Land in Africa: Market Asset or Secure Livelihood Conference London, November 8-9, 2004 Working Group 2: Gender, Land Rights and Inheritance Securing Women's Land Rights: Approaches, Prospects and Challenges

Document begins: Land in Africa: Market Asset or Secure Livelihood Conference London, November 8-9, 2004 Working Group 2: Gender, Land Rights and Inheritance Securing Women's Land Rights: Approaches, Prospects and Challenges Dzodzi Tsikata, ISSER, Ghana Introduction In this presentation, I will try to raise some of the issues raised in the literature about women's land interests and inheritance rights, discuss the debates and approaches emerging in the context of the ongoing land tenure reforms in countries such as Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and the prospects for securing women's land rights. I also attempt to tackle in some cases tangentially, some of the questions raised for our deliberations by the conference organisers. These to remind us are as follows: · How to translate constitutional provisions into reality at the ground level? · Will increased security for women translate into increased agricultural investment and outputs? · Is joint registration of land rights an effective means to strengthen women's position? · What complementary measures might strengthen women's rights of access to land? · How best to ensure the representation of women in new decentralized bodies? This presentation draws heavily on a joint article with Anne Whitehead on Policy discourses on land tenure; and an ...