The ultimately disappointing results of past redistributive reforms caused contemporary policy-makers in Latin America to search for alternatives. In recent years, the issue of transforming tenure structure through the market mechanism has moved into the spotlight. This paper argues that it is extremely helpful to approach the topic from an institutional perspective. The institution of property rights is central to the discussion. New questions emerge: How are transactions actually being carried out in the rural setting?

This paper looks at the dynamics of land and violent conflict. It states that conflict situations in rural societies deeply affect the politics of land, and that land requires a careful approach by policy makers because it is a central element in the evolution of societies. As a result, policies pertaining to land are not neutral in terms of conflict management.The paper argues that donors seeking to promote peace and development should tackle land issues in recipient countries more systematically, more carefully and in a more coherent manner.

Focuses on the problems of implementing new land laws in Africa, with particular emphasis on those in Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. Includes background, the policy environment, implementors, accommodative non-state land reform, and radical non-state land reform

Examines international evidence on the relationship between asset ownership and growth and the impact of redistributive land reform, plus evidence of the impact of land reform in Zimbabwe.Asks why it appears that resettled farmers are among the poorest in the population. Concludes that asset redistribution can be a viable strategy to enhance growth, that the performance of resettled farmers in Zimbabwe is better than is conventionally believed, and that if a land reform programme is well designed, it can have a large impact on equity as well as productivity. [author]

This proceedings issue from a mini conference held in November 2004 presents six papers summarising attempts to establish best practice equity-share schemes on two commercial farms in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The main object of this participatory research was to test and refine land reform policy influencing the role of equity-share schemes as instruments of land and agrarian reform in South Africa.The papers presented were as follows:Land redistribution in Kwazulu-Natal: an analysis of Farmland transactions from 1997 until 2002 by Stuart Ferrer and Allan Semalulu.

Sharp inequalities in the distribution of land remains a major cause of extreme poverty in many developing countries. Some instances are the result of ownership patterns inherited from colonial administrations, others are linked to the struggle for economic prosperity in the post-independence era.Landlessness is therefore a significant problem for the rural poor. Most remedies that have been undertaken previously have not yielded positive results, as can be witnessed in Southern Africa today.

This article discusses the history of land reform in Namibia. The article indicates that at the time of writing (September 1991), it is still too early to comment on the implementation of land reform in Namibia, as it has not yet begun in earnest. Land policy has yet to be detailed and ratified, the institutions for implementing land reform and settlement programmes have to be appointed and in some cases created de novo, and large sums of money have to be found.

Secure access to resources is now recognised in human rights discourse as a universal condition of human well-being. This paper aims to contribute to the theoretical and empirical understanding of land tenure as a human rights issue, by analysing recent land tenure policy in South Africa. Specifically, the paper analyses the implementation of the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act (Trancraa) in Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province during 2001 and 2002.

These Country Profiles represent a new edition of a continent-wide set of profiles prepared and published by the Land Tenure Center in 1986. This new volume reflects a decade of intensive work on the continent by LTC and a very considerable deepening of knowledge and understanding of land tenure issues in Africa. It addresses events of the past ten years, which have been substantial in many of the countries covered. Land tenure continues to be a volatile policy domain. The standard topics from the earlier profiles have been revised to take into account new development concerns.

Mexican rural reform has questioned the role of the peasantry and private national producers in agriculture. The reform followed a neoliberal paradigm for incorporating the nation into the global village. As part of a government strategy, land reform in Mexico aims to change entrepreneurial and land tenure patterns in rural areas into an individual, private, large-scale, and capitalist productive structure, and the land market is vital in allowing the land transfers needed to change the land tenure pattern.

Land reform has been the main policy response of government to correct the sharp inequalities in the distribution of land ownership in the Philippines. The historical records show that the process of disposal of State lands has heavily favored households with economic and political power. These households had undue advantage over the common populace in acquiring property rights through the Spanish system of royal grants and the American system of land cadastre.

Can land reform have a lasting impact on poverty reduction?