Two-thirds of the approximate 370 million self-identified indigenous peoples are found in Asia, enriching the region’s enormous cultural and linguistic diversity. They have strong cultural attachment to the land, forests and waters and their livelihood depends on the natural resources therein. They have their own distinct languages, cultures, customary laws and social and political institutions that are very different from those of the dominant ethno-linguistic groups in their countries.

In the recent past, high profile cases involving land governance problems have been thrust into the public domain. These include the case involving the grabbing of a playground belonging to Lang’ata Road Primary School in Nairobi and the tussle over a 134 acre piece of land in Karen. Land ownership and use have been a great source of conflict among communities and even families in Kenya, a situation exacerbated by corruption.

Zambia is one of the most forested countries in Africa, with about 50 million out of the 75 million hectares total land area under some form of forest cover. However, the country also has one of the highest rates of deforestation and degradation in the world, estimated at 250,000-300,000 hectares of forest loss per annum. Reversing/slowing this high deforestation and degradation trend will require the country to design and implement programs and strategies that will effectively deal with both the proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation and degradation.

The Land Act, 2012

The Land Registration Act, 2012

The National Land Commission Act, 2012

The Environment & Land Court Act, 2011

The Urban Areas & Cities Act, 2011

The paper discusses chieftaincy and colonialism in Lesotho, institutional roles of chieftaincy, the role of chieftaincy in the era of modern democracy/DGD, the relations between the democratic local authorities and chieftaincy in Lesotho and the role of chieftaincy and its constraints in the decentralized system of Lesotho. The paper directly contributes knowledge in public management sciences and administrative policy systems.

The Karamoja region in Northeastern Uganda, covering an area of 27,200 square kilometers, is inhabited by around 1.2 million people who live in seven districts; Moroto, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Amudat, Abim, Kotido and Kaabong. Its residents are mainly Ngakarimojong speaking peoples, but the area is also home to the Ethur, Labwor, Pokot, and indigenous minorities such as the Tepes and the Ik.

This report summarizes a case study of the Mexican ejidocommunity tenure system. Mexico was selected for this case study because of the rich history and extensive scale of the country’s community land tenure and registration systems. This community system covers 52% of the area of Mexico, roughly equivalent to the size of Egypt, and comprises over 30 000 communities. The ejido system emanated from the Mexican revolution (1910-1917) and represents a case where the customary system of land has been largely integrated into the statutory system.

This issue brief highlights the challenges indigenous peoples experience in securing their customary land rights in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Philippines; hence, this publication specifies recommendations for the government and CSOs in strengthening the recognition to indigenous peoples' rights.

This think piece sets out to:

Characterized as divinely ordained, the Islamic law of inheritance defines women’s rights to property of the deceased with specific roles and responsibilities for each individual. Obviously, the Islamic law of inheritance is a major contribution to the legal system of the world, compared to the customary laws in the pre‐Islamic Arab society that denied any proprietary right by way of inheritance to female relatives including daughters.

L’un des problèmes cruciaux auxquels font face les peuples africains est celui de la gestion des terres fertiles. C’est le cas du peuple akposso. Dès les origines, ce peuple avait établi sa tradition dans le domaine foncier et n’était pas prêt à partager ses terres avec autrui. Mais pendant la colonisation, l’Allemagne et la France ont eu leurs propres codes fonciers. De même, en 1974, l’Etat togolais a entrepris une réforme agro pastorale. L’étude de cette évolution du droit foncier montre des différences entre le droit foncier coutumier akposso et le droit foncier moderne.

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.