Full citation: Joireman, S.F. (2008). “The Mystery of Capital Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Women, Property Rights and Customary Law,” World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1233-1246, July. – Economists such as Hernando De Soto have argued that clearly defined property rights are essential to capital formation and ultimately to economic growth and poverty alleviation. This article traces two impediments to the clear definition of property rights in the African context: customary law and the status of women. Both of these issues interfere with the attempt of African countries to rearticulate property law with the goal of capital formation. Constructive attempts […]
Record Topic: Land & Property
Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru
Full citation: Field, E. (2007). “Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 122 (4): 1561-602. – Receipt of legal documents (land titles) allowed former squatters, especially women, to join formal labor markets instead of staying at home to guard their land, thereby increasing their income and reducing child labor. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions – Annotated Bibliography]
Gender and Agroforestry in Africa: A review of women’s participation
Full citation: Kiptot, E. and Franzel, S. (2012). “Gender and agroforestry in Africa: A review of women’s participation.” Agroforestry Systems, 84(1), 35-58. – This paper presents a review of agroforestry in Africa from a gender perspective. It examines women’s participation relative to men and the challenges and successes they experience. The review shows that agroforestry has the potential to offer substantial benefits to women; however, their participation is low in enterprises that are considered men’s domain, such as timber and high in enterprises that have little or no commercial value, such as collection of indigenous fruits and vegetables. Data on […]
Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: pilot evidence from Rwanda
Full citation: Ali, D.A., Deininger, K., and Goldstein, M. (2014). “Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: pilot evidence from Rwanda.” Journal of Development Economics, vol. 110, 2014, 262-275. – This paper evaluates the short-term impact (approximately 2.5 years after completion) of Rwanda’s land tenure regularization pilots. The findings included, land tenure regularization improved land access for legally married women and prompted better recordation of inheritance rights without gender bias; and for female-headed households, specifically, regularization had a very large impact on investment and maintenance of soil conservation measures. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of […]
Gender and Green Governance
Full citation: Agarwal, B. (2010). Gender and Green Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press). – This book is based on a primary survey of community forestry institutions (CFIs) in the early 2000s, and on fieldwork in Nepal and India. It examines the impact the gender composition of a group has on women’s effective participation, rule-making, rule violations, forest conservation, and firewood and fodder shortages. It finds that women’s greater presence in CFIs has many statistically demonstrable benefits. It enhances women’s effective voice in decision-making; influences the nature of decisions made, especially the rules of forest use and their implementation; and improves […]
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Joint-titling—A Win-Win Policy? Gender and Property Rights in Urban Informal Settlements in Chandigarh, India
Full citation: Datta, N. (2006). “Joint-titling—A Win-Win Policy? Gender and Property Rights in Urban Informal Settlements in Chandigarh, India.” – This article explores the impact of joint titling of houses on women’s empowerment in urban informal settlements in Chandigarh, India. It finds that property rights increase women’s participation in decision making, access to knowledge and information about public matters, sense of security, self-esteem, and the respect that they receive from their spouses. Women display a higher attachment to their houses than men, especially after getting joint titles, because houses play a valuable role in fulfilling women’s practical and strategic gender needs. This […]
Women’s land rights and social movements in the Brazilian agrarian reform
Full citation: Deere, C.D. (2003). “Women’s land rights and social movements in the Brazilian agrarian reform.” Journal of Agrarian Change, 3 (1-2), pp 257-288. – This article examines the evolution of the demand for women’s land rights in the Brazilian agrarian reform. Most of the credit for raising the issue of women’s land rights rests with women within the rural unions, as a by–product of the effort to end discrimination against women in all its dimensions. The achievement of formal equality in land rights did not lead to increases in the share of female beneficiaries of the reform, which remained […]
Who Owns the Land? Perspectives from Rural Ugandans and Implications for Large-Scale Land Acquisitions
Full citation: Doss, C., Meinzen-Dick, R., and Bomuhangi, A. (2014). “Who Owns the Land? Perspectives from Rural Ugandans and Implications for Large-Scale Land Acquisitions.” Feminist Economics, 20(1), 76-100. – This article is based on a 2008–09 study of land tenure in Uganda. It 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, […]
Cocoa, Marriage, Labour, and Land in Ghana: Some Matrilineal and Patrilineal Perspectives
Full citation: Duncan, B.A. (2010). “Cocoa, Marriage, Labour, and Land in Ghana: Some Matrilineal and Patrilineal Perspectives.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 80 (2), 301–21. – Based on field research conducted between April 2006 and November 2007 in four matrilineal and two patrilineal communities located in the Brong Ahafo, Western and Volta regions, the study sets out important changes taking place within the institutions of marriage, land tenure and conjugal labour relations, within the cocoa production sector. Many scholars have documented systems of land exchange between husbands and wives for services rendered within the context of cocoa farming. […]
The paradox of gender discrimination in land ownership and women’s contribution to poverty reduction in Anglophone Cameroon
Full citation: Fonjong, L., Fombe, L., & Sama-lang, I. (2013). “The paradox of gender discrimination in land ownership and women’s contribution to poverty reduction in Anglophone Cameroon.” GeoJournal, 78(3), 575-589. – This study adopted a method of field work involving observations, the use of questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions for data collection that was able to capture key issues related to women, culture and land. The sample size of 2,205 participants included 80 % women and 20 % men from all socio-economic, political, demographic and ethnic groups. In addition to this sample, interviews were conducted and focus-group discussions held […]