Summary: Includes land acquisitions continue to be an important trend; a need for this new, updated report; agricultural land acquisitions are increasingly becoming operational; food crops dominate but also palm oil and fuel crops; Africa is the most targeted continent; large diversity in origin of investors; land acquisitions often target relatively highly populated areas dominated by croplands; local communities are often bypassed in negotiations, limited information on displacement and compensation; a need for further monitoring.

An executive summary and recommendations are followed by 5 chapters: on the land question, reform and farm workers; the scope and process of fast track reform; the impact of land reform on farm workers’ livelihoods; food security, vulnerable groups, HIV-AIDS and coping strategies; and after the ‘promised land’ – towards the future. Study reveals that by early 2003, only about 100,000 of the original c.320,000 farm workers were still employed on the farms, the others are jobless and landless and have lost their entitlement to housing, basic social services and subsidised food.

Includes the return process, public knowledge of land rights, land conflicts and dispute resolution, post-conflict vulnerable group issues, performance of land administration institutions, recommendations. Finds the issue of return not adequately dealt with in the NLP. 92% have returned in Lango, but only 5% in Acholi.

A second report for the World Bank’s Northern Uganda Recovery and Development Program – RDP. The objective is to inform policy processes on post-conflict land policy and administration on likely types of land conflicts and claims, their resolution, gaps in current land policy, resources needed. Survey suggests that Teso’s IDP displacement patterns are unique. Customary tenure has been transformed, with household heads now owners, not trustees, of rights in land, so clans are merely informed of sales. Common property resources are at greatest risk.

Three separate ‘on my mind’ articles by Professor Mbilinyi: Making National Land Policy inclusive and people-centred; In whose interest will this National Land Policy be?; Questions about the National Land Policy, 2016. Draft NLP just released for external consultation. Shares the views of other researchers.

A historical analysis of the current land invasion crisis, examining the chequered past of the white farmers. Contrasts the present situation with the eviction without compensation by whites of Chief Tangwenya and his followers. Examines the different interpretations by the British and Zimbabwean Governments of the agreement over land reached at Lancaster House in 1979. Argues that the present media coverage lacks historical perspective and is doing the country a disservice. There are more questions needing to be asked about Britain’s role

Covers the background, the numbers of people affected, the absence of a coordinated and planned approach, difficulties with the demarcation and titling process, demarcation procedures, the need for gender sensitivity, and compensation.

Comments on the IDRC workshop on LSLAs and accountability in Africa, Dakar, 24-25 November 2015. The current IDRC programme supports 5 action research projects across 10 countries in West, East and Southern Africa. They investigate how to build accountability over land governance. This requires a multi-level strategy at both policy and community level. The most contentious debate was about valuation, benefit-sharing and compensation because compensation almost always fails to take full account of the real value of natural resources in people’s lives.

Argues that the seizure of farmland for commercial diamond mining in Angola’s Lunda provinces is causing widespread hunger and deepening poverty. Fields are destroyed where crops are cultivated and arbitrary measurements taken to determine how much to pay the peasants; only US$0.25 per square metre of land seized. The law which ought to provide some protection is routinely ignored. Calls on the companies involved to start negotiations with farming communities to ensure fair compensation for people who lose access to their land through the granting of diamond mining concessions.

Tackles a number of key issues around reopening the restitution claim process including: Restitution to date has been slow and many rural land claims are not yet finalised; ungazetted and yet-to-be-finalised land claims are at risk from new claims; many new land claims are likely to be for cash compensation, or tribal claims led by chiefs, and contribute little to rural transformation; Parliament should enact regulations to ring-fence existing land claims.

A case study of the situation in Lamu, Isiolo and Siaya Counties by the Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI).

Includes introduction, context, land deals (extent, nature and origins), key issues (land availability, consultations, compensation, agrofuels), impacts (food security, water, social and political effects), conclusions – major challenges include lack of information and coordination, secrecy and flaws in the investment processes, need for transparency and open debate.