The case study explores the intersect between customary tenure systems and gender roles in two villages in Phongsali district in the north of Laos. The country has a diverse population of ethnic communities who depend on forests and other natural resources for their livelihoods. These communities play an important role for conserving complex landscapes. However, their traditional land tenure practices are insufficiently documented and therefore poorly understood, and even more so the gender relations in customary systems.

The Customary Land Rights Act, 2022 (Sierra Leone)

Mozambique is a State Party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Over the last two decades, the government of Mozambique has developed legal and policy frameworks to align its legislation with core human rights instruments, promote gender equality, and foster women’s land rights. Mozambique has gained considerable international recognition for these important efforts.

The history of land rights in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), hereafter referred to as Laos,  is a history of customary land tenure systems which remain the most prevalent form of land tenure. As social systems, land tenure systems in Laos have been affected by and have adapted to external forces such as neighboring kingdoms, colonialization, geopolitics and war, migration, and global economic trends. Ongoing rapid changes in national socioeconomic conditions and domestic political goals continue to alter the customary tenure landscape.

O presente artigo parte da experiência de delimitação de terras comunitárias, em Cóbuè, província do Niassa, para analisar a interface entre as lideranças tradicionais e os sistemas costumeiros de terras, em Moçambique, enquadrando os debates sobre terra e território, posse e propriedade da terra, bem como os encontros com a história territorial, os impactos das transformações, da legislação e da demanda por terras.

ABSTRACT African culture and tradition on matrilineal land ownership are on the verge of disappearing. Land ownership in rural communities remains an important cultural dimension to secure livelihoods, economic growth, and sustainable development. Gender relations continue to interfere culture and tradition of matrilineal communities. Migration has changed the community and influenced the land ownership transformation from women to men.

Context and background:Land is a source of wealth in terms of the economic and socio-cultural value it represents. Land resources are the basis of any economic activity or development project, which is why they are at the centre of multiple covetousness. However, social exclusion leads to numerous land conflicts observed in Cameroon.Goal and objectives:This study therefore aims to show how social exclusion can cause and sustain land disputes in Cameroon.

Land has played a critical role in the development of the United Republic of Tanzania, with the roots of land tenure frameworks, issues and conflicts dating back hundreds of years Current land laws in the country are seen as progressive policies and legislation recognize the equal rights to land of men and women, including unregistered rights under customary laws, and any transfer of rights requires the consent of local people In practice, however, land tenure rights are disputed among village, district and national administrative authorities, and conflicts over land are common, widespread

Report from the online discussion held on the Land Portal between 28 June and 9 July 2021.

The online discussion explored the different pespectives around customary law and institutions in Southern Africa and the roles they play in governing land.

This one-pager provides details on the LAND-at-scale project in Mali. This project is implemented by SNV, KIT, Université des Sciences Juridiques et Politiques de Bamako and Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes, and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Netherlands Enterprise & Development Agency. 

Indigenous peoples and other local communities (IPLCs) are essential for forests, climate, biodiversity, public health and a host of other local and global ecosystem services. Securing IPLC land rights, helping protect their lands from external threats and supporting their forest management efforts would allow IPLCs to contribute even more to these public goods. Evidence on IPLC forest management has been accumulating steadily over the last decade since this matter gained attention in the climate change policy circles.

Land in Ethiopia is held by the state, who acts as a custodian for the Ethiopian people. Even though it is the state which controls land ownership, farmers and pastoralists are guaranteed a lifetime ‘holding’ right that provides rights to use the land, rent it out, donate, inherit and sharecrop it. Everything except sell and mortgage it. On paper and under existing formal laws, women have equal rights to men as far as use and control of and access to land is concerned.