Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia
This paper examines changes in formal and informal land access rules for women in the Kafue Flats of southern Zambia and identifies alternatives to land privatization. In rural African communities dependent on subsistence production, access to common pool resources (CPRs) such as fisheries, wildlife...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1657 |
| _version_ | 1797579250295898112 |
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| author | Sonja Merten Tobias Haller |
| author_facet | Sonja Merten Tobias Haller |
| author_sort | Sonja Merten |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper examines changes in formal and informal land access rules for women in the Kafue Flats of southern Zambia and identifies alternatives to land privatization. In rural African communities dependent on subsistence production, access to common pool resources (CPRs) such as fisheries, wildlife or wild fruits made an important contribution to household food and nutritional security. In the pre-colonial period, the use of agricultural land and associated CPRs was governed by local institutions of common property, characterized by more-than-human relationships embedded in the local animistic ontology. To examine how women’s pre-colonial access rights were increasingly disregarded in the wake of new statutory laws, we analyzed qualitative ethnographic data on livelihoods and food security from three time periods between 2002 and 2018. The findings show how customary law land tenure has remained important, despite being complemented by statutory law designed to also protect women’s property rights. We conclude that women’s customary access rights to land and CPRs must be taken into account in the drafting of formal legislation, as suggested by successful examples of bottom-up institution building in other regions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:34:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a943b46f2d0b46958f0f7a5cb1874ecc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:34:23Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-a943b46f2d0b46958f0f7a5cb1874ecc2023-11-19T11:33:07ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2023-08-01129165710.3390/land12091657Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, ZambiaSonja Merten0Tobias Haller1Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4123 Allschwil, SwitzerlandInstitute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandThis paper examines changes in formal and informal land access rules for women in the Kafue Flats of southern Zambia and identifies alternatives to land privatization. In rural African communities dependent on subsistence production, access to common pool resources (CPRs) such as fisheries, wildlife or wild fruits made an important contribution to household food and nutritional security. In the pre-colonial period, the use of agricultural land and associated CPRs was governed by local institutions of common property, characterized by more-than-human relationships embedded in the local animistic ontology. To examine how women’s pre-colonial access rights were increasingly disregarded in the wake of new statutory laws, we analyzed qualitative ethnographic data on livelihoods and food security from three time periods between 2002 and 2018. The findings show how customary law land tenure has remained important, despite being complemented by statutory law designed to also protect women’s property rights. We conclude that women’s customary access rights to land and CPRs must be taken into account in the drafting of formal legislation, as suggested by successful examples of bottom-up institution building in other regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1657feminist political ecologyland use changeinstitutional changeZambia |
| spellingShingle | Sonja Merten Tobias Haller Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia Land feminist political ecology land use change institutional change Zambia |
| title | Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia |
| title_full | Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia |
| title_fullStr | Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia |
| title_short | Interwoven Landscapes: Gender and Land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia |
| title_sort | interwoven landscapes gender and land in the kafue flats zambia |
| topic | feminist political ecology land use change institutional change Zambia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1657 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sonjamerten interwovenlandscapesgenderandlandinthekafueflatszambia AT tobiashaller interwovenlandscapesgenderandlandinthekafueflatszambia |