The World Trade Organization (WTO) hailed the recent Hong Kong Sixth Ministerial Meeting last December 2005 as a positive movement towards the conclusion of the Doha Development Round. The round was supposedly geared towards ensuring that trade contributes to the development objectives of least…

A wide range of issues are captured and reiterated in the 12 briefs contained in this collection. These include: the prevalence and importance of customary tenure; the prevalence and importance of common property arrangements; constraints to women’s access under both customary and statutory…

‘Poor soils make poor people, and poor people make soils worse’. This is a situation that can be seen in many ACP countries. What information support can be offered...

The International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) is an international multi-donor programme, co-managed by partner organizations, created in 1990 at the request of the International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). Its Secretariat, first…

This paper explores the politics of ‘customary’ land tenure, land reform, and traditional leaders in Zambia. In Zambia, as elsewhere in Southern Africa, the government at the behest of donors has implemented market-based tenure reform legislation. This legislation aims to improve the security of…

Following introductory historical sections, paper focuses on the impact of land-market reform at the village level – including the extent of conversions, conversions for elites, land speculation, displacement, enclosures, conflict and resistance – and on the (mal)administration of land.…

Governments and development agencies require accurate information on the impacts of increased mortality rates caused by AIDS on the agricultural sector and rural livelihoods. Several previous studies have estimated the effects of prime-age mortality on afflicted households in relation to non-…

Informal systems for land delivery, which have in many cases evolved from earlier customary practices, still account for over half the land supplied for housing in African cities and are a particularly important channel for the poor. This study examines how informal systems of housing land…

Chris Kakunta visits Harrison Chongwe, an innovative farmer who is using Gliricidia sepium instead of chemical fertilizer, with excellent results.