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.

Contains situational analysis, policy context, tentative conclusions and options for intervention. Addresses the question of how to increase security of land rights for the urban and rural poor. Examines the existing multiple land tenure system. Argues that land reform in Sierra Leone is both necessary and possible though there are many constraints. The costs of doing nothing will likely include further civil unrest and environmental degradation.

Covers land rights and economics in 13 communal conservancies in Caprivi and the Namibian state in rural Caprivi – ministries of lands, agriculture, the environment, and the police. Comments on the lack of legal capacity in rural Namibia.

Details the development of contemporary land rights policy and poverty alleviation planning in Mozambique, lessons learned from recent experiences of land reform in Zambezia Province, challenges and strategic options for future support for land reform. Argues that the land reform programme has now reached a critical stage with senior officials believing that measures in the 1997 Land Law designed to protect community tenure are obstacles to investment, and growing support for unfettered privatisation of land rights which would mainly benefit speculators.

The current Ethiopian government originated in a Marxist revolutionary movement, which early in its struggle against the Derg regime recognized the widespread discrimination against women in Ethiopian society and placed gender emancipation at the centre of its revolutionary strategy.

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).

Includes overall agenda of the Land Policy, the constitutional, legal, land tenure, land rights administration, land use and management, regional and international frameworks, and the framework for implementation of the Land Policy. Said to be agreed by all stakeholders and that regular consultations and dialogue will be encouraged during its implementation.

Includes country context, legal and institutional frameworks, 4 case studies. The new government of South Sudan has begun promoting large-scale private investments as a shortcut to rapid economic development. Recent major land deals threaten to undermine the land rights of local communities. Lack of a regulatory framework encourages opportunistic companies and is a potential source of future conflicts. Need to place limits on land-based investment until an appropriate regulatory framework is in place.

Examines recent progress on developing indicators to measure land rights as part of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016. Argues that the current proposed indicators are too narrow and that a more appropriate indicator, which has achieved a high level of consensus, should be adopted by the UN. This would directly measure the land rights of women and men as well as indigenous peoples and local communities. It would also cover a range of land, property and natural resources rather than simply agricultural land and would focus on secure rights rather than ownership.

Members of rural communities in Namibia often lack a basic understanding of what their user rights and responsibilities are under the Communal Land Reform Act and are also unaware of their rights to object to a proposed land allocation or to appeal a decision once made. The large-scale acquisition of land for agriculture and conservation projects often displace local communities or reduce their access to control and ownership of key resources due to the gaps between good legislation and inadequate implementation and enforcement.

Report presents grassroots women’s approaches to access justice with a focus on land and property rights in Africa. This community empowerment-based research undertaken by the Huairou Commission and its partner groups across 7 African countries – Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe – showcases women’s rights challenges and effective strategies to improve women’s access to justice. These groups are making an impact through strategies such as community mapping exercises, local-to-local dialogues, and developing community watchdogs and training community paralegals.

Includes the rise of land deals in sub-Saharan Africa; land grabbing and risks for small scale farmers; land grabs: another yoke over women’s land rights?; is land grabbing threatening pastoralism?; opportunity for groups at risk: the African Union’s continental standards on the land question.