Family Land Titles: the best alternative for Women’s land rights security, by Judy Adoko World Bank Conference on Land: 22 nd to 27 th March, 2015 by Judy Adoko.

Presentation outline. 1)Introduction 2)How women acquire land rights 3)Why individual titles is limiting for women. 4)Recommendations: family and community titles only; Follow a long Process for titling, etc. 5)Conclusion and Way Forward.

1. Introduction All stakeholders agree that women’s land rights is vulnerable. Solution: individual titles Given the context for customary land rights – individual title is likely to cause more harm.

2. How women acquire land. 1.Through Inheritance as a marital gifts to sons and wives/widows; 2.by girls who are not married, or divorced or widowed and choose to return to maiden homes; through purchase or gifts. 3.Through government lease allocations. 4.The majority of women and children have land rights through marriage, not purchase.

3. Individual titles is limiting for women because of: Most Customary land is owned as family and community, not as individuals. Family Land is managed in turns by married men, widows, unmarried women, divorced women but owned. The risk is that the “managing will highjack from the family.

Women’s land rights are perceived not to exist because: a)Wives become managers or heads after husband’s death but rights exist at marriage. b)Girls become heads if they do not marry. They are expected to marry and not divorce. c)Families fear that women “move on” and because of this, they will lose family land. With the above, push for individual land rights will be resisted even more. 3. Individual land title is limiting for women because - 2.

3. Individual titles is limiting for women because – 3. Only 8% of customary land in the north and east of Uganda is purchased and therefore individually owned. Head of family titles land in his name only either deliberately or without knowing the implications of a title? Clan loses its oversight role as a manager especially when land is sold. Clans will stop a widow, unmarried woman and a divorced woman from putting her name alone for fear she will marry and the clan loses the land.

3. Why individual title is limiting - cont? Inherited Land in some places such as Kasese district no longer exist – men buy land BUT they might be the land as individuals before marriage. The land becomes family land the moment a wife is brought on it. Focusing on individual titles encourages the man to think of the land as HIS and not as for family. Titling coverts customary tenure to Freehold systems. This is now against the National Land Policy.

4. Recommendations (1) Prioritise only family and community land titles, not individual titles. Create a department for Customary land management in the Ministry of Lands and a Think Tank of various institutions to build a consensus on: a) names on title and how to document them; b) what boundaries marks, c) what maps, d) what registry, e) what laws, f) what governance, etc.

4. Recommendations cont.(2) Titling should follow a long term process of: a) Drawing family and community land rights tree for names of owners; b)Planting agreed Boundary trees. c)Drawing sketch maps and writing owners’ names on the map. d)Informing people of the implications of titling. e)Setting up a registry and registering. f)Designing family and community titles and laws

5. Conclusion and Way Forward. 1)If the above is not done, we should expect the following: 2) National Land Policy will be for show only. 3) Customary land will be converted to freehold. 4) Land grabbing within families by men from women and children will continue. 5) Family Land will be illegally sold by male heads of families. 6) Landlessness, destitution, unequal development, social unrest. These can be avoided.

Thank You Office:Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) Plot 6A Sunderland Avenue, Mbuya Tel Feedback:Judy Adoko, Mob: Org.