This past week, one of the local dailies ran a story narrating how many county and national government institutions are squatters on what used to be public property, and even face eviction by new owners. It described how in Meru for instance, land meant for the most critical public institutions — police stations, hospitals, government offices, roads, even sensitive installations like the County Commissioner’s residence — has been allocated to individuals. Land grabbing and irregular land allocation is commonplace in Kenya.

Underpinned by the concept of entitlement as its theoretical paradigm, this study examines the genesis of public land ownership and its disposition in the post-colonial era, how this has disadvantaged some sections of society and given rise to claims of historical land injustices.

The present soil survey is the first in a series of "reconnaissance soil surveys", with a multi-purpose land evaluation. A programme of systematic inventory of the soil and, land resources of the country was initiated by the Kenya Soil Survey in 1972, after strengthening with manpower and funds from the Netherlands Directorate for Development Co-operation through the "Kenya Soil Survey Project", of the then Soil Survey Unit of the National Agricultural Laboratories in Nairobi.

Includes why has it taken so long to issue leaseholds?; the Land Acquisition and Development Fund; can a leasehold be used as collateral?; the Post Settlement Support Fund and who will benefit from it?; do commercial banks recognise the leasehold agreement?; can a leasehold be inherited?; no option to purchase leased land anymore; land use; the way forward.

Includes Sierra Leone: open for business, land use and land tenure in Sierra Leone, land deal in Sierra Leone: four case studies, responsible agro-investment? Found a lack of transparency and public disclosure in all aspects of the four land deals, an extremely weak regulatory framework, confusion around ‘availability’ of land, lack of environmental protection, conditions ripe for exploitation and conflict.

Includes overall agenda of the Land Policy, the constitutional, legal, land tenure, land rights administration, land use and management, regional and international frameworks, and the framework for implementation of the Land Policy. Said to be agreed by all stakeholders and that regular consultations and dialogue will be encouraged during its implementation.

Includes competing views of land-grabbing, Code of Conduct: consolidation of land-grab agenda, the many faces and directions of land use and land property relations change today, the ‘land sovereignty’ alternative.

Paper prepared for the FAO’s Southern and Eastern Africa Office. Contains introduction to the impact of HIV/AIDS on land issues – land use, land rights, land administration; country studies; the impact of HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, in Kenya, in South Africa, and general findings and recommendations. Latter include land use strategies, land rights and land administration, and developing solutions.

Includes summary; global land resources and projections for the future; soils and soil policies; ecosystems’ services; biofuels and impacts on land use; biofuel production and land use in Brazil; land and national self-sufficiency; land use and increasing production; overseas land investments (often called ‘land grabbing’); land rights and ownership – the Rwandan example; international voluntary guidelines for land investment; conclusion.

Contains an executive summary and 3 main chapters: on national, provincial and policy context; access to land and natural resources in Bie Province; and key issues for CARE programming � the promotion of livelihood security and equity. Within these chapters are sections on the proposed new Land Law; land administration and decentralisation; land use and availability and mechanisms of access to land; land tenure systems in the study sites.

Includes land regulatory framework; foreign direct investment and large-scale land acquisition; mechanized farming agriculture; lack of transparency and corruption in land use and allocation; land and conflict. Argues that land tenure insecurity has resulted from the imposition of formal law that does not recognize individual rights to unregistered land. State authorities have considered unregistered land to be state land and thus available to transfer to private commercial interests, the military, land speculators, and elites without regard for customary rights.

Includes land issues in South Africa, Participatory Action Research, PAR in action, toolkit of activities. Addresses obstacles to land reform in the Breede River Valley, Western Cape, and how to strengthen local capacities and create awareness of rights.