Strategies and Guidelines for accessing land in Zambia

Since colonialism, Zambia has operated two forms of land tenure systems side by side. A great number of the population live off customary land while a tiny minority live on state land otherwise known as 'private land'. Attempts to find a suitable 'development model' for Zambia have led to the creation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). One of the critical questions dealt with in the PRSP is how to make land contribute to poverty reduction efforts in Zambia. This has led to consideration of how to make land holding and land use become more efficient. According to World Bank and other Western financial institutions and individual experts, taking customary land away from control of the group unit and placing it in the hands of the individual is one way of promoting 'efficient land use' leading to greater productivity. This means Government should adopt a deliberate policy to facilitate the granting of title deeds to individuals both foreign and local in customary land areas. Consequently, Government has set out to promote conversion of customary land to leasehold land as the main mode of land tenure and an efficient land delivery system.