Issa Shivji is Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Executive Director of the 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. 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.

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.

Includes current trends � levels of activity, crops and markets, sources of investment, contract transparency, geographical distribution; focus of existing discourse; land and security; weaving land into conflict narratives; risks; conclusion. Argues that access to accurate information about the extent and nature of large-scale foreign investment in Ethiopian and Sudanese land is extremely limited, so broader narratives of ‘land grabbing’ are a potentially misleading oversimplification.

Includes regional context, history of land tenure in Angola, the 1992 land law and its implementation, the draft Land Act of 2002 and its approval, review of post conflict potential fracture points – resettlement of IDPs and refugees, land grabbing, peri-urban land, food security and revival of agriculture, and prerequisites for a new policy.

The seizure of land by those with no legal title to it is what was done a thousand times over by pioneers, colonists and builders of empire. There is nothing new in the transformation of pirates into legitimate landholders who then invoke the law to protect what they have stolen. It all depends when history starts. The powerful have always grabbed land, but when the poor do it, all hell breaks loose.

A short historical analysis of the origins of current land grabbing, the role of African leaders, and some of the key actors involved.

With all the focus on land grabbing and food security, water issues tend to be an afterthought. Foreign investments tend to be concentrated around the main African river basins. Water resources are lifelines for locals, so understanding the legal framework governing investments is critical. Covers how abundant are Africa’s water resources?; what does the evidence show?; the legal framework governing water rights and farmland investments; domestic law and contracts; international investment, freshwater, environmental and human rights law; recommendations.

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

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.

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.

Includes presentation of the conference; land grabbing: what is it? – old phenomenon, new appearance, scale and speed, the ‘everyone wins’ myth; testimonies and analyses by peasants and family farmers from different continents- Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe; conclusion – global land grabbing: some critical reflections by Jun Borras.

Includes views of land registration in Omahalya Village in the Omusati Region of Namibia, connection to the land, value of registration, protection from land grabbing and conflicts, investing in their land, women’s empowerment, the commonage. Concludes that the village is a promising example of the benefits of Communal Land rights registration. The villagers feel safer on their land, invest more, have fewer conflicts and more equitable inheritance.