Land Tenure Dynamics in East Africa : Changing Practices and Rights to Land

Citation:

Otto, Opira, Aida Isinika, and Herman Musahara. 2019. Land Tenure Dynamics in East Africa : Changing Practices and Rights to Land. Current African Issues 65.

Authors: Opira Otto, Aida Isinika, Herman Musahara

Abstract:

Agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for most rural people in East Africa. Farming is dominated by smallholders, of whom the majority are women. Their tenure and access to land is important for reducing rural poverty, enhancing food security and stimulating agricultural development. Secure tenure represents one of the most critical challenges to the development of sustainable agriculture in the region. In an effort to understand the land question and its variation across the region, this book analyses the land reforms, their context and dynamics. The book presents recent studies on the dynamics of land tenure and land tenure reforms in East Africa with a focus on Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. By selecting these five countries, the book is able to show the changing practices and variations in the land tenure dynamics and explain how they relate to historical and more contemporary issues. The chapters are written by researchers, policy makers and activists with a diverse background and experience/expertise in relation to the land question. Their contributions offer a multiperspective basis for critical rethinking and reflection on the future of the land question in East Africa. 

Keywords: land tenure, land ownership, land acquisition, farmers, women's rights, agricultural development, urbanization, East Africa

Annotation:

Table of Contents:
Preface

Kjell Havnevik
 
1. Introduction

Opira Otto
 
2. When customary land tenure meets land markets : Sustainability of customary land tenure in Tanzania

Aida C. Isinika, Yefred Myenzi and Elibariki Msuya
 
3. Securing peasants’ land rights through dispossession of the landed rich in Uganda

Fredrick Kisekka-Ntale
 
4. Land matters in South Sudan

Ole Frahm
 
5. Effects of large-scale land acquisitions by local elites on small-holder farmers’ access in Tanzania

Hosea Mpogol
 
6. From male to joint land ownership: The effect on women’s possibilities of using land titles as collateral in Rwanda

Jeannette Bayisenge
 
7. The benefits for women from land commodification – a critical reflection

Mary Ssonko Nabacwa
 
8. Is agriculture a generational problem?: The dynamics of youth engagement in agriculture in northern Uganda

David Ross Olanya
 
9. Legal pluralism and urban poverty in peri-urban Kisumu, Kenya

Leah Onyango
 
10. Crossroads at the Rural–Urban Interface : The Dilemma of Tenure Types and Land Use Controls in Housing provision and Urban Development in Kenyan Cities

Jack Abuya
 
11. Our Inheritance: Impacts of Land Distribution on Geita Communities in Tanzania

Godfrey T. Walalaze
 
12. Land use consolidation and water use in Rwanda: Qualitative reflections on environmental sustainability and inclusion

Theophile Niyonzima, Birasa Nyamulinda, Claude Bizimana and Herman Musahara
 

Topics: Agriculture, Economies, Poverty, Environment, Gender, Women, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2019

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