Land, Rights, and Tenure Insecurity on Customary Land in Zambia

Abstract

Land is a key asset in the lives of village communities in Zambia. It is thus at the centre of their livelihood strategies as it provides social, economic, and financial benefits to these communities. The paradox though is that despite acknowledging its importance in the lives of village communities, tenure on this land is poorly protected by the state resulting in high insecurity for its occupants. In many instances, there are no clear regulations on its use and alienation while traditional authorities are also ill-equipped for the task of administering this land. The question then that emerges is: In this perceived absence of state protection, how are village communities protecting themselves from threats of dispossession by foreign investors, urban elites, and the state's own actions? This study found that village communities are using various means to protect themselves, including issuance of local land holding certificates.

Profitability and financial performance of Italian real estate companies: quantitative profiles

“…This article favoured comparisons across continents (Jovanović-Milenković et al ., 2020) and countries, adding Italy to studies on China (Zhang and Wang, 2010; Huang et al ., 2022), Poland (Kowalski et al ., 2023; Marona and Tomal, 2020), Indonesia (Oey and Lim, 2020), Zambia (Munshifwa et al ., 2021), India (Karthiyaini et al ., 2020), Thailand (Khuntaweetep and Koowattanatianchai, 2022), etc. It was more difficult to compare with other studies related to Italy, although valuable (Avallone and Quagli, 2015; Mattarocci and Scimone, 2021; Gabrielli et al ., 2022) because the methodology used was different.…”

“…In general, however, it seems that the processes of migration of values to and from the sector do not show any relevant changes when comparing the periods before and after the pandemic, at least in Poland (Kowalski et al ., 2023). A more comprehensive analysis, however, must also consider the choices of tenants and not only those of investors, which are more widely studied (Munshifwa et al ., 2021).…”

Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia

“…At this point at the latest, access to land would become almost impossible for the majority of the rural population, and even more so for rural women, who were often in a financially dependent position. Reluctance to give away customary land for titling was thus common, as were fears that some people would benefit disproportionately [26,33], like what happened when land was titled and then pooled for the Magobbo Trust [34,35].…”

“…It was also noted that the introduction of the leasehold title alone did not increase women's land ownership as intended. Consequently, in 2000, a gender policy and subsequent draft land policies stipulated land ownership by women; however, success was still only moderate [31][32][33]. There are unresolved questions about who approves the allocation of private land that is collectively used, and who receives the land title if the extended kinship has a customary right to use the land.…”

A Comparative Analysis of Collaborative Natural Resource Governance in Two Protected Areas in Zambia

“…The main underlying cause of social conflicts in Zambia, as observed in Kaindu, was the land control and allocation process, which, according to Munshifwa (2018), is marred by inertia, confusion, and corruption. The state purposefully generated a situation of inertness by instituting an extremely slow land tenure reform process during the 1990s, which has also led to inconclusive land policy formulation processes whose drafts are constantly rejected by -of-en the president and the traditional leaders over who should oversee land alienation.…”