Land Access and Property Rights in Africa

Jordyn Vandeleur

In Africa the agriculture sector employs 65% of the labor force and yet

still holds great amounts of untapped potential1. The African continent alone

holds 60% of the worlds arable uncultivated lands, while the land that is

being cultivated produces less than half the global average2 spelling

immense potential for a country where an estimated 20% of the population is

undernourished3. Not only the land, but also the people of Africa have the

potential to create a better future. Much of Africa is subject to land

ownership laws preventing women from owning land. Discriminatory legal

practices and lack of transparency frequently keep women from controlling

land, putting them at a severe disadvantage in society, as well as holding the

society as a whole back.

Womens lack of land ownership rights has a strong historical context dating

back to pre-colonial times. While ownership and inheritance practices varied

during that time, historians have found the majority of land was controlled

through lineages and clans where ownership was passed through male

descendants. When Europeans arrived they imposed western land ownership

ideas on the local populations causing increased privatization of land. In

more recent years many countries have adopted laws reflecting a mix of

these two cultural perceptions regarding land often to the major

1 IIED. Womens Land Rights and Africas Development ConundrumWhich

Way Forward
2 J. Os. Cold Comfort Farms
3 FAO. The State of Food Security in the World
disadvantage of women. Because the laws have a strong historical past they

have become a part of society and culture, both cementing womens place

as lesser citizens and making communities highly resistant to any change in

the laws, even when national governments have given women more rights

the laws are rarely upheld as women in rural communities are unaware of

their rights.

Asset ownership and in particular land ownership is tied up with our

ideas of position and power in a society. Historically in many places voting

rights were contingent on land ownership preserving power dynamics and

denying the poorest people the right to effect change. While voting laws

have changed the societal perceptions of land ownership and power are

preserved. By keeping women from owning land they are being denied equal

social footing. Land ownership is also tied to cultural identity and a key step

in empowering marginalized people. Giving women land ownership rights will

require cultural shifts, but once they are given these key rights it can pave

the way for increased legal rights, independence, and empowerment

throughout society.

Agriculture is a key sector of the economy in Africa, responsible for

32% of GDP4, representing nearly one third of the continents entire economy

and a sector where many of the poorest people are employed. Of the food

produced in Africa women contribute to 80% of the production but only own

4 The World Bank. Fact Sheet: The World Bank and Agriculture in Africa
1% of the land5. Oftentimes women are only able to access the land through

their husbands or male relatives putting them in a vulnerable position. While

women are often the ones working on the land and relying on the income

and food from it to support their family their husbands may sell the land

without consulting them at all. Widows in particular find themselves at risk as

their in-laws may usurp the land. In Kenya one third of widowed women

reported they lost their land when their husbands died6. In this case not only

are they suddenly the sole supporters of their households they are cut off

from their livelihood. A lack of land rights denies them many opportunities

and puts them at a severe disadvantage.

The inability to own land also impinges on womens access to financial

institutions. An important aspect of growth is the ability to borrow money

and invest in ones future. However, many women in Africa find themselves

cut off from formal lending sources, banks and state sanctioned creditors,

and unable to get loans without land. As often the most important and most

valuable asset that poor or rural people own is land, ownership is often the

main source of credit when borrowing. Without access to these institutions

women must rely on informal sources for lending, such as family and

community members. These sources are far less desirable for two reasons.

One is that the loans and access to capital tend to be smaller. Because of the

size constraint women are only able to embark on small ventures, stifling

5 Milicent Odeny. Improving Access to Land and Strengthening Womens

Land Rights in Africa
6 Mary Kimani. Women Struggle to Secure Land Rights
their entrepreneurial spirit and placing constraints on what they are able to

achieve that men are not subject to. As most businesses become more

profitable as the scale is increased businesses run by women are inherently

put at a disadvantage and growth that would benefit the entire country is

unable to occur. Another reason these informal institutions are generally

inferior options is that they will charge interest rates often over three times

that of formal institutions. These high interest rates can trap women in

cycles of debt and negate the appeal of opportunities loans can provide.

Many nonprofits and NGOs working in developing areas in Africa will give

loans targeting women as they recognize that women in general are more

risk averse and have been shown to invest more in their children, health, and

education. However, without land ownership many channels to loans and

access to financial institutions are unavailable to women.

Ensuring equal property rights and laws that will protect womens

ownership and access to land are integral in not only creating a more

balanced and equal society but in unleashing the agricultural and economic

potential of the African continent. Land rights have strong historical ties

connecting to ones position in a society. Denying an entire group land rights

places them at the margins of society and by refusing a right their psyche

can be damaged reaffirming destructive and prejudicial ideas within a

society. As women are increasingly becoming the majority of those employed

in food production giving them more access is not only logical but will lead to

developments in agriculture by unleashing the innovations of half a

population. With land as collateral access to financial institutions will open up

and women will be able to compete with men in economic settings on equal

footing. Equal land rights have the potential to create a more equal society

and lead the way to economic development improving the lives of all.
 References

Annual World Bank Conference On Land And Poverty 2013, Millicent Odeny. Annual World

Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2013. 2013. Academic Paper. World Bank

Conference, Washington D.C.

"Fact Sheet: The World Bank and Agriculture in Africa." The World Bank. The World Bank, n.d.

Web. 08 Apr. 2016.

FAO. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Rep. N.p.: FAO, 2015. Print.

Kimani, Mary. "Women Struggle to Secure Land Rights | Africa Renewal Online." Africa

Renewal Apr. 2008: 10. UN News Center. UN, Apr. 2008. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

O's, J. "Cold Comfort Farms." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 04 Sept. 2013. Web.

08 Apr. 2016.

"Women's Land Rights and Africa's Development Conundrum Which Way Forward?"

International Institute for Environment and Development. IIED, 12 Dec. 2014. Web. 7

Apr. 2016.