Zambia

Zambia is a former British Colony which obtained independence in 1964. Heavily dependent on revenues from copper and cobalt mining, the economy has been vulnerable to the rise and fall of commodity prices throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Zambia is one of the least densely populated countries in Africa which is often characterised as being ‘land abundant’. Although the bulk of land in Zambia remains under systems of customary tenure, there have been significant shifts in the amount of land that has been converted to enable privatisation through statutory leasehold title. However, the extent of these conversions has yet to be reliably quantified. With the increasing demand for land, the need for accurate land data and tensions over unplanned urbanisation feature prominently on Zambia’s land governance agenda.