The Land Campaign (Campanha Terra), which formally came to an end in November 1999, will re-emerge as a Land Forum. Describes the background to and results of the campaign and the activities in its first and second years, mentions how it was organised, and briefly outlines plans for the future.

Land tax has long been neglected in West Africa and is regarded as a taboo subject. Yet contrary to received wisdom it is possible to introduce a basic annual land tax without a land register or a computerized system. While certain precautions need to be taken, it not only generates revenue for the locality but also discourages the unproductive retention of unused land, and in the long term helps secure the land rights of producers or residents by proving written proof of their occupancy.

Includes land forum to debate tough issues, land law and land rights, resuming community delimitation, Lioma, Niassa, exaggerated plans fuelled by secrecy and speculation, poor consultations mean communities lose out, biofuel expansion slower than expected, hundreds of land conflicts, resettlement badly done, the Chinese land grab myth.

Section I provides an overview of large-scale land deals. It assesses the trend at a global level and examines structural obstacles faced by efforts to regulate such deals. Section II focuses on corruption as a major obstacle to improving the protection of local communities and indigenous peoples whose livelihood, identities, and traditional ways of life depend on the use of local lands and natural resources. This phenomenon is largely understudied because corruption, by its very nature, is hidden and therefore poorly documented.

Improving women’s ability to securely access land is recognized as an effective means to increase gender equality and advance other key social and economic development goals. Despite progressive laws in many African countries, gender disparities commonly persist in women’s access and ownership of land. Although legal empowerment of women can help to strengthen their claims to land, governments commonly lack the capacity to offer legal services.

A discussion paper attempting to take stock of what works and does not work in interventions seeking to promote and enhance women’s land rights. Looks at both individual and community land tenure, rural and urban land, arable and forest land. Describes a variety of interventions in as much detail as possible to understand why the intervention worked or not. Makes recommendations for scaling up women’s land rights.

Publication features the key provisions on land governance in recent relevant international frameworks. Presents where new issues or themes appeared, issues that have gained additional support and those that have received less attention. Also highlights the particularities, strengths and potential gaps of the individual frameworks, as well as their similarities, complementarities and differences. Emphasizes the critical role of land governance in the realization of human rights, enjoyment of secure land rights and in the overall achievement of sustainable development objectives.

Includes customary law in South Sudan, statutory land law, customary land tenure, interface of customary and statutory systems, women’s land rights, access to land for returnees, land disputes, land grabbing and other challenges, recommendations.

Background – renewed impetus for systematic demarcation – policy, legislative and operational frameworks. Systematic demarcation and poverty reduction – theoretical and conceptual frameworks, methodology. Outcomes of systematic demarcation – the demarcation process, transformations in land rights, including for children and women, asset enhancement, access to capital, farm investment and production, the land market, land disputes, area land committee operations, local parcel registration data bank. Conclusions and recommendations.

Contains objectives of West Africa LandNet and its activities since the Addis Ababa meeting in January 2000. Lists activities in Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nigeria, Togo, Mali and Guinea. Discusses communication problems and main lessons from the interim phase.

Most francophone African states nationalised the colonial land tenure systems they inherited at Independence and then periodically adjusted them according to the situation in each country. Their citizens have yet to enjoy secure land rights, and there is still a yawning gap between the law and actual practice at both the lowest and highest levels.

Includes the context of forced evictions in Luanda; the right to adequate housing; forced evictions and demolition in Luanda; national and international responses; recommendations. Argues that a critical underlying factor was insecure land tenure, which made residents particularly vulnerable and was derived from inadequate land legislation and lack of public information about land rights and urban management policies, inadequate registration procedures, and a consequent false perception of security of tenure by residents.