Key findings: Customary tenure remains strong with only 1.2% of plots held under statutory tenure. Over 86% of women reported they have access to land under customary tenure and c.63% of women reported they “own” land under customary tenure. Tenure security is not dependent on formal documentation as proof of ownership. Men play a dominant role in land management. General knowledge of statutory and customary land law and management systems is poor. c.50% of the population have experienced land conflicts, 72% are within household, family or clan.

Balancing the Scales in a manual designed to help planners and decision makers identify, understand, predict and respond to gender differences, opportunities and needs. The guide includes questions for staff involved in developing and managing projects and plans. The manual also helps companies consider their corporate practices beyond the project level, especially their operational policies and their project management frameworks through a lens of advancing gender equality and women’s rights.

The research employs case studies to grasp the processes and forms of ongoing land consolidation, factors affecting land consolidation, viewpoints on land consolidation and impacts of land consolidation on stakeholders and the society. Nine models of land consolidation are selected in the research in various provinces.