Land rights in Africa

These pages were created in part to publicise the work of Oxfam GB and its partners and allies, at a time of considerable activity in the area of policy and law making on land in many African countries. There was a need to present and disseminate arguments in favour of pro-poor land reform in a context in which the rich and powerful tend to control both power and information.

There have been overwhelmingly positive responses to these pages over the years. Journals have often been generous in allowing reproduction of articles on this site. A serious attempt has been made to present materials which are brief, topical, and written in accessible language.

Secure access to land remains essential for diverse land-based livelihoods and is a precondition for sustainable agriculture, economic growth, and poverty reduction.
Struggles for land rights form a vital part of the wider fight for global justice. But even the most pro-poor land reform, laws, and policies will be of limited value while international trade rules and subsidies remain strongly rigged in favour of the rich.

These pages are regularly updated, so bookmark this page to keep informed.

NEW

Contextualising the controversies: dilemmas of communal tenure reform in post-apartheid South Africa (229K PDF file) - 2 September 2008

Land and Pro-Poor Change in Sierra Leone (270K Doc file) - 29 July 2008

Decentralization, Pro-Poor Land Policies, and Democratic Governance (317K PDF file) link to CAPRI website - 28 July 2008