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Land rights and tenure

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, land is a fundamental asset for economic development, food security and poverty reduction. Land is of crucial importance to the economies and societies of the region, contributing a major share of GDP, incomes and employment in most countries, and constituting the main livelihood basis for a large portion of the population.

In many areas, however, land is becoming increasingly scarce due to a variety of pressures, including demographic growth. These pressures have resulted in increased competition for land between different groups, such as multiple land users (farmers, herders, etc.), urban elites and foreign investors. Moreover, socio-economic change has in many places eroded the customary rules and institutions that have traditionally administered land rights. These tensions have major political implications at national and regional level, as they involve issues like control over scarce valuable resources and the distribution of wealth and power in society.

To attempt to respond to these challenges, a number of African states have adopted new legislation over the last decade aimed at restructuring land relations. Land has also featured high in the agendas of donors and development agencies, which have supported to varying degrees reform programmes across Africa. Civil society has become more lively and proactive, albeit to different degrees in different countries, and seeks to play a greater role in land policy design and implementation.

Over the past decade, the Drylands Programme has supported these processes by carrying out research and by channelling research findings into policy debates and decision-making. Our work in this area is closely linked to our work on Legal empowerment for secure resource access. Our main ongoing projects on these issues are:

• Understanding changes in local land tenure systems
• Can land registration work for the poor?
• Securing the commons
• Facilitating lesson learning and informed policy debate

Other land related programmes include:

Addressing the tenure challenges of improving access to water in rural areas

See also our recently concluded programmes on land rights and tenure, Land tenure and resource access in West Africa.

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