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Across the globe millions of people live and work on land that they do not—and legally cannot—own. And though some efforts to secure land rights for these individuals have been successful, many others—such as those that emphasize titles and registration—have been disappointing. Legalising Land Rights critiques the various programs designed to counter land tenure regimes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, broadening the scope of knowledge on land tenure reform in these regions and calling for the implementation of new and more effective legislation.
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law, governance, and development research legalising land rights Local Practices, State Responses and Tenure Security in Africa, Asia and Latin America Edited by Janine M. Ubink André J. Hoekema Willem J. Assies leiden university press Legalising Land Rights Law, Governance, and Development The Leiden University Press series on Law, Governance, and Development brings together an interdisciplinary body of work about the formation and functioning of legal systems in developing countries, and about interventions to strengthen them. The series aims to engage academics, policy makers and practitioners at the national and international level, thus attempting to stimulate legal reform for good governance and development. General Editors: Jan Michiel Otto (Leiden University) Benjamin van Rooij (Leiden University) Editorial Board: Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naı´m (Emory University) Keebet von Benda Beckman (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) John Bruce (Land and Development Solutions International) Jianfu Chen (La Trobe University) Sally Engle Merry (New York University) Julio Faundez (University of Warwick) Linn Hammergren (World Bank) Andrew Harding (University of Victoria) Fu Hualing (Hong Kong University) Goran Hyden (University of Florida) Martin Lau (SOAS, University of London) Christian Lund (Roskilde University) Barbara Oomen (University of Amsterdam and Roosevelt Academy) Veronica Taylor (University of Washington) David Trubek (University of Wisconsin) Legalising Land Rights Local Practices, State Responses and Tenure Security in Africa, Asia and Latin America Edited by Janine M. Ubink, Andre´ J. Hoekema, and Willem J. Assies Leiden University Press This book has been made possible by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO MAGW SaRO). Cover design: Studio Jan de Boer, Amsterdam Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere ISBN e-ISBN NUR 978 90 8728 056 7 978 90 4850 669 9 759 / 828 © J.M. Ubink, A.J. Hoekema, W.J. Assies / Leiden University Press, 2009 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Contents 1. 2. Legalising land rights in Africa, Asia and Latin America: An introduction Janine Ubink Peasants and agrarian reforms: The unfinished quest for secure land rights in Ethiopia Dessalegn Rahmato 7 33 3. Land rights and tenure security: Rural land registration in Ethiopia Dessalegn Rahmato 59 4. Securing land rights in Ghana Kojo Sebastian Amanor 5. 6. 7. 97 Tree plantations, agricultural commodification, and land tenure security in Ghana Kojo Sebastian Amanor 133 Legalising customary land tenure in Ghana: The case of peri-urban Kumasi Janine Ubink 163 Land tenure reform and tenure security in Namibia Marco Lankhorst 193 8. Regulating or dere