Consensus, Confusion and Controversy: Selected Land Reform Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa

Land reform can be divided broadly into land tenure reform (the establishment of secure and formalized property rights in land) and land redistribution (the transfer of land from large to small farmers). This paper therefore is in two parts. The first part focuses on property rights, giving a short narrative of some of the key land tenure and land policy issues. Though these issues remain politically sensitive, a solid consensus is emerging on how to deal with them - but only once the confusion is cleared up surrounding private common property and formal and informal rights. The second part addresses redistributive land reform - the redistribution of property rights in land from large to small farmers. A heightened sense of urgency surrounds the need to address land redistribution, especially in the former settler colonies in southern Africa, but controversy exists regarding the appropriate implementation mechanisms. The study highlights the case of South Africa, because success there would have tremendous regional and international implications for land redistribution. A policy framework for redistributive land reform is outlined, within which the competing paradigms compete where it actually matters - on the ground.