Impacts of Privatization of Customary Land Rights in Zambia: A Comparative Study of Rural and Peri‐urban Locations

Abstract

In its quest for development, Zambia is pursuing a land policy that facilitates privatization of customary land. This article investigates the effects of privatization in terms of how it shapes people's behaviour and perception of private tenure and related tenure dynamics. Findings have shown that the appetite to privatize land is growing stronger in peri-urban areas as land becomes more scarce. Furthermore, privatization of land appears to be a threat to traditional political structures as allegiance and loyalty towards chiefs diminish and tension and struggles over land in peri-urban areas increase. Similarly, privatization of land erodes people's faith in the role that cultural and ancestral beliefs play in traditional land management. Also, people in rural areas tend to favour private tenure more if 'privatization of customary land' means allocation of land to outsiders. If, by contrast, the phrase is taken to mean communities registering their own land, peri-urban communities tend to have a stronger desire to register land. Furthermore, rural communities were found to be less informed about land policy and seemed less keen to be involved in land policy processes when compared to peri-urban residents. However, rural people may have no reason to inform themselves about land policy until they realise that the policy is likely to affect them.

Does Title Increase Large Farm Productivity? Institutional Determinants of Large Land-Based Investments' Performance in Zambia

“…One is that their potential advantages in terms of accessing information and providing public goods (Baldwin 2018) notwithstanding, traditional authorities have no formal role in administering state land or influencing its use (Honig 2017). As it would gradually deprive them of power and income without reducing locals' expectations for them to provide access to land and arbitrate land disputes, 16 transfer from customary to statutory tenure is resisted by chiefs (Ng'ombe et al 2014). As documented more broadly for contexts of legal pluralism in Africa (Eck 2014), competition between customary and statutory authorities creates risk of decisions by one level of authority possibly being overturned by another for all land users (Jorgenson & Loudjeva 2005).…”

Making Secure Land Tenure Count for Global Development Goals and National Policy: Evidence from Zambia

“…With few surveyors and limited capacity to process applications in the bureaucracy, this results in what is often a complex and discretionary process (Adams 2003) with costs amounting to thousands of dollars. While local consultation is mandated, reports point towards limited compliance with such rules, lack of transparency and limited enforceability of rules (Ng'ombe et al 2014). As it would irrevocably remove a piece of land from the chief's to the state's control and entail the loss of the flexibility (e.g., in terms of re-assigning land if an investor's plans turn sour), conversion of customary to state land is resisted by chiefs unless facilitated by significant payments (German et al 2013).…”