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This paper draws out the key links between land tenure and poverty eradication. The author argues that in countries where land distribution remains highly inequitable, effectively designed and targeted, it could be a key component of anti-poverty strategies, but significant complementary measures, notably agrarian support services, are also required to achieve real impacts, together with investments in employment and economic diversification. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, clarification of tenure rules, and the development of transparent, decentralised systems for land administration and dispute resolution, can also improve security, land access and provide a basis for sound resource management by and for the poor. Suitable approaches can often be based on existing customary institutions for land management, and evolving customary practice.
