This lesson brief discusses how statuatory law and customary law  frame the rights of customary authorities to transact in the land that they govern, and compare this to what is happening in practice.

This lesson brief presents the situations faced by modern Ghanaian women and compare their evolving land rights across regions. It is part of the Focus on Land in Africa: Land Tenure and Property Rights online educational tool.

This lesson brief discusses projects developed to reinvigorate the process of land registration formalization in peri-urban Ghana, their impacts, and the risks of unintended consequences for women, pastorlaists and the poor if their rights are explicitly taken into account.

This lesson brief discusses the stratutory, customary, and religious frameworks governing women's rights to land in Mali and offers suggestions as to how these rights might be strenghtened.  It is part of the Focus on Land in Africa: Land Tenure and Property Right online educational tool.

This lesson brief examines the statutory frameworks governing decentralization in Mali and the challenges that have arisen. It is part of the Focus on Land in Africa: Land Tenure and Property Right online educational tool.

This lesson brief explores the multiple independent phenomena that affect relationships between farmers and herders, as well as the nature of their conflicts over natural resources in Mali. It is part of the Focus on Land in Africa: Land Tenure and Property Rights online educational tool.

This lesson brief focuses on how issues of unaffordable land and land formalization processes in Mali have fueled tenure insecurity for the urban poor.  It is part of the Focus on Land in Africa: Land Tenure and Property Rights online educational tool. In Mali, many of the urban poor face tenure insecurity which leaves them vulnerable to expropriation, landless

This lesson brief presents the laws that give people access and secure rights to land. These laws encourage investment in the land and can establish a foundation on which rural families can grow their incomes and assets.

Delimitation is the process of identifying the geographic boundaries of areas of land and preparing a record of that information. This lesson brief explains how delimitation helps communities identify the limits of the area they occupy and prove communities' customary rights to that land.

For the full text of the document "Final study of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the advancement of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas" please visit the UN Human Rights Council website ( English |

[adapted from UNDP] May, 2008- This UNDP discussion paper ‘Pro-Poor Land Tenure Reform and Democratic Governance’ provides a review of how different types of land tenure reform relate to decentralization and local governance, in theory and in practice.  The discussion suggests that in order to create more democratic and transparent local management of land resources, special mechanisms to protect women against direct and indirect discrimination, as well as the establishment of local land committees and land tribunals for conflict resolution are needed.

[adapted from ActionAid] October, 2012- The report states that the importance of land to rural women goes beyond growing food. Having secure access to, and independent control over, land can mean the difference between, on the one hand, enjoying rights such as education and freedom from violence or, on the other, continual subjugation in society. ActionAid view security of land tenure for impoverished rural communities as a fundamental component of dignified, sustainable development and a crucial step towards reducing poverty and reducing inequality.