Covers land law reform; the role of the full ‘bundle of land rights’, which extends well beyond ownership rights; how Rwanda’s Regional Crop Specialization Policy and Crop Intensification Programme work; the impact of land use consolidation, including on farmers’ resilience to climate change; and the government’s broader ‘target-driven’ approach to agricultural reform.

Fears of food insecurity, water scarcity and the search for diminishing natural resources are making land our most precious asset. This edition of Food Ethics takes a closer look at some of these pressures on land in the UK and the developing world, and assesses the best ways of tackling them. Includes short articles on global land grabbing, Zimbabwe’s land reform, gender and land reforms.

Covers why do we need to think about policies to formalise land rights in developing countries?; primarily a political issue; policies to formalise land rights are not a panacea; inclusive formalisation policies present considerable challenges. Shows that policies to formalise rights raise highly political issues and often contribute to exclusion.

Investigates cases of land grabbing in Uganda, focusing in particular on oil palm plantations in Kalangala, Lake Victoria. Argues that land grabbing in Uganda is intensifying and spreading throughout the country, depriving local communities of access to natural resources, exacerbating rural poverty and aggravating the risk of food crises.

Contains introduction; background; the principle orientations of Praia; status of implementation of the Praia orientation in CILSS member states (Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad); land tenure situation of the underprivileged groups; management of land conflicts; implementation difficulties and lessons learned; overview of the land tenure situation in some coastal West African countries (Benin, Ghana, Togo); emerging land issues; towards regional charter on rural land in the Sahel and West Africa; appendices with summary table of the policies, legislations an

Includes background to women’s land rights in Zambia; policy and legal reforms of the1990s; key findings – gender insensitivity on land laws and policies, the high cost of legal fees to handle land disputes, the limited benefits of title deeds for women, lack of awareness on land policy process, land grabbing and disinheritance, lack of security of tenure, lack of access to justice; conclusions and recommendations.

Includes background to women’s land rights in Uganda; lack of information; prevailing cultural attitudes that discriminate against women; lack of formal land ownership by women; lack of participation of women in land policy formulation; exclusion of women in matters of land inheritance; lack of access to justice; gaps in the ongoing land reform process; conclusions and recommendations.

Includes what is meant by market-assisted agrarian reform, history of land tenure and agriculture in South Africa, framework for agrarian reform, land reform strategies, monitoring and evaluation of land reform, conclusions – land reform and social transformation.

The triple threat is of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, and weakening capacity for service delivery in Southern Africa. The Mozambique paper focuses on livelihood security in Manica Province, space for social protection, using political capital to facilitate development, the Mozambique Land Law – an opportunity for sustainable livelihoods, supporting livelihoods – new approaches, treatment – the backbone of addressing AIDS, credit savings, and economic empowerment of women.

Summarises the 12 presentations made at the workshop, 8 of which concerned Mozambique, the remainder Sao Tome & Principe, Angola, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde. Topics include the work of the inter-ministerial Land Commission, the Technical Annex of the Land Law, DINAGECA, and a training video A Nossa Tera (available in Portuguese and English). Concludes with a summary of the seminar outcomes and a note on their transferability to Anglophone countries.

Delegates at the Harare conference on farm workers in Southern Africa noted with concern the continued marginalisation of farm worker communities and made recommendations on: weak labour legislation, citizenship rights, basic human rights, women farm workers/dwellers, HIV/AIDS, child labour and child abuse, globalization, debt cancellation, xenophobia, farm workers and land reform, the need for a regional summit.

Includes genesis of the CFJJ-FAO programme – policy and legal reforms, challenges for land governance today, legal empowerment and land governance; the twin-track approach; the training programme – paralegal courses, local government and sector officer seminars; results and impact – overall impact, gender issues and women’s land rights; discussion; a format for change – the empowerment chain. Important to have a long term view. The law indeed is not enough.