Paper discusses Zambia’s dual land tenure system, the ways in which gender issues have been incorporated in legal and policy documents, and the extent to which this has been reflected in practice. It also examines the role of donors in legal and policy processes and donor support to civil society in relation to women’s land rights. Gender and land policies provide for the allocation of land to women, but have little impact on the ground. Customary law is on the whole discriminatory against women, in particular with regard to land ownership.

Tackles a number of key issues around reopening the restitution claim process including: Restitution to date has been slow and many rural land claims are not yet finalised; ungazetted and yet-to-be-finalised land claims are at risk from new claims; many new land claims are likely to be for cash compensation, or tribal claims led by chiefs, and contribute little to rural transformation; Parliament should enact regulations to ring-fence existing land claims.

Describes a long-standing grazing dispute in northern Namibia that provides critical lessons on the challenges that people living in communal areas face to secure their land rights. Several large livestock owners illegally enclosed community rangelands to secure grazing for their own commercial cattle herds. The communities used legislation to defend their land rights: they mobilised relevant government and traditional authorities to intervene, resulting in a court order for the removal of most of the illegal cattle owners.

Contains recognise and strengthen customary rights starting with statutory recognition; community rather than individual titling must be further explored as an option; women’s land rights remain weak under customary tenure but formalization is not necessarily the answer; custom or rights for women is a false dichotomy; supporting women’s collective action is key; political leadership and evidence from research are needed to transform policies and practices; technical tools to secure land rights require wider policy and institutional support.

Includes tenure risk, conflict, and the path to prosperity, 2016 in depth: fear, violence and defence, communities face ever increasing criminalization and violence for practicing their traditional livelihoods and protecting their lands. Breakthroughs to scale: indigenous peoples and communities make major gains in protecting their land rights. Development finance institutions emerge as potential leaders on community land rights. Companies are slow to implement commitments and change business models.

Includes a retrospective of 10 years of land reform, restitution, redistribution, farm tenure reform, communal tenure reform, debating the future of land and agrarian reform, conclusions. Argues that there is a need for the state to intervene to make suitable land available to meet local needs, rather than relying wholly on land markets.

Analyses the shifting role of South African farmers, agribusiness and capital elsewhere in Southern Africa and the rest of the continent. Explores recent expansion trends, investigates the interests and agendas shaping such deals, and the legitimating ideologies and discourses employed in favour of them. Now it is being more centrally organised and coordinated than in the past, is more frequently taking the form of large concessions for newly formed consortia and agribusinesses, and is increasingly reliant on external financing through transnational partnerships.

Reflections following the passing of the African Union’s Guiding Principles on Large-Scale Land-Based Investment, the culmination of policy processes over the past decade. Rising food prices reflect the systematic neglect of agriculture over a long period. We need indicators and monitoring, cannot rely on technology to resolve political problems, need a system-wide approach and to create opportunities for young people to build livelihoods in farming and throughout the agro-food system.

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.

Argues that decentralisation holds much potential for lively, participatory democratic lawmaking and enforcement through which rural women can gain greater power and secure more rights. Essential that all decentralisation policy be guided by constitutional principles. Explores the guiding principles necessary to safeguard democratic decentralisation.

Includes land rights in gender equity; issues in gaining access to land property – acquiring land rights from the state and through inheritance and the market, legal pluralism, population displacement; three postconflict studies (Rwanda, Guatemala, Afghanistan); conclusions and recommendations – legislation and policy, programme implementation, overcoming patriarchal norms, the cost of speaking out, gender sensitivity training and legal assistance, information on gender impact.

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.