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Land rights in Africa - East Africa

Land Rights	Introduction	Key principles
Africa General	West Africa	East Africa
Horn of Africa	Southern Africa	Links

East Africa: General

Foreword to Women’s Rights to Land & Privatization in Eastern Africa NEW
Source: Birgit Englert & Elizabeth Daley (Eds), Women’s Rights to Land & Privatization in Eastern Africa (Oxford: James Currey, November 2008)
Summary: An exciting new collection inspired by a 2003 Oxfam/FAO workshop in Pretoria. Foreword briefly looks at the struggle for women’s land rights across the globe and the lack of concrete gains. Women have been confronted by resistance and patriarchy. Many land reform programmes over the past 60 years were falsely premised on notions of a unitary household. Women were disadvantaged by the codification of customary law in colonial Africa and are now by privatization in a context exacerbated by the coming of HIV and AIDS, which is breaking down notions of reciprocity. To confront these difficult, sensitive issues requires mobilisation and collective action, awareness raising of rights, addressing gender seriously in all land reform initiatives, political and legal will, and the kind of detailed, local level research so ably represented in this fine, new and well-edited collection from Eastern Africa.
Date: November 2008
Download the full paper (57K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is deeply grateful to the publishers, James Currey, for permission to reproduce this foreword on this site.

Children’s Property and Inheritance Rights, HIV and Aids, and Social Protection in Southern and Eastern Africa
Source: FAO HIV/AIDS Programme Working Paper 2 (Laurel L. Rose)
Date: November 2007
Summary: 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. Presents a rights’ framework for the social protection of children and assesses children’s social protection and property/inheritance rights in the context of international agreements and national instruments, including National Plans of Action, as well as succession and land laws. Presents and analyses several case studies of programmes concerned with children’s property and inheritance rights and social protection issues in southern and eastern Africa, including two case studies from Rwanda. Offers recommendations regarding priority policy and programmatic areas for children’s property rights and social protection in the context of HIV and AIDS.
Download the full paper (1,322K.pdf file) from the FAO website

Independent Review of Land Issues, Volume III, 2006-2007, Eastern and Southern Africa
Source: Martin Adams and Robin Palmer (eds)
Summary: This review of land issues in twenty countries in Southern and Eastern Africa is the third since 2004. The idea of conducting a regular review arose in an informal meeting of land rights activists in Pretoria in 2003 concerned about the seeming lack of progress with land reform in the region and what might be done to improve land rights delivery. It was recognised that there was a lack of systematic information as to what was actually happening and the need to track the progress of the various national programmes underway, as well as monitor land rights under serious threat. The countries covered here are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, DRC (Eastern), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Sudan Transitional States, Southern Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Ends with concluding thoughts.
Date: June 2007
Download the full paper (1,118Kb.pdf file)

Children’s property and inheritance rights and their livelihoods: the context of HIV and AIDS in Southern and East Africa
Source: FAO Livelihood Support Programme Working Paper (Laurel L. Rose)
Summary: Focuses on legal and institutional aspects of children’s property and inheritance rights in Southern and East Africa. Discusses violations of those rights and how the spread of HIV and AIDS has contributed to this. Assesses some norms of customary law that aim to protect these rights and some which complicate and limit children’s ability to maintain their rights. Reviews and assesses selection of international and national laws. Identifies several gaps in law and policy. Reviews National Plans of Action for orphans and vulnerable children. Looks at effectiveness of government structures, emphasizing institution of the public trustee. Outlines and evaluates some stakeholder initiatives. Presents eight case studies of children whose rights were violated. Makes recommendations on preventive and corrective methods to protect children’s rights and on future research and development priorities.
Date: November 2006
Download the full paper (1,498K.pdf file)

Improving Tenure Security for the Rural Poor Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda Country Case Study
Source: FAO LEP Working Paper 3 (Michael Ochieng-Odhiambo)
Summary: Sub-title is Formalization and its Prospects. Has three main chapters: background and context; tenure security for the poor in East Africa – the issues; formalization is not new in East Africa; conclusions and recommendations.
Date: October 2006
Download the full paper (348K.pdf file) from the FAO website

Reclaiming our lives. HIV and AIDS, women's land and property rights, and livelihoods in southern and East Africa. Narratives and responses.
Source: Edited by Kaori Izumi (FAO)
Summary: A serious study of a neglected field, drawing on research, workshops, and personal and organisational testimonies. Covers Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Aims to raise awareness of the heavy impact of HIV and AIDS on women’s property rights and livelihoods, and the active steps being taken by many grassroots organisations to respond to the crisis. Looks at a number of creative initiatives such as the Memory Book Project in Uganda.
Date: July 2006
Download the full paper (1,984K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is grateful to HSRC Press. South Africa, for permission to reproduce this important book in electronic form on this website.

Land Tenure Security for Poverty Reduction in Eastern and Southern Africa: Workshop Report
Source: IFAD
Summary: Contains review of land policy formulation and implementation, land tenure challenges and activities in poverty reduction programmes and projects, stakeholder perspectives, lessons learned for mainstreaming land tenure security in poverty reduction.
Date: 27-29 June 2006
Download the full paper (529K.pdf file)

Report of the Regional Workshop on HIV and AIDS and Children’s Property Rights and Livelihoods in Southern and East Africa
Source: FAO Southern Africa (Edited by Kaori Izumi)
Summary: The focus of the workshop, funded by FAO, Oxfam GB, and Women Land Link Africa Project (WLLA), was on children’s property rights. The report covers presentations by children, key issues and inspiring initiatives by CBOs, messages from the UN to children, experiences from Zimbabwe, very moving testimonies by children, and key recommendations. Following the launch of a UNICEF and UNAIDS global campaign, FAO has been initiating work in the neglected area of children’s property and inheritance rights. The development of child-friendly tools, documenting best practice, and sensitizing the public were stressed during the workshop.
Date: 7-8 March 2006
Download the full paper (468K.pdf file)

Land Reform Highlights in Eastern Africa, 2004-5
Source: Independent Land Issues Review, Volume II, Number 2
Summary: A second volume in this series covering this region, building on that of August 2004, also published on this website. Designed to be useful for planners, programme designers, advocates, practitioners, citizens and subjects engaged in land reform. Contains an introduction, followed by land reform highlights in Burundi, Eastern DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Date: December 2005
Download the full paper (350K.pdf file)

Human Rights, Formalisation and Women’s Land Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa
Source: Ingunn Ikdahl, Anne Hellum, Randi Kaarhus, Tor A. Benjaminsen, Patricia Kameri-Mbote (Institute of Women’s Law, University of Oslo, Studies in Women’s Law No.57)
Summary: Contains chapters on formalisation of land rights; women’s land rights - a human rights-based approach; a market-based approach to land rights, followed by country studies on Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Date: June 2005
Download the full paper (817K.pdf file)

Report of the Conference on Land Tenure and Conflict in Africa: Prevention, Mitigation and Reconstruction, 9-10 December 2004
Source: ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies)
Summary: The conference was part of a series of activities by ACTS seeking to improve knowledge on the links between natural resources and violent conflict. Includes full conference papers on Burundi, Eastern DRC, Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, North Kivu, as well as overview papers on a research agenda on land tenure and land reform, human-centred environmental security, Oxfam GB and land in post-conflict situations in Africa, and group discussion reports, conclusions, references.
Date: March 2005
Download the full paper (591K.pdf file)

Note: this Report is also found on the ACTS website http://www.acts.or.ke/Eco-Project.htm and Oxfam GB is grateful to ACTS for permission to reproduce it here.

Conflict in the Great Lakes Region – how is it linked with land and migration?
Source: Overseas Development Institute, Natural Resource Perspectives 96 (Chris Huggins, Herman Musahara, Prisca Mbura Kamungi, Johnstone Summit Oketch and Koen Vlassenroot)
Summary: This paper reviews evidence from Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo to draw out the main roles that access to land has played in initiating, fuelling or perpetuating conflict, and to draw out policy conclusions. Includes sections on policy responses to land scarcity and resettlement of IDPs and refugees.
Date: March 2005

Download the full paper (102K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is very grateful to ODI for permission to post this paper, which also appears on their website at http://www.odi.org.uk/nrp/96.pdf

Summary Report of the Conference on Land Tenure and Conflict in Africa: Prevention, Mitigation and Reconstruction, 9-10 December 2004
Source: ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies)
Summary: Includes summaries of conference papers on Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and of overview papers on a research agenda on land tenure and land reform, human-centred environmental security, Oxfam GB and land in post-conflict situations in Africa, and group discussion reports.
Date: February 2005
Download the full paper (225K.pdf file)

Note: this Report is also found on the ACTS website http://www.acts.or.ke/Eco-Project.htm and Oxfam GB is grateful to ACTS for permission to reproduce it here.

Land, Conflict and Livelihoods in the Great Lakes Region: Testing Policies to the Limit
Source: African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) Ecopolicy 14 (Chris Huggins, Prisca Kamungi, Joan Kariuki, Herman Musahara, Johnstone Summit Oketch, Koen Vlassenroot, Judi W. Wakhungu)
Summary: Covers (1) Land as a source of conflict in Africa - the multi-dimensional nature of land issues; indirect causes of conflict, land access and structural poverty; interactions between customary and state-managed tenure systems; historical injustices and land disputes. (2) Land rights during conflict – population displacement; land as a sustaining factor in conflict; land rights of women, children and marginalized communities. (3) Land access in the post-conflict context – repatriation and restitution of property after conflict; support for dispute resolution mechanisms; addressing different kinds of land rights; policy making in post-conflict situations. (4) Conclusions and recommendations.
Date: December 2004
Download the full paper (670K.pdf file)

Note: this Policy Brief is also found on the ACTS website http://www.acts.or.ke/ and Oxfam GB is grateful to ACTS for permission to reproduce it here.

Struggling with Land Reform Issues in Eastern Africa Today
Source: Independent Land Newsletter (August 2004) edited by Nelson Marongwe and Robin Palmer
Summary: An second independent newsletter providing details of current developments in land reform and land conflicts in the Horn, East and Central Africa. Covers Burundi, Eastern DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan (including origins of the Darfur crisis), Tanzania and Uganda. As in Southern Africa, land is a highly contested and contentious issue right across the region. A short case study in Apac, Northern Uganda, symbolises the dilemmas of land reforms across the continent in an era of privatisation. Some are very clearly gaining at the expense of others.
Date: August 2004
Download the full paper (204K.rtf file)

Preventing Conflict through Improved Policies on Land Tenure, Natural Resource Rights, and Migration in the Great Lakes Region: An Applied Research, Networking and Advocacy Project
Source: ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies) Eco-Conflicts Policy Brief, Volune3 Number 1 (Christopher Huggins)
Summary: Contains introduction, research on land and conflict, land issues in Rwanda, Eastern DRC, and Burundi, conclusion. Recent research has pointed to the significance of environmental variables in triggering and sustaining struggles for power in the Great Lakes Region. Contested rights to land and natural resources are a significant element in the dynamics of conflict in the region.
Date: January 2004
Download the full paper (434K.pdf file)

Note: this Policy Brief is also found on the ACTS website http://www.acts.or.ke/ and Oxfam GB is grateful to ACTS for permission to reproduce it here.

Women’s Land Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa: A short report on the FAO/Oxfam GB Workshop held in Pretoria, South Africa, 17-19 June 2003
Source: Birgit Englert (University of Vienna) and Robin Palmer (Oxfam GB)
Summary: Short (4-page) report on this workshop covering why a successful workshop?, why this workshop?, what were the main themes?, key issues raised in presentations, discussions and working groups, the follow up, website links to the full report of the workshop.
Date: December 2003
Download the full paper (40K.rtf file)

Report of the FAO/Oxfam GB Workshop on Women’s Land Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa held in Pretoria, South Africa, 17-19 June 2003
Source: FAO (Kaori Izumi) and Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer)
Summary: This was a major and highly successful workshop on women’s land rights in Southern and Eastern Africa, organised by FAO and Oxfam GB. It attracted an unusually diverse range of participants. This official report summarises the papers, presentations and discussions in the original order of the programme. It covers the conceptual framework and women’s land rights in the contexts of: legal issues, natural resources, inheritance rights, post-conflict situations, pastoralist communities, HIV/AIDS, land administration, legal aid, rights to housing, land and property, the working group discussions, action points, and includes a number of appendices providing details of participants and their organisations.
Date: October 2003
Download the full paper (560K.doc file) | PDF (1,405K)

Land Reform in Southern and Eastern Africa: Key Issues for strengthening Women’s Access to and Rights in Land
Source: Cherryl Walker (for FAO)
Summary: Report on a desktop study commissioned by FAO. Contains introduction; the context for land reform (the legacy of colonialism, women’s access, women in agriculture, HIV/AIDS and land reform); an overview of land reform issues and debates (policy issues, gender equity as a policy goal); land reform and women (case studies from Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe); conclusion (key findings and recommendations); synopsis of land policies by country.
Date: March 2002
Download the full paper (617K. rtf file)

LandNet East Africa: a Strategic View
Source: LandNet East Africa
Summary: Contains objectives of LandNet, different approaches, thematic issues, the value-added of sub-regional coordination, measuring impact, sustainability of LandNet, work plan.
Date: 2 May 2001
Download the full paper (35K.rtf file)

LANDNET Africa: Report of the East African Sub-Regional Planning Workshop
Source: Reconcile (Resources Conflict Institute), Nakuru, Kenya
Summary: Official report of the East African LANDNET Africa meeting held in Kenya in August 2000. Summarises welcoming remarks, the keynote address by H.W.O. Okoth-Ogendo, and thematic presentations on women’s land rights in eastern Africa, common property networking at the global level, and land tenure networking issues in Rwanda. Also sub-regional LANDNET Africa updates, and country land tenure networking updates from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, plus identification of priority issues and future plans. Lists addresses of participants and the workshop programme.
Date: 15-18 August 2000
Download the full paper (244K.rtf file)

Learning Lessons from Land Reform in Africa: 1 - East Africa
Source: Robin Palmer, Oxfam GB Land Policy Adviser, Africa, ZERO Newsletter
Summary: Expands upon bullet point presentation made at Kigali workshop in September 1999 to draw out more fully lessons from Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, including lessons for governments, donors, and NGOs. Also suggests the importance of putting in place a land policy framework, of women's land issues, and for NGOs to be proactive.
Date: January 2000
Download the full paper (31K .rtf file)

Land Policy Development in East Africa: A Survey of Recent Trends
Source: H.W.O. Okoth-Ogendo, Paper given at the DFID Workshop on Land Tenure, Poverty and Sustainable Development in sub-Saharan Africa, Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Summary: Oxfam GB was closely involved in the planning of this workshop which brought together 75 practitioners from all over Africa. Professor Okoth-Ogendo, Professor of Public Law at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, is a world authority on land issues in Africa. His paper is a regional view of recent trends in East Africa, looking at land policy in East African history, trends in land policy development, and land policy changes in the 21st century.
Date: 16-19 February 1999
Download the full paper (56K .rtf file)

Land and the Need for Cooperation in East Africa
Source: The East African (Robin Palmer, Oxfam GB Land Policy Adviser)
Summary: Oxfam GB was invited to contribute a full page article on a subject of its choice to The East African to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of the East African co-operation secretariat. It chose land and urged East African governments to learn from each other and from further afield, and to engage seriously with their people. It warned of the danger of foreign ownership of land and that passing laws which further marginalised the poor would breed serious social conflict in the future.
Date: 10-16 March 1997
Download the full paper (12K .rtf file)

East Africa: Burundi

Download the full paper (102K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is very grateful to ODI for permission to post this paper, which also appears on their website at http://www.odi.org.uk/nrp/96.pdf

The Problems of Displaced and Returnee Women faced with Current Land Tenure Policies in Burundi
Source: UNIFEM (Sabine Sabimbona)
Summary: Examines the situation of ongoing crisis in Burundi, the socio-economic characteristics of displaced and refugee women, numbers of displaced and returnee women, and the state of inheritance. Concludes that customary inheritance law should follow the same evolution as civil law and recognise the right of daughters to inherit property in the same way as brothers.
Date: February 1998
Download the full paper (50K.rtf file)

East Africa: D. R. Congo

Download the full paper (102K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is very grateful to ODI for permission to post this paper, which also appears on their website at http://www.odi.org.uk/nrp/96.pdf

Land, Migration and Conflict in Eastern D.R. Congo
Source: ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies) Eco-Conflicts Policy Brief, Volune3 Number 4 (Koen Vlassenroot and Chris Huggins)
Summary: Recent research has pointed to the significance of environmental variables as structural causes and sustaining factors in struggles for power in the Great Lakes. Contested rights to land and natural resources are significant, particularly in light of land scarcity in many areas and the frequency of population movements. This DRC Policy Brief summarises a longer report to be published by ACTS and the Institute for Security Studies in December 2004. It is based on interviews in Goma and Ituri, as well as an extensive review of secondary literature, it examines issues in Masisi and Ituri, and includes a number of recommendations for the DRC Government, the international community, and civil society actors. It contains introduction; the local political economy of land access; the issue of border identities; alienation of customary land; side-stepping the land law in Ituri; land and conflict in Masisi after 1998; conclusions and recommendations.
Date: October 2004
Download the full paper (450K.pdf file)

Note: this Policy Brief is also found on the ACTS website at http://www.acts.or.ke/Eco-Project.htm and Oxfam GB is grateful to ACTS for permission to reproduce it here. ACTS wishes to acknowledge funding by USAID.

East Africa: Kenya

Crisis in Kenya: land, displacement and the search for 'durable solutions'
Source: ODI Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG)
Summary: ODI's Humanitarian Policy Group held an event to explore the role that land issues have played in the current crisis in Kenya. The HPG Policy Brief released to coincide with the event argues that it is essential that humanitarian actors understand land issues as they seek to assist displaced populations and facilitate the process of return or resettlement.
Date: April 2008
Download the full paper (102K.pdf file) from the ODI HPG website

Unjust Enrichment: The Making of land grabbing Millionaires
Source: Kenya Land Alliance and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
Summary: Volume 2 of series on The Plunder of Kenya’s State Corporations and Protected Lands. Includes the grabbing of parastatal land, Agricultural Development Corporation farms, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya Industrial Estates, Kenya Railways Corporation, National Social Security Fund, Kenya Food and Chemical Corporation Limited, State House and Military land.
Date: April 2008
Download the full paper (1462K.pdf file)

Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Powers over Property. Devolved land governance – the key to tackling the land issue in Kenya?
Source: Liz Alden Wily
Summary: A contribution to the current vibrant debate on land in Kenya following recent upheavals. Argues the need for a radical restructure of the way property relations are governed because what is being contested today is not just property but power over property. Makes practical suggestions for genuinely local democratisation of land governance. Need to act on identified illegal allocation of public land; devolve, not de-concentrate, land administration and to the most local level possible; and vest radical title in real communities, not district/tribal territorial domains.
Date: March 2008
Download the full paper (213K.rtf file)

Children’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV and AIDS – A Documentation of Children’s Experiences in Zambia and Kenya
Source: FAO HIV/AIDS Programme Working Paper 3
Summary: Based on field research conducted by two grassroots organizations, CINDI-Kitwe in Zambia and GROOTS Kenya, to map and document cases of property grabbing from children, in particular those who became orphans due to AIDS. Includes problem analysis and study objectives; presenting children’s experiences in Zambia and in Kenya; conclusions and lessons learned.
Date: March 2008
Download the full paper (499K.pdf file) from the FAO website

National Land Policy (final)
Source: Kenya Ministry of Lands
Summary: Covers introduction; the land question; the land policy framework; institutional framework; land policy implementation framework. Issues include constitutional, land tenure, land administration, land use management, land administration, land issues requiring special interventions.
Date: May 2007
Download the full paper (481K.pdf file)

Righting the Wrongs: Historical Injustices and Land Reforms in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance Policy Brief
Summary: Includes key concerns and policy recommendations.
Date: May 2007
Download the full paper (247K.pdf file)

Institutional Framework for Land Administration and Management in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance Policy Brief
Summary: Includes key policy concerns and recommendations.
Date: April 2007
Download the full paper (295K.pdf file)

Civil Society Position on the Draft National Land Policy
Source: Kenya Land Alliance Position Paper
Summary: Contains entrenchment of Draft National Land Policy (DNLP) proposals in the Constitution, elimination of discriminatory practices in women’s access to land, institutional framework, other issues of concern.
Date: March 2007
Download the full paper (457K.pdf file)

Kenya Land Alliance Land Update 5.4
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Includes relevance of the World Social Forum to the Kenyan situation, Kenya’s informal traders and their WSF experiences, Kenya’s fisher folk community and their WSF experiences, news.
Date: March 2007
Download the full paper (1866K.pdf file)

Community Land Tenure and the Management of Community Land in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance Policy Brief
Summary: Includes key policy concerns and recommendations.
Date: March 2007
Download the full paper (317K.pdf file)

Public Land Tenure and Management of Public Land in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance Policy Brief
Summary: Includes key policy concerns and recommendations.
Date: March 2007
Download the full paper (268K.pdf file)

Women, Land and Property Rights and the Land Reforms in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance Policy Brief
Summary: Includes key policy concerns and recommendations, the Draft National Land Policy of 2006.
Date: January 2007
Download the full paper (333K.pdf file)

Kenya Land Alliance Land Update 5.3, July – September 2006
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Includes the Draft National Land Policy – a step into land-reform direction, addressing constitutional issues, challenges in addressing security of tenure, reforming land administration and management institutions, key issues and policy recommendations of the DNLP, news.
Date: November 2006
Download the full paper (1502K.pdf file)

Unjust Enrichment. The Making of Land Grabbing Millionaires. Abetting Impunity: the other side of the Ndung’u Report on Illegal and Irregular Allocations of Public Land
Source: Kenya National Commission on Human rights and Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Part of a series produced by KNCHR and KLA to enhance the protection of public resources and help the public demand greater accountability and transparency. Focuses on the plunder of Karura, Ngong Road, and Kiptagich Forests. Suggests a loss of public resources of Ksh.18.47bn. Offers an account of the human rights dimensions of land grabbing. Attempts to unmask those who did particularly well from the plunder. Urges the recovery of all monies unjustly got through illegal allocation of public land.
Date: September 2006
Download the full paper (841K.pdf file)

Challenges Facing the Implementation of the Forest Act 2005
Source: Kenya Land Alliance (Land Update Volume 5, Number 2)
Summary: Contains sections on challenges facing the implementation of the Forest Act 2005; the new Forest Act and community involvement; CSOs and the new Act; forest evictions and excision – views of a section of stakeholders; Likia forest evictees – a forgotten lot; the Maasai Mau Forest – a story of confusion and desperation; excision of forestlands by Government continues; what is the true status of the draft National Land Policy?
Date: April-June 2006
Download the full paper (1,463K.pdf file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 5 Number 1
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: The focus is on management and use of wetlands in Kenya. Coverage includes their role in poverty reduction, Lake Naivasha, Yala, the Nzoia River Basin, and the need for securing wetlands as common property resources. Argues that secure access to wetlands for poor rural communities is fundamental to improving their livelihoods.
Date: January-March 2006
Download the full paper (1383K.pdf file)

Kenya Draft National Land Policy
Source: National Land Policy Secretariat and Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: 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 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.
Date: December 2005
Download the full paper (2326K.pdf file)

National Land Policy Issues and Recommendation Report
Source: Kenya Ministry of Lands and Housing (National Land Policy Secretariat)
Summary: Part of the ongoing process of producing a National Land Policy and the product of research and consultation by 6 thematic groups. Report includes country framework and wide range of policy issues and recommendations included within rural land use, environment and informal sector; urban land environment and informal sector; land tenure and socio-cultural equity; land information management systems; legal, institutional and financing framework.
Date: August 2005
Download the full paper (1142K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is grateful to the Kenyan National Land Policy Formulation Process and Secretariat for permission to post this report.

The Ndungu Report: Land & Graft in Kenya
Source: Review of African Political Economy, Vol.32, No.103, March 2005, pp.142-51. (Roger Southall)
Summary: This summary of the Report of the Ndungu Commission on Illegal and Irregular Allocation of Public Land provides an insight into a critical recent episode in the struggles over land and graft in Kenya. Includes land and demography in Kenya; the law relating to the allocation of land; the Commission’s findings – (1) urban, state and ministries’ land, (2) settlement schemes and trust lands, (3) forest lands, national parks, wetlands, riparian resources and protected areas; the Commission’s recommendations; commentary. Kenya is faced with landlessness on a large scale and with recurrent land disputes among individuals and between communities. Government has just set in train a National Land Policy Formulation Process to try to sort out these underlying problems, including those thrown up by the Ndungu Commission.
Date: March 2005
Download the full paper (44K rtf file)

Note: Oxfam GB is extremely grateful to the editors and publishers of the widely esteemed journal, Review of African Political Economy, for permission to reproduce on this website Roger Southall’s article, recently published in ROAPE.

Kenya Land Alliance Fact Sheets 1-9 on human-wildlife conflicts in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: A series of brief fact sheets on: background to human-wildlife conflicts in Kenya; legislative and administrative highlights; geographical areas that are prone to human-wildlife conflicts in Kenya; the role of communities in the management of biodiversity; main issues surrounding wildlife management and perpetuation of human-wildlife conflicts; current efforts at resolving human-wildlife conflicts; policy and legislative options for reform of the wildlife sector; best international practices for the management and conservation of wildlife, its habitats and biodiversity; the way forward in wildlife management and conservation.
Date: April 2005 Download the full paper (825K.pdf file)

The Efficacy of establishing a National Land Commission for Land Administration in Kenya
Source: Kenya Land Alliance, Technical Paper No.1/2005
Summary: Includes conceptualising land administration; land administration systems in Africa; the Kenyan situation; re-engineering the land administration function in Kenya – redefining the goal of land administration; establishing a National Land Commission; implementation and operationalisation of the proposed land administration structure.
Date: April 2005 Download the full paper (85K.pdf file)

The National Land Policy in Kenya: Critical Public Land Issues and Policy Statements
Source: Kenya Land Alliance, Issues Paper No.3/2004
Summary: Contains why the concept of public land must be incorporated in the National Land Policy; public land management; tenure of public land; administration of public land; acquisition of public land by foreigners; allocation and disposition of public land; the power of compulsory acquisition; public land and the indefeasibility of title; public land and land markets; land owned by statutory bodies; legislative framework. Each section contains a policy statement with suggestions as to what the National Land Policy should state.
Date: January 2005
Download the full paper (99K.pdf file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 3 Number 4
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Includes a series of interviews on the theme, ‘How should the Ndung’u Report recommendations be implemented? – what Kenyans say.’ Also includes some of the the Ndung’u Report’s recommendations.
Date: October-December 2004
Download the full paper (435K.pdf file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 3 Number 3
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Focuses on the need for the National Land Policy to address natural resources, especially water, forest and wildlife management, fishing and mining. The Land Policy and new mining policy and legislation framework must guarantee and promote community rights. Argues the need for community participation for sustainable forest management.
Date: July-September 2004
Download the full paper (295K.pdf file)

The National Land Policy in Kenya: Addressing Historical Injustices
Source: Kenya Land Alliance, Issues Paper No.2 of 2004
Summary: Contains the rationale for addressing historical injustices in a National Land Policy; the problem; the squatter problem; the coastal land problem; displacement occasioned by land clashes; lingering claims to land by certain communities; minority communities and their claims to land; neighbouring communities; the Numbian question; conclusion. Each section contains a policy statement with suggestions as to what the National Land Policy should state. KLA's National Coordinator hopes that this Paper will initiate a well-informed discourse and public debate on the need for policy statements on historical injustices and will strengthen the campaign for a fair and just National Land Policy.
Date: October 2004
Download the full paper (75K.pdf file)

The National Land Policy for Kenya: Critical Gender Issues and Policy Statements
Source: Kenya Land Alliance, Issues Paper No.1/2004
Summary: This Issues Paper seeks to move the debate and stimulate discussion of issues relevant to women’s land rights and social security beyond the unfulfilled demands for gender responsive land policies and land legal framework. It covers land tenure and ownership, provisions in Trust Land, for inheritance, for succession and matrimonial policy, the impact of HIV/AIDS on women’s land rights, land redistribution and resettlement schemes, land markets, institutional arrangements, the envisaged legislative framework.
Date: August 2004
Download the full paper (114K.rtf file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 3 Number 2
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Includes a series of articles on finally starting the process of developing a National Land Policy in Kenya, including an editorial, the overall concern, the squatter crisis, and public land management.
Date: April-June 2004
Download the full paper (889K.pdf file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 3 Number 1
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: The focus is on environmental management and the impact of current controversial mining activities on land and livelihoods.
Date: January-March 2004
Download the full paper (304K.pdf file)

National Land Policy Formulation Process: Concept Paper
Source: Kenya Ministry of Lands and Settlement
Summary: Contains 3 chapters – introduction, structure of land policy formulation process, and organisation structure. They include land policy principles, guiding values, methodology, rural and urban land use, legal framework, land tenure and social cultural equity, land information management system, institutional and financial framework for implementation.
Date: March 2004
Download the full paper (778K.rtf file)

A Summary of Land Policy Principles drawn from the Commission of Inquiry into the Land Law System of Kenya ('Njonjo Commission'), The Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC), Proceedings of the National Civil Society Conference on Land Reform and ther Land Question
Source: Kenya Ministry of Lands and Settlement
Summary: Contains introduction; the goals and objectives of land policy; land sovereignty; land tenure classification; incidents of tenure; historical claims; tenure of land-based resources; productive and sustainable land use; the management and development of land; land rights delivery; demarcation and cadastral survey; land market regulation; land dispute resolution; appendix on national civil society land policy principles.
Date: 2 April 2004
Download the full paper (385K.rtf file)

Current Land Reform and Land Policy Processes in Kenya
Source: Martin Adams (from a Report for DFID Kenya)
Summary: Contains background to DFID Kenya support to the land reform process; problems and constraints; the Njonjo Commission and Report; the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission; the land policy process; the Kenya Land Alliance; possible future KLA activities for DFID support; the role of civil society in the land policy development process in the region; possible future DFID support to the Kenya Government land reform process; overview of the land reform work being undertaken (by government, business, donors); proposed DFID assistance to the Ministry of Lands for a land policy review. There are appendices detailing a summary of issues raised by Kenyans with the Njonjo Commission and the Government/NGO land reform protocol.
Date: 11 August 2003
Download the full paper (218K.doc file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 2 Number 3
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Contains a critical analysis of the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Land Law System of Kenya - sampled reactions; land issues at the plenary of the National Constitutional Conference at the Bomas of Kenya; the Njonjo Commission Report at close scrutiny - a pastoralist’s view; co-ownership is passed as family land right in Uganda; the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Land Law System of Kenya broadly captures the public views on the much-needed land reform for sustainable development – Kenya Land Alliance’s perspective; Titanium mining in Kwale; what a National Land Policy for Kenya should entail - has the Njonjo Commission Report addressed it?; the sanctity of land titles - do we need new generation titles?
Date: July - September 2003
Download the full paper (279K.pdf file)

Adili Issue 40
Source: Transparency International Kenya. Oxfam GB acknowledges with thanks the permission of TI-Kenya to publish this edition of its fortnightly news service devoted to land on this website. The TI-Kenya website is www.tikenya.org
Summary: Contains cleaning up the mess at Lands? – an exclusive interview with Hon. Amos Kimunya, Minister for Lands and Settlement; land: political patronage’s greatest weapon – an interview with Odenda Lumumba, National Coordinator, Kenya Land Alliance; corruption thriving in informal settlements – an interview with Jane Weru, Executive Director, Pamoja Trust; land: Kenya’s simmering powder keg by Odindo Opiata, Kituo cha Sheria; land rights for poor people key to poverty reduction, growth – World Bank (Policy Research) Report.
Date: 14 July 2003
Download the full paper (136K. pdf file)

Land Update Newsletter Volume 2 Number 1
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Contains close scrutiny of chapter 11 (on land and property) of the Kenya Draft Constitution Bill; editorial on Kenya Land Alliance supports the campaign for the protection of forest lands; the new Minister of Lands and Settlements’ plans to modernise his Ministry (including a commitment to make public the Njonjo Land Commission report); the new Minister for Planning and National Development’s perception of land issues in Kenya (including a commitment to tax land held by speculators); a review of NARC’s (National Rainbow Coalition) agenda for success on land issues (including an end to land grabbing of Public Land). The KLA believes in the imperative need for a national land policy framework.
Date: January – March 2003
Download the full paper (423K. pdf file)

Campaign to make the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Land Law Systems of Kenya Public in Time for the Forthcoming Election and to enhance the ongoing Land Reform Agenda
Source: Kenya Land Alliance (Press release)
Summary: The Njonjo Commission of Inquiry into the Land Law Systems of Kenya has just completed its task after 3 years. The Kenya Land Alliance argues strongly that its report needs to be made public as a matter of good faith before the forthcoming elections.
Date: 26 November 2002
Download the full paper (17K rtf file)

Gender Aspects of Land Reform: Constitutional Principles
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: A pocket sized booklet published to make a significant contribution towards creating a just, fair and equitable society in which women’s land rights are more strongly recognised and promoted. Contains a series of issues and principles: discrimination on the basis of sex; land tenure reform; land ownership; trust land; rights of inheritance; succession and matrimonial property; land distribution and resettlement schemes; land markets; institutional arrangements; the National Land Policy; conclusion. Makes suggestions about what the new Constitution should declare in relation to these issues.
Date: November 2002
Download the full paper in two sections:

Section one (141K pdf file)

Section two (192K pdf file)

Promoting Land Rights in Africa: How do NGOs Make a Difference?
Source: IIED (Nazneen Kanji, Carla Braga and Winnie Mitullah)
Summary: Investigates the effectiveness of NGOs’ strategies and methods to influence land policy reform. Report based on a study of seven NGOs promoting land reform and land rights in Mozambique and Kenya. Covers country contexts – NGO sectors and land policy reform; NGOs in the policy process – roles and relationships; assessing the impact of NGOs on land policy processes; key findings and lessons. Studies show that legislation and regulations can be modified, reinterpreted or ignored during implementation, when local level power relations become critical. Thus building the capacity of community groups to take informed action is critical to long-term and sustainable pro-poor policy influence, and monitoring implementation is key for NGOs. Those in the study all feel they need to engage directly with communities if they are to gain legitimacy for advocacy and monitoring.
Date: October 2002
Download the full paper (225K.pdf file)

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Land: Case Studies from Kenya, Lesotho and South Africa
Source: Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (Scott Drimie)
Summary: Paper prepared for the FAO’s Southern and Eastern Africa Office. Contains introduction to the impact of HIV/AIDS on land issues – land use, land rights, land administration; country studies; the impact of HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, in Kenya, in South Africa, and general findings and recommendations. Latter include land use strategies, land rights and land administration, and developing solutions.
Date: September 2002
Download the full paper (298K. rtf file)

Campaign for the Enactment of the Ghai Constitution in Time for the forthcoming Election and to Complete the on-going Reform Agenda - a Press Release
Source: Kenya Land Alliance (Odenda Lumumba, Co-ordinator, and Michael Ochieng Odhiambo, Board Member)
Summary: Hopeful that if the proposed constitutional principles on land reform in the Ghai draft constitution are used as a basis of land policy and law formulation in the future, the main problems will be sorted out. Deplores the possibility of Kenya going to an election before adopting the Ghai draft constitution.
Date: 19 September 2002
Download the full paper (29K. rtf file)

Land, Environment and Natural Resources: Submission to the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission from the Kenya Land Alliance
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: KLA's submission to the Constitutional Review Commission based on a National Civil Society Conference on Land Reform and the Land Question at Mbagathi 21-23 May 2002. Covers the Commission's mandate, situation analysis and conclusions. Topics include land relations, land tenure, public land, expropriation, land rights of women, pastoralists, farm dwellers and the urban poor, redress of historical grievances, land administration and management, land market, environmental management, and the land policy process.
Date: July 2002
Download the full paper (145K. rtf file)

Land Use in Kenya: the Case for a National Land Use Policy
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: Contains an introduction on land use in Kenya, followed by chapters on land resources in Kenya, land abuse in Kenya, emerging trends, and towards a national land use policy. The Alliance has taken up the challenge to undertake a social audit of natural resources to put the case for a national land use policy, spelling out how land and other natural resources should be used and managed in a sustainable manner.
Date: February 2002
Download the full paper (3,658K.pdf file)

Note: because this pdf file is so huge, an abbreviated version is included below. Readers wanting to buy this as a book should contact the Kenya Land Alliance direct at klal@africaonline.co.ke or at P.O. Box 7150, Nakuru, Kenya, phone +254 37 41203.

Land Use in Kenya: the Case for a National Land Use Policy (abbreviated)
Source: Kenya Land Alliance
Summary: This abbreviated version contains just the contents pages, acknowledgement, preface, summary, chapter 4 on towards a national land use policy (justification, the choices to be made, key elements, assets to build on), and the conclusion.
Date: February 2002
Download the abbreviated paper (1,374K.pdf file)

Land Mali Umma
Source: Kenya Land Alliance and Kituo cha Sheria
Summary: The first volume in a series of KLA proposals on legislative and policy framework principles designed to assist Kenyan citizens to contribute to the land and constitutional review processes, Focuses on key issues of public land management and administration. Argues that indigenous land use systems should be formally recognised by law and makes a number of specific recommendations designed to secure greater accountability.
Date: October 2001
Download the full paper (93K.pdf file)

Brainstorming/Planning Kenya Land Alliance Workshop on Land Policy and Land Law Reforms in Kenya
Source: Oxfam GB in Kenya (Ada Mwangola, Programme Coordinator, Sustainable Livelihoods)
Summary: Contains overview of the land reform process in Kenya and brief summaries of presentations made on: key elements and guiding principles in formulating land policy; political, economic, social and cultural issues on the land policy and land law reform process; implications of gearing the formulation of land policy and land laws as a stimulus for agricultural productivity; gaps, conflicts, contradictions, overlaps and inconsistencies in the existing land laws and what needs to be done in land legal reform. Concludes with an overview of the issues emanating and those that will be addressed (land policy, land laws, property regime, constitutional land policies).
Date: 22-23 February 2001
Download the full paper (35K.rtf file)

Box on the Poverty Impacts of Land Titling in Kenya
Source: Julian Quan, from chapter of a book, Evolving Land Rights, Policy and Tenure in Africa, edited by Camilla Toulmin and Julian Quan, being published by IIED and NRI
Summary: Examines evolution of land tenure reform in Kenya since Swynnerton Plan of 1954 with particular emphasis on the poverty impacts of titling. Concludes that land titling risks a negative impact on the poor.
Date: March 2000
Download the full paper (19K .rtf file)

Towards An Institutional Framework for Land Policy Advocacy in Kenya
Source: Michael Ochieng Odhiambo, Reconcile (Resources Conflict Institute), Nakuru, Kenya.
Summary: Report of planning workshop of the newly formed Kenya Land Alliance. Covers objectives, activities and membership, institutional framework, existing resources and a workplan. Both Reconcile and the Kenya Land Alliance have been supported by Oxfam GB.
Date: September 1999
Download the full paper (58K .rtf file)

Towards Effective Land Policy Advocacy: Consultation on the Way Forward in Kenya
Source: Michael Ochieng Odhiambo and Damaris Adhoch, Reconcile (Resources Conflict Institute), Nakuru, Kenya
Summary: Report of consultation of NGOs on land policy advocacy with funding and support from Oxfam GB. Covers advocacy, policy and law, and designing a framework for effective land policy advocacy.
Date: June 1999
Download the full paper (55K .rtf file)

East Africa: Rwanda

Workshop on Strategic Road Map to Land Tenure Reform
Source: Ministry of Lands, Environment, Forests, Water and Mines
Summary: Contains summary of proceedings, discussions and feedback, and list of resolutions. Topics include the need for reform, the road map to land reform, framework for stakeholder support – funding arrangements, urban land reform.
Date: 3-4 October 2007
Download the full paper (627K.pdf file)
Note: Oxfam is grateful to Minitere Rwanda for permission to reproduce this report on this website.

Returnee land access: lessons from Rwanda NEW
Source: HPG Background Briefing (John W. Bruce)
Summary: Includes large refugee returns to a small country, land access for returnees, re-establishing security of tenure, key lessons, land sharing, remembering the 1994-5 return, the Pinheiro Principles.
Date: June 2007
Download the full paper (63K.pdf file) from the ODI website

Drawing a line under the crisis: Reconciling returnee land access and security in post-conflict Rwanda NEW
Source: HPG Working Paper (John Bruce)
Summary: Includes land and conflict, returnee land access, the role of international humanitarian organisations, policy and law reforms, drawing a line under crisis.
Date: June 2007
Download the full paper (343K.pdf file) from the ODI website

Women’s Land Rights in Rwanda: How can they be protected and strengthened as the Land Law is implemented?
Source: RDI Report 123 (Jennifer Brown and Justine Uvuza)
Summary: Research findings include: land rights in marriage and during cohabitation; daughters and inheritance rights; land disputes; land administration and registration; education and monitoring implementation of the Land Law.
Date: September 2006
Download the full paper (389K.pdf file) from the RDI website

Improving Tenure Security for the Rural Poor Rwanda Country Case Study
Source: FAO LEP Working Paper 7 (Herman Musahara)
Summary: Has three main chapters: land tenure security and poverty reduction; access to land problem in Rwanda – a background (land-tenure systems, land scarcity and environmental degradation, land distribution); issues of tenure security in Rwanda (access to land by poor people, formalisation, practicalities of implementation).
Date: October 2006
Download the full paper (401K.pdf file) from the FAO website

Towards Developing A Comprehensive Implementation Framework of the Rwanda National Land Policy and Land Law
Source: Landnet Rwanda Chapter (Eddie Nsamba-Gayiiya)
Summary: Examines critical land issues and land related problems; the National Land Policy in the context of the national development agenda; global experiences and best practices in land reforms and implementing land policies, especially in post-conflict situations; implementation challenges; towards developing a comprehensive framework for implementing the NLP and the Organic Land Law (including a check list). Extremely effective section on insights and lessons from global experieces.
Date: 14 October 2006
Download the full paper (206K.rtf file)

A Case Study on the Implications of the Ongoing Land Reform on Sustainable Rural Development and Poverty Reduction in Rwanda and the Outcome Report of the Thematic Dialogue held on 20th January 2006, Kigali, Rwanda
Source: FAO (for International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, Porto Alegre, Brazil, 7-10 March 2006)
Summary: Case study includes conceptual framework, rationale for land reform in Rwanda, assessment of choices, implementation. Highlights from the thematic dialogue include discussions on participation, decision making for optimal land use, land and the rural-urban interface and livelihoods, lessons learned and challenges. Third part examines possibilities for future co-operation.
Date: January 2006
Download the full paper (278K.pdf file)

Orphans' Land Rights in PostWar Rwanda: The Problem of Guardianship
Source: Development and Change, 36, 5, 2005, 911-36 (Laurel L. Rose, Carnegie Mellon University)
Summary: Covers orphans in Africa; the problem of guardianship; the Rwandan setting; post-war situation of orphans; children and the law(s); orphans’ efforts to assert land rights – land dispute cases; rethinking care giving for orphans. The 1994 genocide, combined with the impacts of HIV/AIDS, created 300,000 orphans in Rwanda. Many are heads of households who urgently need land-use rights, but a weakened system of guardianship and increasing pressures on land often prevent this. Traditional support systems for Africa’s 34 million orphans (including 11 million ‘AIDS orphans’) have weakened over the years. The situation is particularly acute in Rwanda, where even before the genocide land pressures and poverty meant that many families were competing for land. Orphans experience many practical barriers, including lack of information, status, and few financial resources to defend their land rights. Makes a series of recommendations to the Rwandan government, including formulating and enforcing land laws specifically catering to orphans’ rights and designing national land-development programmes with the full participation of orphans.
Date: September 2005
Download the abstract at
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/dech

Note: This link takes readers to the main Development and Change site, from which readers should scroll down to the September 2005 issue. From there, scroll down to the 6th article, starting on p. 911, from where the full article (180K pdf file) can be downloaded.

Oxfam is very grateful to the editors of Development and Change and to the publishers, Blackwell Publishing, for their permission to post a link to this important article on this website.

Download the full paper (102K.pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is very grateful to ODI for permission to post this paper, which also appears on their website at http://www.odi.org.uk/nrp/96.pdf

Women’s Land Access in PostConflict Rwanda: Bridging the Gap between Customary Land Law and Pending Land Legislation
Source: Texas Journal of Women and Law, 13, 2, 2004, 197-250 (Laurel L. Rose, Carnegie Mellon University)
Summary: Contains sections on the effects on women of Rwanda’s civil war , the legal system, the gap between customary law and land legislation, research findings about Rwandan women’s rights, a number of dispute case studies, including methods of dispute settlement. Argues that a gap exists between customary and modern legal systems, creating both land access opportunities and constraints for women. Demonstrates the creativity with which women are bridging that gap in a state of legal uncertainty. Suggests government officials should achieve land policy and legislation that specifies and guarantees women’s land rights in theory and practice.
Date: November 2004
Download the full paper (405K pdf file)

Note: Oxfam is very grateful to the editors and publishers of the Texas Journal of Women and the Law (tjwl.org) at the University of Texas, Austin, for permission to post this important article on this website.

Oxfam and Land in Post-Conflict Situations in Africa: Examples from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Rwanda and Angola
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Global Land Adviser)
Summary: Presentation of 5 brief case studies of what Oxfam actually did with regards land in post-conflict situations in Africa, in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Rwanda and Angola, concluding with the common themes, conclusions and lessons that emerged from the case studies. Also includes a critique of the role of USAID.
Date: November 2004
Download the full paper (76K.rtf file)

Land Reform, Land Scarcity and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: A Case Study of Rwanda
Source: ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies) Eco-Conflicts Policy Brief, Volune3 Number 3 (Herman Musahara and Chris Huggins)
Summary: This Policy Brief summarises a longer report to be published by ACTS and the Institute for Security Studies in December 2004. Contains introduction; conflict in Rwanda; background to the development of the draft land policy; the context: land scarcity and distribution; aims and modalities of the draft land policy – consolidation, access to land for the landless, registration and tenure security, grouped settlements, land use and environmental protection; conclusions and recommendations.
Date: October 2004
Download the full paper (474K.pdf file)

Note: this Policy Brief is also found on the ACTS website at
http://www.acts.or.ke/ and Oxfam GB is grateful to ACTS for permission to reproduce it here. ACTS wishes to acknowledege funding by USAID.

Overview of Rwanda’s Land Policy and Land Law and Key Challenges for Implementation – Briefing Document
Source: Minitere (Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Environment) and DFID (Harold Liversage, Land Policy Specialist)
Summary: An introduction, overview and historical section is followed by sections on Rwanda’s Land Policy and law, outlining main problems identified and policy objectives. Includes the nature of land rights, registration, consolidation, establishment of commissions, villagisation and urbanisation, key challenges for implementation, impact of AIDS, role of political representatives, civil society and NGOs, and sensitisation and consultation on the implementation of the Policy and the law. Argues that the recognition and registration of individual land rights appears to be a widespread aspiration in Rwanda and communal land tenure appears to have been seriously eroded in the past few decades.
Date: February 2003
Download the full paper (239K. rtf file)

Report of a Workshop on Mainstreaming Grassroots Consultations into the National Land Policy and PRSP
Source: LandNet Rwanda Chapter
Summary: Includes objectives, programme, welcome message, official opening, hopes and fears, introduction to LandNet, presentations, group work on land rights, redistribution, decentralisation, and the role of civil society, key issues, closing. The workshop endeavoured to publicise the findings of grassroots consultations on land carried out by LandNet members in order that these be incorporated into the forthcoming National Land Policy and the PRSP. Among the issues raised were insecurity and inequitable distribution and the ways in which land disputes are currently handled.
Date: 22-23 November 2001
Download the full paper (138K.rtf file)

Land and Poverty in Rwanda
Source: National University of Rwanda (Herman Musahara)
Summary: Paper for a LandNet Rwanda workshop. Contains a conceptual framework on land and poverty; land attributes and the seeds of poverty including tenure issues; critical challenges to policy makers. Includes a descriptive summary of land problems from a recent university survey. Argues that land policies are fragile when mechanistically determined from the top, and need to involve the people in arbitration of disputes. Concludes that there can be no answer to poverty that does not take account of land.
Date: 22-23 November 2001
Download the full paper (164K.rtf file)

A Review for LandNet Rwanda of the Draft National Land Policy – and beyond
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Land Policy Adviser)
Summary: Comprises introduction; immediate background; Lisa Jones’ summary of the National Land Policy; thoughts on the Policy now; the future - the key question of resources; NGO experiences elsewhere of implementing land policy and law; annexes with extract on land and settlement from the PRSP, and extracts from previous comments on the draft Land Policy. Suggests that, since the Policy is likely soon to be approved, LandNet Rwanda should focus its attention on implementation.
Date: November 2001
Download the full paper (88K.rtf file)

Women’s Access to Land in Rwanda
Source: RISD (Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development)
Summary: Closing statement from workshop on culture, practice and law: women's access to land in Rwanda. Contains recommendatiuons on the marriage problem, the inheritance law, land scarcity and population growth, the land policy and the bill, the environment, discrimination.
Date: 24-5 April 2001
Download the full paper (34K.rtf file)

Summary of and Comments on Draft Policy for National Land Reform
Source: Lisa Jones (for LandNet Rwanda)
Summary: Examines the draft Land Policy in depth. Provides an overview of the Policy and highlights the key areas of proposed change and their possible impact. Looks at the context, the problems addressed, the Policy framework, objectives and principles, strategic guidelines and options – land tenure, administration, the land registry, land transactions, and use and management of land.
Date: 7 April 2001
Download the full paper (49K.rtf file)

Recent Experiences of Civil Society Participation in Land Policy Planning in Rwanda and Malawi
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Land Policy Adviser)
Summary: Contains the background to the National Land Policy workshops in Rwanda and Malawi in October and November 2000, and discusses civil society involvement prior to, during and after the workshops. Draws comparisons between the two countries and mentions the role of international NGOs.
Date: December 2000
Download the full paper (46K.rtf file)

Report and Reflections on the Rwandan Draft National Land Policy Workshop
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Land Policy Adviser)
Summary: Contains background to the National Land Policy workshop, emergence of the Policy, full details of the workshop, the Oxfam presentation, summary of the outstanding points in the Policy, key points raised in the plenary, feedback from the working groups, recommendations of the workshop, reflections, and an appendix containing the conclusion of the draft Policy.
Date: November 2000
Download the full paper (80K.rtf file)

Land Use and Villagisation in Rwanda
Source: RISD, Paper at the Workshop on Land Use and Villagisation in Rwanda, organised by RISD (Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development) in partnership with Oxfam GB, Hotel des Mille Collines, Kigali, Rwanda.
Summary: RISD, a Rwandan NGO and partner of Oxfam GB, presented its study of land use and implementation of villagisation in Kigali Rural, Ruhengeri, Gikongoro and Butare to offer an informed contribution to land policy development and the villagisation process and to stimulate discussion and dialogue through dissemination of its findings. The paper examines the history of the policy, the main determining factors, and the problems which have surfaced. since its inception.
Date: 20-21 September 1999
Executive summary (51K rtf file)

Full paper (95K rtf file)

Report on the Workshop on Land Use and Villagisation in Rwanda
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Land Policy Adviser, Africa). Workshop organised by RISD (Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development) in partnership with Oxfam GB, Hotel des Mille Collines, Kigali, Rwanda.
Summary: Oxfam GB funded research on villagisation by the local NGO RISD, and funded and was involved in the planning of this workshop. This short report covers the prelude to the workshop, the new land law, planning and objectives, key points made in the discussions, recommendations, developments after the workshop, and summaries of the papers.
Date: 20-21 September 1999
Download the full paper (67K .rtf file)

Women’s Property Rights and the Land Question in Rwanda
Source: UNIFEM (UNHCR, Kigali)
Summary: Looks at property rights and returnees, the situation of women in relation to property rights, consequences of women’s lack of access to land, initiatives taken by national authorities to improve women’s property rights, and initiatives taken by UNHCR.
Date: February 1998
Download the full paper (36K.rtf file)

East Africa: Tanzania

Tanzania: Decentralising Power or Spreading Poverty? NEW
Source: Review of African Political Economy, 116, June 2008, pp.221-35 (Arrigo Pallotti)
Summary: Investigates the complex relationships between the decentralisation reform and implementation of the 1999 land laws in the rural areas of Tanzania. Considers the political implications of the neo-liberal citizenship model the reform tries to promote at the local level, with a particular focus on its link with the implementation of the Village Land Act of 1999. Concludes that these policies will have far-reaching effects on resource access and democracy at the local level.
Date: June 2008
Download the full paper (84K.pdf file)
Note: Oxfam is grateful to the editors of ROAPE and to its Publisher, Routledge, for permission to reproduce this article on this site.

Land Rights and Land Conflicts in Africa: The Tanzania Case
Source: Danish Institute for International Studies (Rie Odgaard)
Summary: The issues identified in this report as being of major importance in relation to the land rights and land conflict situation in Tanzania are: questions related to governance; contradictions and lack of harmonisation between recent laws and policies in Tanzania; the existing power relations (including gender relations); and present development priorities. The report makes it clear that dealing with land matters is in essence political and presents a series of recommendations for interventions in the field of land rights.
Date: November 2006
Download the full paper (649K.pdf file) from the DIIS website

Lawyers in Neoliberalism. Authority’s Professional Supplicants or Society’s Amateurish Conscience?
Source: Issa G. Shivji (Professor of Law, University of Dar es Salaam)
Summary: A wide-ranging valedictory lecture by the veteran radical land guru. Offers glimpses of the role of law in Tanzania’s jump from the frying pan of state nationalism into the fire of corporate neoliberalism. Argues that the creation of ‘free’ labour and of land as capital were central to the colonial project. Examines the changing status of customary titles and the series of Land Acts from 1999. Argues that De Soto’s current Mkurabita project will in effect mean registering large chunks of village land in preparation for their alienation through force, fraud, and corruption. Concludes by arguing that the legal elite is involved in facilitating the commodification of land, water, energy, and traditional medicinal plants, and in drafting intellectual property laws to protect modified seeds and medicines looted from peasants and pastoralists.
Date: 15 July 2006 (Valedictory lecture on his formal retirement)
Download the full paper (182K.pdf file)

Report of the Proceedings of the Symposium on the Implementation of the 1999 (Tanzanian) Land Acts
Source: Oxfam Ireland, Trocaire and Concern
Summary: The symposium was held in Dar es Salaam on 1-2 March 2005. The 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. Oarticipants believed there was a need for increased involvement of CSOs in monitoring and supporting implementation of the Land Acts. A Task Force was formed, composed of CSO and government representatives tasked with drawing up an action plan for future cooperation between stakeholders.
Date: May 2005
Download the full paper (245K rtf file)

The 1999 Land Act and the Village Land Act: a technical analysis of the practical implications of the Acts
Source: Geir Sundet
Summary: Contains background to the Acts; the Land Act – concentration of powers in the Ministry, the provisions for a market in land, women’s rights to land, conflict resolution; the Village Land act – definition and registration of village land, registration and adjudication of customary rights, women’s rights, conflict resolution, the enabling legislation; if not this, then what?; what next? Concludes that the Land Acts are the logical outcome of a deeply flawed policy which rely on administrative procedures rather than market forces and make highly unrealistic assumptions of administrative capacities.
Date: 28 February 2005
Download the full paper (101K rtf file)

From a Gender Perspective: Notions of Land Tenure Security in the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
Source: Birgit Englert (Department of African Studies, University of Vienna). Published in Journal für Entwicklungspolitik (Austrian Journal of Development Studies), XIX, 1, 2003, 75-90. This was part of a special edition devoted to land reform in Africa edited by Birgit Englert and Walter Schicho. Oxfam GB acknowledges with thanks the permission of the Journal (JEP) and its editors to post 3 articles from this edition on this website.
Summary: Article first gives a brief overview on how the gender debate featured in the process of land reform in Tanzania and asks why socio-economic arguments have to be used by advocates of gender equitable land rights. It then focuses on the Uluguru mountains and shows that the need for registration is rather a consequence of its possibility and not of deficiencies of tenure security within the customary system, and that informal access to land can be experienced as more secure than formal registration. It further argues that demand to use land as collateral is low and risk–awareness especially among women high. Concludes by pointing out that lobbying for change of legislation might not be the most effective way to achieve gender equitable rights to land.
Date: March 2003
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Women, Wives and Land Rights in Africa: Situating Gender Beyond the Household in the Debate Over Land Policy and Changing Tenure Systems
Source: Oxford Development Studies, Vol.30, No.1, 2002, pp.21-40 (Ingrid Yngstrom)
Note: Oxfam GB is extremely grateful to the publishers of Oxford Development Studies, Carfax Publishing Company, part of the Taylor & Francis Group, for granting permission to post Ingrid Yngstrom's article on this website so soon after its publication.
Summary: Argues that the debate over land reform in Africa is embedded in evolutionary models, in which it is assumed that landholding systems are evolving into individualised systems of ownership with greater market integration. This process is seen to be occurring even without state protection of private land rights through titling. Gender as an analytical category is excluded in evolutionary models. Women are accommodated only in their dependent position as the wives of landholders in idealised 'households'. Argues that gender relations are central to the organisation and transformation of landholding systems. Women have faced different forms of tenure insecurity, both as wives and in their relations with wider kin, as landholding systems have been integrated into wider markets. These cannot be addressed while evolutionary models dominate the policy debate. Draws out these arguments from experiences of tenure reform in Dodoma, Tanzania, and asks how policy-makers might address these issues differently.
Date: February 2002
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The Tanzanian Land Acts, 1999: An Analysis of the Analyses
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Land Policy Adviser, Africa)
Summary: Analyses the analyses made of The Land Act, 1999, and The Village Land Act, 1999, by Issa Shivji and Liz Wily. Includes engaging with the ministry, a national debate, lessons for civil society, genuine decentralisation, the next steps, and what lessons for Oxfam. Has an appendix of articles on the Acts.
Date: March 1999
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The Land Acts 1999: A Cause for Celebration or a Celebration of a Cause?
Source: Issa Shivji, Address to the Workshop on Land, Morogoro, Tanzania
Summary: Issa Shivji is Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Executive Director of the Oxfam-supported Land Rights Research and Resources Institute (LARRRI) or Hakiardhi (in Swahili). He is an acknowledged authority on land law in Africa and chaired the 1991-2 Presidential Commission of Enquiry into Land Matters, which was also supported by Oxfam. Here he examines the new Land Acts, including fundamental principles, land administration and allocation, village titling, land grabbing, dispute settlements, gender, youth and children, and concludes with the 'virtues' of the Acts.
Date: 19-20 February 1999
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Lift the Whip - Palaver: The Land Bills
Source: Issa Shivji, The African
Summary: Article from his regular column in The African, in which Shivji discusses villagisation, land grabbing, village titling, dispute settlement, and radical title. Argues that MPs should be given a free vote of the Land Bills.
Date: 6 February 1999
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Oxfam GB’s Land Advocacy Work in Tanzania and Uganda: The End of an Era?
Source: Oxfam GB (Robin Palmer, Land Policy Adviser, Africa)
Summary: An analysis of the style and content of Oxfam GB's land advocacy work in Tanzania and Uganda, with some detailed history of Oxfam's involvement in both countries.
Date: February 1998
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Protection of Peasant and Pastoral Rights in Land: a Brief Review of the Bills for the Land Act, 1998 and the Village Land Act, 1998
Source: Issa Shivji, Paper presented to the Parliamentary Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs Workshop on the Bills for the Land Act and the Village Land Act, Dodoma, Tanzania.
Summary: Looks at criteria for assessing the bills, problems of definition, alienation of land, titling and management of village land, dispute settlement, and validation of villagisation.
Date: 26-28 January 1999
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Azimio La Uhai: Declaration of NGOs and Interested Persons on Land
Source: National Land Forum (a Coalition of NGOs and Interested Persons), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Summary: Declaration issued at the end of a workshop intended for discussion by the public. Participants agreed to form a coalition, the National Land Forum. Contains a critique of the Bill for the Land Act, focusing on radical title, classification of land, the authority of administrators, accountability, acquisition of land by foreigners, grabbing of village land, adjudication, titling and registration, gender equality and land rights, and dispute settlement machinery.
Date: 15 May 1997
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East Africa: Uganda

Unveiling Gender, Land and Property Rights in post-conflict Northern Uganda NEW
Source: Margaret A. Rugadya (Associates for Development)
Summary: Reviews key gender issues that need addressing re IDP return and the resumption of livelihoods in the recovery of post-conflict northern Uganda. Reveals the inadequacies in policy and law in addressing gender and land issues. Re-establishing an enduring property rights regime in land requires addressing: (a) securing the essential ingredients of security and certainty of property rights; (b) identifying potential conflicts and addressing them at their latent stage; and (c) establishing a robust and dynamic institutional arrangement that handles land and biodiversity related transactions in a transparent and accountable manner.
Date: October 2008
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Final Report of the Integrated Study on Land and Family Justice
Source: Associates for Development (Report to Justice, Law and Order Sector, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Uganda)
Summary: Report is in three parts: literature review findings, field study findings, recommendations. Divided into land justice and family justice and concludes by defining strategic interventions for the Justice, Law and Order Sector. Finds a dominant preference for disputes to be resolved at the lowest level possible, that lack of legal aid remains a big hindrance to access to justice, and that the conflict-affected districts of Lango, Acholi, Karamoja and Teso deserve special attention as a matter of urgency to resolve emerging land disputes and conflicts.
Date: May 2008
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Northern Uganda Land Study. Analysis of post Conflict Land Policy and Land Administration. A Survey of IDP Return and Resettlement Issues and Lesson: Acholi and Lango Regions
Source: Margaret A. Rugadya, Eddie Nsamba-Gayiiya and Herbert Kamusiime.(For the World Bank, to input into Northern Uganda Peace, Recovery and Development Plan and the Draft National Land Policy)
Summary: Includes the return process, public knowledge of land rights, land conflicts and dispute resolution, post-conflict vulnerable group issues, performance of land administration institutions, recommendations. Finds the issue of return not adequately dealt with in the NLP. 92% have returned in Lango, but only 5% in Acholi. Increasing number of land conflicts, high levels of misgiving and distrust of central Government’s intentions, almost no knowledge of the Uganda Land Act, misgivings over demarcation and land registration, statutory and traditional dispute resolution institutions lack capacity, Land Tribunals dysfunctional, rising concerns over compensation rising, a host of tensions.
Date: February 2008
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HIV/AIDS in Uganda’s National Land Policy
Source: Associates Research Uganda (Herbert Kamusiime and Margaret A. Rugadya)
Summary: Highlights the conceptual linkages between HIV and AIDS, productivity, and land-tenure security. Points out the transitional effects of the epidemic on household asset endowment. Checklist of issues and considerations for analysis of HIV and AIDS on land tenure and use in PSIA (Poverty Social Impact Assessment) undertakings based on survey evidence and a specific site study on systematic demarcation in Rukarango, Ntungamo District.
Date: 7 June 2007
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Gender in Uganda’s National Land Policy
Source: Associates Research Uganda (Margaret A. Rugadya)
Summary: 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 Assessment).
Date: 7 June 2007
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Emerging Issues for Public Consultation with Policy Options
Source: Uganda Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (Margaret Rugadya)
Summary: 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.
Date: May 2007
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Protection and Land Rights
Source: LEMU (Land and Equity Movement in Uganda) Policy Discussion Paper 1
Summary: The law is supposed to protect a woman's rights to land. The law is failing, and husbands can ignore their wife's legal rights. Why? And what should be done about it?
Date: January 2007
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Titling Customary Land
Source: LEMU (Land and Equity Movement in Uganda) Policy Discussion Paper 2
Summary: The Ugandan government is convinced that only by giving everyone titles to their land will people have security of tenure, and it is inv