Land rights are critical for development and can provide economic security, incentives to protect the environment, and increased social status, especially for women.

1. Improving Land Rights to Promote Development in Africa

2. Land—a vital asset for millions of Africans © 1997 Suresh Babu/IFPRI

5. A community sweetpotato field in Kenya In Africa, the poor often have rights to land, forests, or pastures when resources are held as common property © 2006 Michele Pietrowski/IFPRI

6. Farmers in their field near Mpigi, Uganda In Africa, more than 30 percent of the land is jointly held by a group or community © 2004 Michael Rubinstein/IFPRI

9. How can land tenure reforms strengthen the rights of women and the poor? Individual legal title to land does not necessarily improve rights, especially for women and pastoralists © 2006 Michael Rubinstein/IFPRI

12. Customary laws can also threaten land rights Customary laws, while protecting common property, can often prevent women from owning and inheriting land © 2003 Anna Temu/IFPRI

13. New approaches to improve land rights Reform that reflects customary tenure has to ensure that rights of women, groups, and the poor are safeguarded © 2006 Michael Rubinstein/IFPRI