This workshop took place from 27 to 29 March 2006. The discussions were informed by an issues/discussion paper. The meeting brought together representatives from African governments, regional economic communities, and civil society including farmers’ organizations, African private sector, centres of excellence and development partners.

Le régime de l'immatriculation foncière repose sur le printsipe de la

publicité réelle et par conséquent individualise chaque propriété en la de terminant physiquement et juridiquement.

Un rapport général concemant l'utilisation du cadastre comae "base

de la création des regimes fonciers, élabore dans le cadre de la collaboration entre la Commission IV (cadastre et remembrement rural).

A Cadastre, in the sense to be used in this paper, is a methodically established record of immovable. (Land, buildings, rights that are put on a par with landed property) based on the survey of a complete district. The official record of a cadastral survey generally consists of a drawing or map and a written description of the field work. Cadastres as a rule consist of a map of the survey, a register arranged according to parcels, a register arranged according to proprietors and some auxiliary registers for easier handling. The single parcels are systematically numbered, on the map.

Le but de l'enregistrement foncier revêt une grande importance, car il

doit déterminer le choix de l'unité d'enregistrement.

This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of rural-urban land conversion policies in China and Vietnam, and examines the ideology of the state in land policymaking under a market socialism environment. It argues that land policies in both countries include ambiguous boundaries, which allow the socialist state to legitimize its politico-administrative power in land management and retain strong intervention capacity in the land market.

The various legal, political, economic and social perspectives that have influenced the land reform discourse in Kenya are examined. The historical perspectives of the land question in Kenya are outlined, and the factors that shaped the content of Kenya's land law and attendant institutional and constitutional regimes are addressed. The operationalization of the legal regimes and policy frameworks emergent from the colonial legacy is also extensively dealt with, focusing on the way the state has sought to balance private and public interests in land through the instruments of law.

This study exemplifies the relationship, commonly found in developing countries, between the domain of public law and the sphere of property law. More particularly, the study examines the place of aliens in Kenya with respect to property rights, notably rights to land. The Kenyan Constitution expressly deals with the question of discriminatory laws. Section 82(4)(a) allows the making of laws that discriminate between citizens and noncitizens. This gives validity to the various statutory provisions that restrict the acquisition of property by aliens.

The Civil Society commends the Ministry of Lands for spearheading the important process of developing the Draft National Policy, and affirms that land is central to the livelihoods of most Kenyans and as such its access, use, ownership, administration and distribution are of key national concern. Thus, having critically examined the Draft Policy we do hereby make our position on the way forward on the salient policy proposals of the Draft National Land Policy document.