Rural land management in Zambia: the need for institutional and land tenure reforms

This study contends that Zambia cannot develop if it neglects policy for the efficient utilization of its natural resources. One such area has been the absence of land policy for effective management of rural land.While failure in this area has been attributed to a number of factors, notably absence of credit and funding, this paper contends that the base factor is the absence of efficient land management for rural land.This paper attempts to show that rural land in Zambia remains undeveloped for a number of reasons:The absence of an institutional framework to guide land administration. No matter how much money is invested in the system as it currently stands, positive results cannot be guaranteed due to a very weak institutional base.The establishment of rural land management institutions would lead to a second phase of reforms - land tenure reforms. Prescribing the “right” land tenure system for rural Zambia is not possible in the absence of detailed field surveys. This presents a challenge to all researchers, NGO’s, government and stakeholdersThe paper concludes with a quote by West which it feels best sums up the findings of this paper:“Europe is at present offering two basic land tenure models to Africa, the individualist or the collectivist, and neither of them is immediately acceptable. The need for tenure conversion presents to African countries a unique opportunity for innovation, invention and planning. This opportunity must be seized in order to avoid not only the undesirable social consequences of unfettered private enterprises, but also, alternatively, the disincentives and diseconomies that have been found to accompany certain forms of collectivism”.The onus is on everybody in Zambia to assist in the directing of rural policy.