Impact of privatization on gender and property rights in Africa

Policy Discourses on Women's Land Rights in Sub–Saharan Africa: The Implications of the Re–turn to the Customary

“…16 This point is analogous to one made by Lastarria-Cornhiel (1997), who has examined the continent-wide evidence for the effects of land privatization, finding that simple titling and land registration do not transform a customary tenure system into a freehold one; other changes in the commercialization of agriculture and the development of a land market are needed. She concludes that the general processes of privatization and concentration affect women's land and property rights negatively, rather than national land registration schemes per se.…”

“…Although Lastarria-Cornhiel summarizes that 'usually women lose access or cultivation rights while male household heads have strengthened their hold over land' (Lastarria-Cornhiel 1997, 1326), Mackenzie's historical study of the different ways in which the land reform of the 1950s had affected patrilineal Kikuyu women's land claims in Central Province gives a more detailed and nuanced picture (Mackenzie 1990(Mackenzie , 1993(Mackenzie , 1998). Women's claims to use land as wives and as daughters were becoming insecure as the area was experiencing severe land shortage and land was becoming commoditized.…”

Can Integrated Agriculture-Nutrition Programmes Change Gender Norms on Land and Asset Ownership? Evidence from Burkina Faso

“…For example, Lastarria-Cornhiel (1997) discusses implications of various customary land tenure systems across Africa for men’s and women’s land rights; in some societies, women may own land, but are prohibited from ploughing (Mogues et al, 2009). Doss and Deere (2006) review studies that examine gender asset gaps and reasons why these gaps persist.…”

“…Many customary systems rely heavily on family structure, inheritance and marriage practices to determine property rights. In many customary systems in Africa, women often have indirect access to land and the produce derived from it through their male relatives; yet they usually do not have full ownership rights (Gray & Kevane, 1999; Lastarria-Cornhiel, 1997). 4 In western Burkina Faso, Kevane and Gray demonstrated that while married women from certain ethnic groups (for example, the Mossi) would farm plots independently from their husbands, having considerable control over crops grown and the income derived from them, women from other ethnic groups such as the Bwa or Lobi generally did not have these rights (Gray & Kevane, 1999).…”

Land Law Reform: A Comparative Analysis of South Africa'S Labour Tenancy Contract and Malawi'S Tenant Worker'S Contract

“…Studies on agricultural tenancies also indicate that, from an economic point of view, efficiency of agriculture is linked to guarantees of long-term access to land because such access facilitates the reinvestment of profits in the holdings. 62 From a developmental perspective, a lack of security of tenure undermines the personal development of the tenant worker and his family 63 . From a legal perspective, the tenant worker has been subject to summary evictions leading to social hardship.…”