ABSTRACT

Advancing women’s land rights is a priority for the international development agenda. Little consensus exists, however, on which rights should be monitored and reported, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where individual property rights and customary tenure regimes coexist and where much agricultural land remains unregistered. In such contexts, land ownership statistics may provide only a limited picture of women’s and men’s land rights. While some surveys collect information on women’s land ownership, others collect information on women’s management of land or control over the output produced. Using recent waves of the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) for six African countries, we examine who holds the different rights on each plot of agricultural land and the extent to which these rights are held by the same person. We focus on (a) reported ownership, (b) who decides and manages the agricultural activities, and (c) who controls the output of land. We find that these rights over land do not always overlap, indicating that concepts of ownership, management and economic rights should not be used interchangeably. Consistent measures of women’s and men’s land rights are fundamental for the development of policies to empower rural women and to contribute to poverty reduction.

摘要

促进妇女的土地权利是国际发展议程的优先事项。但是，关于应监测和报告哪些权利的共识很少，特别是在撒哈拉以南非洲，那里的个人财产权和习惯权属制度共存，而许多农业用地仍未登记。在这种情况下，土地所有权统计数据可能只能提供有限的男女土地权利情况。有些调查收集有关妇女土地所有权的信息，而另一些调查收集有关妇女对土地的管理或对生产成果的控制的信息。利用最近一波针对六个非洲国家的生活水平衡量研究综合农业调查（LSMS-ISA），我们研究了谁在每块农田上拥有不同的权利，以及同一人在多大程度上拥有这些权利。我们专注于（a）报告的所有权，（b）决定和管理农业活动的人，以及（c）控制土地产出的人。我们发现，这些土地权并不总是重叠的，这表明所有权，管理权和经济权的概念不应互换使用。男女土地权的一致措施对于制定增强农村妇女权能并为减贫做出贡献的政策至关重要。管理权和经济权不应互换使用。男女土地权的一致措施对于制定增强农村妇女权能并为减贫做出贡献的政策至关重要。管理权和经济权不应互换使用。男女土地权的一致措施对于制定增强农村妇女权能并为减贫做出贡献的政策至关重要。