Land legislation in Zambia bypasses the poor yet again

Small scale farming is a vital and widespread means of occupation and income in Zambia, as it is throughout Africa, due to lack of formal employment opportunities in the country. That those small-scale farmers who tend the land, but often do not own it, are consulted on issues relating to their land is subsequently of vital importance to the financial well-being of a large proportion of the Zambian population. Unfortunately, land administration policies in Zambia are heavily centralized, and recent support by President Banda to remove the section on the abuse of office by public officers from the Anti Corruption Commission Act of 1996 does not bode well for the already corrupt practices of the Ministry of Lands. The 1995 Lands Act that regulates Zambia’s land policy stipulates that all land is to be held in trust by the president, and most of the poor people live on customary land as they cannot afford to obtain a leasehold tenure.

The power of land administration: Zambia

Land is a very important means of subsistence, status and identity for many Africans.  But due to the power politics of both the colonial and post-colonial periods, where the issues of land administration and domination have figured prominently, many African countries have ended up with a very uneven distribution of land ownership. Zimbabwe and South Africa are obvious examples that are relatively well reported in the news. Less well known, however, is the case of Zambia where land distribution has proven equally problematic.