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. This report attempts firstly to briefly trace the major developments in these two sources of law in order to provide a background to the present de jure situation, and secondly, as far as is possible given limited data, to describe some aspects of the current de facto land tenure systems
Land Tenure in Rwanda
