This policy research brief on land tenure reform and government revenue aims primarily to examine the effects of land tenure reforms on land-based revenue and to provide policy recommendations that would build on existing efforts developed to ease the process of paying and collecting various land revenue. The research topic was suggested by land sector stakeholders among other topics during the LAND Project’s Year 3 Work Planning Meeting, and was endorsed by the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority and LAND Project as an important research area.

This case study has been produced in response to a request to the Evidence on Demand Helpdesk. The objective of the request was to provide a detailed case study on the approach taken to land tenure reform by the DFID-funded Land Tenure Regularisation Programme (LTRSP) in Rwanda. The case study should provide the reader with an understanding of how land tenure reform can work under particular social, political and economic conditions, as well as the approach taken to ensure gender equality in land rights.

Large-scale land acquisitions by investors, which are often called ‘land grabs’ (see next section for de nition), can deprive rural women and communities of their livelihoods and land, increasing their food insecurity. This report argues that the current rise in land grabbing needs to be urgently addressed, and focuses
on the actions that developing countries can take to mitigate land grabs through strengthening national land governance so that it is transparent, is accountable and protects communities’ rights.

After remarkable social and economic reconstruction since 1994, Rwanda aspires to become a middle income country by 2020 with a strong focus on inclusive growth. In this context the Government of Rwanda (GoR) has recognized the critical nature of land policy and agricultural growth.

A survey of some 3,500 households in and adjacent to land tenure regularization (LTR) pilot cells was undertaken some 2.5 years after completion of the LTR pilot. The results of the survey provide evidence on the fairness and gender inclusiveness of the regularization process, households’ knowledge of the law, and initial investment impacts. A large majority of those asked perceived the process as very fair and transparent. It was, however, more thorough and inclusive in rural than in urban areas, where more than 11 percent of certificates could not be issued because of a pending conflict.

Most of the world’s poor work in the “informal economy” – outside of recognized and enforceable rules.
Thus, even though most have assets of some kind, they have no way to document their possessions
because they lack formal access to legally recognized tools such as deeds, contracts and permits.
The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP) is the first global anti-poverty initiative
focusing on the link between exclusion, poverty and law, looking for practical solutions to the challenges

This paper reports the findings of an in-depth case study of a highly densely populated area in the Northwest of Rwanda
which has been conducted during the period 1988-1993. It
demonstrates that acute competition for land in a context
characterized by too slow expansion of non-agricultural income
opportunities has resulted in increasingly unequal land distribution
and rapid processes of land dispossession through both operation
of the (illegal) land market and evolution of indigenous tenure

In a country with the highest population density of all Africa, and 95% of this population dependent on land, the question of land tenure is inevitably a vital issue. In Rwanda it is becoming even more crucial as marginal lands are cultivated, and competition for land, and thus a livelihood, increases. The currently prevailing land tenure systems in Rwanda vary from one area of the country to another, reflecting both differences in traditional customary laws, and the adoption, at varying degrees in different regions, of written law in place of customary law.

Across equatorial and east Africa, climate change is affecting the frequency, intensity
and variability of regional climate patterns.1 Changes in rainfall patterns, temperatures
and storm intensity are having significant effects on national economies, regional
infrastructure, land use and local livelihoods. These changes are forcing national and
local governments to adjust and adapt how they plan, prepare and implement day to
day operations today and larger visions for the future. The ability of governmental

The aim of this policy brief is to describe current and historical conflicts over rights to land and natural resources within and surrounding protected areas in Rwanda. We examine the roots of contested claims between citizens and the State and offer some potential avenues for resolving these conflicts in ways that consider both the priorities of the Government of Rwanda and the rights of local communities that depend on protected area resources.

ILC initiated the Framing the Debate series in response to the clear need to facilitate a deeper understanding of the key topics at the centre of current land governance debates.

This issue brief is an abridged version of the VGGT discussion paper, “The Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the Proposed National Land Use and Management Act (NLUA)” that analyzes to what extent the salient principles and recommendations of the VGGT are substantially reflected in the National Land Use Act/NLUA (House Bill 108).