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Who Owns the Land? Perspectives from Rural Ugandans and Implications for Large-Scale Land Acquisitions

Authors :
Ruth Meinzen-Dick
Allan Bomuhangi
Cheryl R. Doss
Source :
Feminist Economics. 20:76-100
Publication Year :
2013
Publisher :
Informa UK Limited, 2013.

Abstract

Rapidly growing demand for agricultural land is putting pressure on property-rights systems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where customary tenure systems have provided secure land access. Rapid and large-scale demands from outsiders are challenging patterns of gradual, endogenous change toward formalization. Little attention has focused on the gender dimensions of this transformation. However this contribution, based on a 2008–09 study of land tenure in Uganda, analyzes how different definitions of land ownership – including household reports, existence of ownership documents, and rights over the land – provide very different indications of the gendered patterns of land ownership and rights. While many households report husbands and wives as joint owners of the land, women are less likely to be listed on ownership documents, and have fewer rights. A simplistic focus on “title” to land misses much of the reality regarding land tenure and could have an adverse impact on women's land rights.

Details

ISSN :
14664372 and 13545701
Volume :
20
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Feminist Economics
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........2eeea95dca2be08d644b83f6e2b2352a
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2013.855320