Women's Land Rights in Africa: Societal Demands and Challenges

The land is one of the cornerstones of economic development on which farmers, pastoralists and other communities base their livelihoods. Land is also an important aspect of business assets, which is crucial in business investment strategies. Thus, securing land rights can have profound implications on economic development. Land in rural areas is both a means of agricultural production and livestock rearing and a place for gathering natural products that play an important role in local economies such as woodcutting, wild harvesting, grazing, fishing, hunting, etc. Furthermore, land is a source of identity and cultural heritage. An increasing body of literature has produced tangible evidence highlighting the insecure position of women's land rights. The existing gender inequality in access to and control over land and natural resources is an obstacle to the sustainable management of natural resources and socio-economic development. Land is an important source of security against poverty across the continent and developing world, unequal rights to land put women at a disadvantage, perpetuate poverty, and entrench gender inequality in Africa. Gender has become a critical issue in women's land rights because there is direct relationship between accessing land resources, having secured land rights, achieving food security and overcoming poverty, women produce more than 80% of the food in Africa, yet they own only 1% of the land (Smit, Ratta, & Nasr, 2011). Improving access to land to women and control of land is crucial to socio-economic development of Africa. Several countries in Africa have either formulated their land policies or are in the process of doing so. Reforms seeking to formalize land rights must intentionally consider the economic, social and political dimensions of property rights to ensure that women are not left worse off by the process. At the same time to be effective in the long term, the reforms must consider the social as well as legal legitimacy of the change they seek.