Civil society formations in Africa have historically played an important part in the establishment of organising people in the pursuit of common goals. The majority of Africa’s people reside in rural areas where they derive their livelihoods from land, and for this majority secure access to land is the foundation of any efforts to alleviate poverty. Land reforms in Africa are at various stages of development in a number of countries, partly in response to pressures for liberalisation and privatisation from the World Bank and other like-minded institutions.

Investigates the effectiveness of NGOs’ strategies and methods to influence land policy reform. Report based on a study of 7 NGOs promoting land reform and land rights in Mozambique and Kenya. Covers country contexts – NGO sectors and land policy reform; NGOs in the policy process – roles and relationships; assessing the impact of NGOs on land policy processes; key findings and lessons. Studies show that legislation and regulations can be modified, reinterpreted or ignored during implementation, when local level power relations become critical.

Includes executive summary; the land issue – International and regional perspectives; Oxfam and land issues on the Copperbelt; land issues in Zambia; land policy review process; genesis of the 1995 Lands Act; Constitutional Review process; challenges for the future; conclusion.

ROAPE’s Janet Bujra questions Marjorie Mbilinyi about her fifty years of campaigning against patriarchal oppression on many fronts in Tanzania. Mbilinyi traces the legitimisation of feminism as a means to understand and a way to organise for and with women. This is not a feminism lifted from Europe or the US, but one generated in response to Tanzanian and African realities.

Reports from meeting near Bilbao from peasants in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Niger, Mali, Senegal and Ghana. Almost everywhere in Africa the elite and corporations are undertaking efforts to capture and control people’s basic means of production, such as land, mineral resources, seeds and water. These resources are increasingly being privatized due to the myriad of investment agreements and policies driven by new institutional approaches, imposed on the continent by western powers and Bretton Woods institutions.

A short paper providing background to the establishment of land alliances in East Africa in the 1990s. Includes introduction describing key factors which made possible the creation of land alliances, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, concluding thoughts – privatisation has offered very rich pickings for the rich in recent years.

Extracts from a farewell talk. Includes back to the land; engaging with Oxfam International in Zimbabwe; working on the Zambian Copperbelt; supporting post-tsunami, post-conflict land and property rights advocacy in Aceh, Indonesia; helping to create and sustain national land alliances and support awareness campaigns in Africa; women’s land rights in Southern and Eastern Africa; concluding thoughts, some publications.

A review of Zimbabwe in 2001, focusing on the land question and farm workers. Reflections on conferences on Zimbabwe in Copenhagen and on farm workers in Southern Africa in Harare, with a section highlighting the key issues brought out in a new book on farm workers in Zimbabwe. Argues that issues around farm workers need to be seriously rethought and debated across the political spectrum and that land is a part of a much wider crisis of governance.

List of NGOs and other organisations engaged in land issues in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Covers traditional cultural norms and values, including property and inheritance, religion and witchcraft; and learning from good practice, including advocacy, influencing customary legal culture, support services, awareness raising, children’s knowledge and life skills, conclusions and recommendations. Based on studies in Gaza, Manica, Zambezia and Nampula.

The purpose of the Guide is to provide advocacy information, advice and tools to those wishing to use the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol to secure the land and property rights of women. It is directed at NGOs and advocates working on these specific issues. Includes overview of CEDAW and key actors, how can NGOs use and engage with CEDAW review processes?, complaints, themes and general recommendations, additional resources.

First newsletter from ZERO-Regional Environment Organisation, which has embarked on a 5 year research and advocacy programme on land in Southern Africa. Provides details of the programme and of ZERO’s regional activities.