This report;based on primary and secondary data;highlights the link between land and inequality in Uganda.  It underscores the need to review policies;laws and regulations governing institutions and practices in the realm of land ownership;access;use and management;and to allocate enough resources to secure land rights. The report looks at factors that have had an impact on poverty and vulnerability;and how policies;laws;regulations and cultural practices can be made more inclusive.

Pastoralists in Isiolo county in northern Kenya feel under siege;with their way of life under threat. Isiolo has been the home of the Waso Boran pastoralists for many decades;but attacks from neighbouring Somali herders;encroachments by agriculturalists from Meru;expansion of conservancies and planned road;pipeline and resort city mega-projects are affecting all pastoral livelihoods;creating many new risks and environmental uncertainties. Droughts are occurring more frequently. Market uncertainties are important;regarding access to milk;meat and live animals.

This research investigates threats to women’s land rights and explores the effectiveness of land certification interventions using evidence from the Land Investment for Transformation (LIFT) program in Ethiopia. The research aims to provide evidence on the extent that LIFT contributed to women’s tenure security. Quantitative information was analyzed from the profiles of more than seven million parcels to understand how the program had incorporated gender interests into the Second Level Land Certification (SLLC) process.

Cameroon’s current land law appears to have two conflicting objectives: to attract investors through large-scale land concessions; while protecting biodiversity;defending local people’s rights and promoting rural development. But the legislation governing large-scale land-based investments is outdated and sometimes incoherent. The land allocation process is investor driven and does not appropriately balance economic;social or environmental considerations.

Two new papers by Sandra Bhatasara and Kirk Helliker on land occupations in Shamva and Bindura Districts;Mashonaland Central;are analysed. They offer nuanced accounts of what happened. As previous studies have shown;the story is not straightforward. Includes history and memory;organising occupations;the occupiers;rise of the party-state;why does this history matter? Concludes that together these two papers shed important light on the land occupation period.

This report on the state of industrial oil palm plantations in West and Central Africa shows how communities are turning the tide on a massive land grab in the region. Between 2000 and 2015 companies signed oil palm plantation concession agreements with African governments covering over 4.7 million hectares;mostly without the knowledge of the affected communities. These companies are now struggling. There has been a significant decline in the number and total area of land deals for industrial oil palm plantations over the past five years;from 4.7 to a little over 2.7 million hectares.

In June 2019 the Government of Zimbabwe announced a policy instrument allowing for Joint Ventures (JVs) and subletting of land for agricultural purposes. This paper discusses what the JVs mean for Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector in particular and the broader economy in general. The ultimate objective is to establish the relationship between the JV and land subletting or leasing policy instrument;as well as interrogate the circumstances under which these thrive. The paper also explores the possible effects JV’s and subletting will have on Zimbabwe’s agriculture value supply chains.

In 2008;the world food crisis shifted agricultural investment to countries with productive land and cheap labour. The Nacala Corridor;one of the most fertile and populated areas of Mozambique;was heavily affected. At least 38 companies linked to large-scale agriculture;forestry and animal husbandry settled in the region. Thousands of peasant farmers were dispossessed of their land and are still waiting for the promises of a better life to come true. This web documentary seeks to give a voice to some of those affected by this land grab.

Looks at the dynamics of environmental displacement;land rights and conflict in the aftermath of the Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in March 2019;and at the role of international and national legal frameworks in addressing land-related problems caused by this displacement. Land rights issues such as the need to displace people from high-risk areas bring another layer of problems to climate change adaptation.

Thousands of families are being evicted from their farms to make way for foreign-owned farms in Kiryandongo;western Uganda. Three multinational companies – Agilis Partners;Kiryandongo Sugar Limited and Great Season SMC Limited – are involved in grabbing land;violently evicting people from their homes and causing untold humiliation and grief to thousands of farming families residing in Kiryandongo district.

This report focuses on Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO);which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The authors found EPO had violated local people’s right to their land;had broken promises;used violence and threats;are pushing people further into poverty and have not been made to account for it. The report argues that the UK should create a law that will compel British companies to respect human rights and environmental sustainability in countries in which they operate;or be made to account for not doing so. The report includes a response from EPO.

A nine-minute video. Most rural people in Uganda have rights to their rural land through customary tenure arrangements;representing 75-80% of land holdings: but only 15-20% of the land is formally registered. Often women;especially widows;experience land grabbing;arbitrary eviction and poor access to justice. GLTN and others are working to help vulnerable smallholder farmers in South Western and Elgon regions through the implementation of a ‘Securing Land Tenure for Improved Food Security in select areas in Ugandaproject. The video illustrates some of this work.