from being used as collateral for credit; and that it prevents the transfer of land from inefficient users to efficient ones.

The need for energy security and climate change mitigation have increased blending mandates worldwide; in Southern Africa, demand for biofuels could increase following South Africa’s planned blending mandates. However, land constraints limit local industry expansion, with demand likely to be met in land-abundant countries. This paper reviews the status of the biofuels industry in Zambia, as a land-abundant country, for the local and wider Southern African market. It identifies potential biofuel feedstocks as crucial elements for establishing a viable industry.

There is increasing awareness that integrating gender into development frameworks is critical for effective implementation of development strategies. In working to alleviate rural poverty, the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) recognizes that “business as usual” gender integration approaches will not deliver lasting and widespread improvements in agricultural productivity, poverty reduction and food security. In response, AAS operationalized a gender transformative approach (see Cole et al. 2014a, 2014b).

In their quest for economic development through increased private investment, many developing countries are reformulating land policies to pave way for the transformation of communal land rights into private property. However, these customary land reform efforts have often been frustrated by indigenous people who feel such proposals threaten rural livelihoods and undermine the traditional political structures. Most of the research on this subject has focused on whether, how and/or to what extent the objectives of land reforms (e.g.