The reform of land tenure institutions is now back on the national and global policy agendas. While at a certain level of generality the principle of gender equality in access to resources, including land, has been endorsed by a diverse range of policy actors, there are many tensions and ambiguities likely to obstruct women’s effective access to land and its contribution to decent livelihoods. There are important questions about liberalisation policies vis-a-vis land, given the well documented difficulties that low-income women in particular face in accessing land through markets.

Includes gender and land in a changing world, in the international policy discourse and addressing the issue at national and local levels; complex governance, growing pressure on land, effects of climate change, fight for water, increasing conflicts, migration and social changes, land tenure reform and access to justice, changing gender roles.

Contains situational analysis, policy context, tentative conclusions and options for intervention. Addresses the question of how to increase security of land rights for the urban and rural poor. Examines the existing multiple land tenure system. Argues that land reform in Sierra Leone is both necessary and possible though there are many constraints. The costs of doing nothing will likely include further civil unrest and environmental degradation.

This guide aims to help all stakeholders and companies who have a link with investments that affect land and property rights apply due diligence in their operations.

Report of a Conference at the University of Manchester. Summarises papers by Phil Woodhouse on ‘African Enclosures – the Default Mode of Development’ and Camilla Toulmin on ‘Identifying a Research Agenda for the Reform of Land Tenure’ and the discussions on them. Argued that we cannot assume that poverty reduction or equity will emerge from vesting power over land with local communities and their leaders. Conflicts over resources will be exacerbated by decentralisation. Conflicts between indigenous and outsider communities are now widespread.

This paper investigates the real financial consequences of investing in land with disputed tenure rights. It demonstrates that companies which ignore the issue of land tenure expose themselves to substantial, and in some cases extreme, risks. Using case study analysis, the paper connects ground-up financial thinking with empirical reality. In so doing, it makes a strong case for the need to integrate tenure-related risks more comprehensively into our financial architecture.

Includes land use and livelihoods, rights and rules governing land use and natural resources, women’s rights to land, local governance institutions in Liberia, disputes, dispute resolution mechanisms, sources of tenure security and insecurity, community recommendations, policy recommendations.

Includes Sierra Leone: open for business, land use and land tenure in Sierra Leone, land deal in Sierra Leone: four case studies, responsible agro-investment? Found a lack of transparency and public disclosure in all aspects of the four land deals, an extremely weak regulatory framework, confusion around ‘availability’ of land, lack of environmental protection, conditions ripe for exploitation and conflict.

Most West African countries are in the process of reforming their land policies. Discussions tend to focus on the tools and mechanisms for securing and regulating land tenure. While tools are certainly a vital part of the process, it is important to understand that the same tool can serve very different interests depending on how it is conceived and used. Are we sufficiently aware of the diversity of issues that may be associated with a land policy? And what do we know about the real effects that tools have on all these different issues?

Members of rural communities in Namibia often lack a basic understanding of what their user rights and responsibilities are under the Communal Land Reform Act and are also unaware of their rights to object to a proposed land allocation or to appeal a decision once made. The large-scale acquisition of land for agriculture and conservation projects often displace local communities or reduce their access to control and ownership of key resources due to the gaps between good legislation and inadequate implementation and enforcement.

A series of short articles on land deals in West Africa: plenty of information, yet reliable data is scarce; abundant land?; complexity of land tenure systems; local perceptions; are win-win partnerships possible?; a call for international guidelines; regional responses.

Argues the need to transition the people’s demand for land from ‘land reform’ and ‘land tenure security’ to ‘land sovereignty’. A peoples’ enclosure campaign is needed to help farmers to proactively assert their political control over their remaining lands against potential and actual threats of corporate or state enclosure.