Search Results (94)

While the legal framework in Mozambique in principle provides equal rights to land for women and men, its underlying assumptions imply that customary tenure is patrilineal, that women get access to land through their relationships with men, while men in practice own and control land. This article focuses on matrilineal land institutions in Makhuwa communities in northern Mozambique. It argues that local matrilineal institutions have provided women with transferable rights to land, while men get access to land in various ways within the matrilineal institutional framework. Based on the Land Law of 1997, the Mozambican government in 2015 launched a large-scale land tenure formalisation programme, Terra Segura (“Secure Land”), with World Bank funding. The Mozambican Land Law recognises local community rights to customary land, while Land Law Regulations define the requirements for both community and individual formalisation of such rights. Field data collected in Makhuwa communities, where individual titling was carried out in the period 2019–2023, indicate that both women and men received titles. But what is secured through these individual titles? The article discusses to what extent formalised “secure land tenure” for individuals can weaken women’s land rights and traditional rights to subsistence—provided by matrilineal land institutions over time, across generations. Full article

The Indonesian palm oil industry faces enduring social, environmental, and sustainability challenges stemming from rapid expansion over the past decade. Although technologies exist to enhance productivity and balance economic and ecological goals, adoption among smallholders remains limited. This study explores how rural communities respond to the climate crisis and how social and environmental justice is distributed within palm oil-producing regions in Indonesia. Using an exploratory qualitative design grounded in a collective social change perspective, data were collected through observations and document studies to examine institutional dynamics influencing smallholder behavior. The analysis applies institutional logic to understand smallholder attitudes toward sustainability and innovation, and institutional context to assess constraints such as limited access to land, credit, and technical resources. Findings reveal that structural barriers—including corruption, weak legal certainty, and social exclusion—impede innovation and reinforce inequality. This study contributes theoretically by integrating eco-colonialism, intersectionality, and political ecology frameworks to advance understanding of socio-ecological justice in palm oil governance. It highlights how gender, ethnicity, and class shape access to resources, vulnerability, and resilience, emphasizing that environmental issues are embedded in broader power structures rooted in colonial legacies and neoliberal policies. Practically, the research calls for community-centered, participatory policies that recognize customary land rights, institutionalize transparent licensing and FPIC processes, and strengthen smallholder capacity through ISPO-aligned training. These measures can foster inclusive governance, mitigate conflict, and enhance sustainability, contributing to more equitable and resilient palm oil supply chains. Full article

In the forests of Jambi Province, Indonesia, the Indigenous Suku Anak Dalam have encountered rapid alterations to the environment upon which they previously depended. Their culinary traditions—and the knowledge that accompanies them—are placed at a greater risk as palm oil plantations expand and forest areas diminish. This research is based on extensive interviews with customary leaders (called Tumenggung, who guide communal life and cultural practices), elders, and women in five settlements in Merangin District. Rather than regarding participants as research subjects, we engaged with their narratives. The image that emerged was not merely one of food scarcity but also one of cultural loss. Instead of forest tubers, untamed fruits, or fish, families now depend on instant noodles or cassava. The rivers are no longer clean, and the trees that were once a source of both sustenance and medicine are largely extinct. Nevertheless, individuals devise strategies to adapt, including cultivating small crops in the vicinity of their dwellings, collecting what is left along the plantation’s perimeter, and distributing their meager possessions to their neighbors. This research demonstrates that food security for Indigenous peoples is not solely dependent on agriculture or nutrition. It is about the right to have a voice in one’s own land, dignity, and memory. Genuine solutions must transcend technical fixes and nutritional aid. The first step is to respect Indigenous voices, protect their territories, and support their methods of knowing and living before they are also lost. Full article

The making of a land patrimony for the benefit of religious missions is profoundly linked to territorial construction in the colonies but is rarely examined from the angle of ecclesiastical governmentality over the ceded lands. This analysis highlights three complementary processes for understanding the role of religious mission land heritage in territorial reconfigurations. First, this article examines the process of “land sanctuarization”, which materializes territorial anchoring through the crystallization of land rights granted to religious missions over customary lands previously presumed to be “vacant”. Next, it explores the formation of an “ecclesiastical dominium”, manifested in the dismantling of state missions and their free transfer, explicit or tacit, to religious missions under concession or agreement regimes. This reveals the exercise of state power over the land heritage of religious missions, positioning them as structuring axes and administrative intermediaries for public services, thus giving rise to an ecclesiastical governmentality that drives territorial production and reconfiguration. Finally, postcolonial dynamics reveal the resurgence of new spatial polarities shaped by the complexity of evolving religious actors along the center–periphery axis of a recomposing territorialization. This study underscores the importance of a transversal approach to better govern the land legacies of religious missions, fostering a pluralistic reterritorialization of postcolonial societies in central Africa. Full article

In the socio-institutional framework of the Minangkabau society in West Sumatra, Indonesia—where women are typically assumed to have full power over land due to the matrilineal system of land ownership—this study asks: To what extent do women actually exercise power over land ownership and decision-making, and what factors influence this power? Comprising 212 households, a methodical household survey carried out in 2024 across the regencies of Lima Puluh Kota and Padang Pariaman employed quantitative approaches and comparative analysis across rural and peri-urban areas. The survey results confirm the initial hypothesis, showing high rates of land ownership among women in West Sumatra, largely attributed to the matrilineal system. Land ownership by itself, though, does not significantly increase women’s influence in households. Rather, women’s decision-making in Lima Puluh Kota is strongly influenced by other assets such as ownership of cattle, poultry, and electronic items; in Padang Pariaman, time allocated to farming and social events has more influence. These findings underline the complex reality behind nominal land rights and practical empowerment, thereby stressing the need to consider broader socioeconomic factors. The report advises more research on how religious interpretations and modernization are altering West Sumatra’s customary matrilineal customs and women’s empowerment. Full article

African cities are experiencing rapid, unregulated growth, characterized by high land pressure and growing demand for housing and urban infrastructure. New arrivals often settle in vulnerable areas (wetlands, hills, flood) where land is cheaper and unregulated by public authorities. This type of settlement is accompanied by numerous land conflicts, exacerbated by the coexistence of formal and customary land tenure systems, which struggle to harmonize. In this context, public land regulation policies often remain centralized and ill-adapted, revealing their limitations in ensuring equitable and sustainable management of urban land. Faced with this gap, our systematic study explores the socio-environmental dynamics of this normative pluralism in land governance within Cameroonian cities. Our findings highlight the tensions and opportunities of this complex coexistence, which vary significantly according to city size (small, medium, and large), the colonial heritage (Francophone and Anglophone), and the dominant legal framework (civil law and common law). The analysis highlights the need to take into account historical, linguistic, and politico-administrative roots, which profoundly influence local forms of the institutionalization of normative pluralism and the associated socio-environmental vulnerabilities. This normative plurality underlines the importance of a hybrid system of land governance capable of integrating local specificities while ensuring land security for all. Future research will include comparisons with other African countries in order to understand transferable mechanisms for better land governance. Full article

Uganda is gradually transitioning from communal to private land tenure systems. However, establishing privatized land rights has faced ongoing criticism, particularly concerning their impact on vulnerable groups. Despite the enactment of a national land policy, its benefits have not fully reached rural populations. Issues of land tenure insecurity and unclear ownership continue to generate confusion and have reportedly weakened traditional communal land systems, undermining sustainable agricultural production and long-term investment. This paper examines rural land rights, land markets, and the broader structural transformation of Uganda’s land sector, drawing on the existing literature and published reports. This review reveals that land tenure and administrative challenges persist, largely due to the dominance of customary tenure systems. Although land markets are active, they remain imperfect due to tenure insecurity and legal ambiguities. The findings highlight the need for increased public sensitization regarding land policy, gender-sensitive policies that promote joint ownership, continuous incentives for formalization, the acquisition of land documents, and the harmonization and strengthening of relevant land governance institutions. Full article

This article is based on a review of the governance of land tenure in 18 countries—16 in Africa and 2 in Asia—carried out from 2021 to 2023. It uses international guidelines on land policy and tenure governance as benchmarks to assess progress in each country through reviewing policy documents and literature, and obtaining inputs from key informants. This paper shows that, during the last decade, there has been significant progress in land tenure policies that have improved the recognition of customary and other communal land rights and improved women’s land rights. The formal registration of individual rights to customary and community land has now been achieved cost-effectively, with more rights going to women in a number of settings, and without leading to widespread commoditisation or land dispossession. There is a mixed picture, with countries trying different ways to grapple with common challenges such as securing customary tenure rights, unlocking development potential, improving women’s land rights, and managing the contesting interests in land. There are important examples of best practices in some countries that can be learnt from, such as the legislation of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) requirements and processes of large-scale land rights registration. Despite progress achieved in several countries, too many people are not enjoying the benefits of improved land tenure security; some countries still need to adopt new legislation, while others need to improve their implementation of existing legislation. More needs to be learnt from the range of different approaches to dealing with land tenure as national governments attempt to find solutions that accommodate contesting interests. The lessons and trends identified will be of value to country-level and international work on improving land tenure governance. Full article

Forest tenure reforms through community-based forest management programs have gained popularity in the Global South. Agricultural land use and local forest encroachment have caused the global decline of natural forests. Most community forestry (CF) studies have considered local communities as a state intervention target, underestimating their agency in local forest management. Therefore, this study aims to scrutinize land-related and counter techniques employed by the forest department and local communities in Myanmar to determine the incongruent and insufficient arrangement of de jure procedures in state CF programs. The findings reveal that although the CF program is deployed as a land control tool to regain the “reserved forest” status, realizing its institutional goals is difficult owing to local communities’ land utilization practices. Additionally, CF’s rigid institutional approach cannot manage changing, diverse, and minute local land control techniques. Meanwhile, local communities lack the indispensable, customary arrangements, leading to unequal land use, owing to which the state has to become a guarantor of common forest resources. Thus, this nature of contesting encroached forests reveals the need to critically reconsider land rights and invoke more profound steps beyond the framing of the contemporary “bundle of rights”. Full article

In July 2009, African leaders adopted the Declaration on Land Issues in Africa, reaffirming the commitment of African Union member states to effective land management. The declaration emphasizes the protection of land rights for all, with particular attention to women and marginalized groups. Land governance in Africa, which spans various aspects of society, remains a critical issue and is often a source of conflict and instability across the continent. This study examines the legal and institutional reforms of land governance in Francophone Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Senegal), analyzing their objectives, outcomes, and the challenges associated with their implementation. In addition, this study highlights examples of both effective and ineffective reform implementations based on case studies from countries with notable successes (Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mauritius, Ghana, and Madagascar) and failures (South Africa and Zimbabwe). Finally, this study offers recommendations for improving sustainable land management while considering social, economic, political, and environmental dimensions. The methodology employed is based exclusively on a systematic review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) approach, applied to the ROSES (Reporting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses) protocol. This approach facilitated the selection of 57 relevant documents retrieved from databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Land governance in Francophone Africa varies significantly from country to country and cannot be comprehensively addressed in a study of this scope. Nevertheless, this research study identifies common challenges, opportunities, and measures that could inspire reflection in other countries. In several cases, administrative and customary authorities play central roles in land management. However, their overlapping responsibilities, often marked by corruption, extend procedures and exacerbate local conflicts. Full article

Indoor residual spraying (IRS) and the use of insecticide-treated bednets for malaria vector control have contributed substantially to a reduction in malaria disease burden. However, these control tools have important shortcomings including being donor-dependent, expensive, and often failing because of insufficient uptake. We assessed the safety and efficacy of a user-friendly, locally tailored malaria vector control approach dubbed “Hut Decoration for Malaria Control” (HD4MC) based on the incorporation of a WHO-approved insecticide, Actellic^® 300 CS, into a customary hut decoration practice in rural Uganda where millions of the most vulnerable and malaria-prone populations live in mud-walled huts. Three hundred sixty households were randomly assigned to either the HD4MC (120 households), IRS (120 households) or control group without any wall treatment (120 households). Entomological indices were assessed using pyrethrum spray catching, CDC light traps and human landing catches. The Actellic^® 300 CS toxicity on acetylcholinesterase activity among applicators of HD4MC was evaluated using the Test-mate (Model 400) erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) test V.2, whereas toxicity in household occupants was monitored clinically. The Actellic^® 300 CS level in house dust was analyzed using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Entomological indices were compared between the three study arms at 1.5, 3 and 6 months post-intervention. HD4MC- and IRS-treated huts had a significantly reduced malaria vector density and feeding rate compared to control huts. There was no significant reduction in acetylcholinesterase activity at 1.5 and 24 h post exposure. Actellic^® 300 CS exposure did not result in any serious adverse events among the household occupants. In conclusion, HD4MC was safe and had comparable efficacy to canonical IRS. Full article

The growing divide between the capitalist mode of development promoted by the state and the participative development model suggested by the people has brought ecology, environment, and existence to the core of all contemporary debates. The Adivasi (indigenes) who constitute 8.6 percent of the entire population of India are engaged in a constant battle to save their ecology and landscape. Represented as communities whose existence is intertwined with ‘Jal, Jungle, Jameen’ (water, forest, and land), Adivasis are the most prominent communities facing dispossession and displacement from their roots to further the ideology of development in which they have no stake. The notion of Adivasis as ‘savage’, ‘primitive’, and ‘backward’ communities that are incompetent of ‘developing’ themselves, resulting in their ‘backwardness’ gets carried over from the colonial to the contemporary period. Exposed to the processes of mining and industrialisation, Adivasis and their ecological resources have been exploited since the colonial period to suit the development model of the state. The Adivasi notion of selfhood was overlooked in the process of making the areas inhabited by them zones of ‘exclusive governmentality’. The paper argues and analyses this transformation process of Adivasis into ecological warriors; a process in which they used their shared, remembered and lived past to assert their customary rights. Basing the study on three environmental movements of state of Jharkhand in Central India, namely the Koel-Karo movement of the 1980s, the Netarhat movement of the 1990s, and the Pathalgadi movement of 2017–18, the study underlines that the Adivasi of Jharkhand anchored on their customary rights as a weapon, to protect their ecology and landscape against various state-sponsored development schemes. Drawing on the methodology of field investigation, interaction with the NGOs, government reports and media reports, the article argues that these community struggles are rays of hope for a global ecological future. Full article

Improving productivity is an important channel for satisfying household food needs through food availability. Increasing the productivity of small-scale farmers is linked to a number of factors, including land access, labor, chemicals, fertilizers and so on. Most farmers resort to expanding their cultivated areas to increase production because of insufficient financial resources available for purchasing inputs during agricultural seasons. This situation, combined with increasing pressure on land, does not favor agricultural production and, by extension, food security. This study therefore assesses the impact of different modes of access to land on agricultural productivity. Regime-switching multinomial regression techniques were used to account for endogeneity bias due to observed and unobserved factors. The results of the study show that access through free loans, tenancy and sharecropping negatively affect agricultural yields. The counterfactual analysis reveals a positive gain estimated at 509.9 kg/ha from land access by landowners. If the lenders were landowners, their gain would be 396.6 kg/ha, whereas the farmers would gain 485.1 kg/ha if they were landowners, and similarly the sharecroppers would gain 389.8 kg/ha if they were landowners. It is clear from these results that improving agricultural yields depends on securing land and requires the establishment of an effective land ownership system. This research impacts land ownership policies, which need to be revised to address customary rights and reduce inequalities in access to secure land. It highlights the way land tenure security drives agricultural advancements and offers actionable recommendations for policy improvements on food security. Full article

The mining industry is indispensable for development, and in developing countries like Ghana, it drives economic growth by generating revenue and creating job opportunities for millions of people. Nonetheless, irresponsible mining results in the deprivation of people’s right to surface land, predominantly held under customary land tenure, with agriculture as the mainstay of livelihood. Mining activities have extensive repercussions for the land tenure system, resulting in the displacement of people, the loss of land rights, and reduced control and access to land. All these impact the economic, environmental, and social conditions of the people in the community. This systematic literature review thoroughly analyzes the impact of mining on land rights in Ghana, revealing complex dynamics, challenges, and possible remedies. To achieve this, 183 of an initial pool of 495 academic journals, research papers, books, reports, policies, and legal documents were critically reviewed. This research reveals the challenges faced by mining-induced communities because of the displacement which has resulted in the loss of ancestral lands and disruption to community life. The displacement is also coupled with economic disparities and social tension. Furthermore, the ripple effects of environmental degradation, such as deforestation, water pollution, noise, and air pollution, have dire consequences on land use and ownership, particularly for communities dependent on natural resources. This review brings to light various responses and effective strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of mining on land tenure in Ghana. These include community engagement strategies, corporate social responsibility initiatives, and legal reforms. This study reveals that mining compensation depends on the duration of the mining lease, therefore implying that the expropriated parties have reversionary interests in their lands. The procedure for giving the land back to the owner is not explicitly outlined in the law. This underscores the need for a review of the law governing mining, sustainable mining practices, and environmental management to safeguard the land tenure system. This review enlightens policymakers, researchers, mining enterprises, and local communities regarding the intricacies of this convergence, offering a foundation for well-informed decision making. It underscores the crucial importance of upholding sustainable development, social fairness, and responsible resource management within the framework of Ghana’s diverse land tenure traditions. Full article

Globally, the forced displacement of socially vulnerable communities causes significant contestation, irrespective of whether that occurs for mega-projects or smaller infrastructural, agricultural, urban renewal, or property developments. Despite multilateral guidelines for “socially inclusive” development, it is difficult to avoid the marginalization of evicted, local communities. Grounded on the credibility thesis, this article provides a new, theoretical basis for understanding the “social function of property” and how this may be used as a criterion to assess whether development-induced and resettlement projects should be given the go-ahead. Methodologically, this article employs the FAT (Formal, Actual, and Targeted) Institutional Framework to unpack the social function of property. To this end, it analyzes the acquisition and privatization of the common property of Indigenous Peoples to construct the Malaysian Bakun Hydroelectric Project, purportedly Asia’s second-largest dam. The FAT analysis ascertains the following three conditions on which basis projects should be halted: (1) the property of the evicted communities fulfills a critical role in providing social welfare; (2) the said function is disregarded by the expropriating agency; (3) the power divides between the expropriator and expropriated prevent meaningful participation by the latter. This study demonstrates that the social function of property can be effectively measured and validates the FAT Framework as a viable tool to analyze development-induced projects (and policies), with particular reference to expropriation, privatization, and formalization. Full article