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Gendered land rights, legal reform and social norms in the context of land fragmentation - A review of the literature for Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda

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  • Andersson Djurfeldt, Agnes

Abstract

•Legal reforms in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda aim to improve women’s security of tenure by formalizing land rights.•Enhancing women’s rights to land are contingent on other legislation and changing social norms.•Customary tenure regimes, social norms and lack of legal literacy lead to the continued discrimination of women.•Growing demand for land enhances this discriminization with negative effects for women’s livelihoods.•Theoretically, the findings point to the limited effects of land tenure reforms alone in redressing gender inequality.

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  • Andersson Djurfeldt, Agnes, 2020. "Gendered land rights, legal reform and social norms in the context of land fragmentation - A review of the literature for Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:90:y:2020:i:c:s0264837718313516
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104305
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    2. Bizoza, Alfred R. & Opio-Omoding, James, 2021. "Assessing the impacts of land tenure regularization: Evidence from Rwanda and Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Kafle, Kashi & Fatema, Naureen & Kibriya, Shahriar & Wang, Yuanhang & Twongyirwe, Ronald, 2026. "“Too poor to migrate”: A narrative of labor migration and land fragmentation in Uganda," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Burrone, Sara & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia, 2023. "Do Households Where Women Own Land Fare Better for Food Security? Evidence for Tanzania," IZA Discussion Papers 16382, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Lecoutere, Els & Spielman, David J. & Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2023. "Empowering women through targeting information or role models: Evidence from an experiment in agricultural extension in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Ngango, Jules & Hong, Seungjee, 2021. "Impacts of land tenure security on yield and technical efficiency of maize farmers in Rwanda," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    7. Hyland, Marie & Djankov, Simeon & Goldberg, Pinelopi, 2021. "Do gendered laws matter?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118845, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Bing Sun & Yushuang Wang & Meiying Du & Hongyu Niu, 2025. "Spatial Distribution of Grain Yield in the Songnen Plain Agro-Pastoral Zone in Heilongjiang Province: A Study Using Geostatistics and Geographically Weighted Regression," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-29, August.
    9. Agnes Andersson & Heather Mackay & Paul Isolo Mukwaya, 2025. "Translocal Livelihoods, Socio‐Economic Differentiation and Lower Level Urbanisation in Uganda," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(2), pages 607-619, March.
    10. Selorm Kobla Kugbega, 2020. "State-Customary Interactions and Agrarian Change in Ghana. The Case of Nkoranza Traditional Area," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Agnes Andersson & Heather Mackay & Herbert Hambati Qambalo, 2025. "Translocality and Inclusive Urbanisation in Small Towns in Tanzania," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 37(6), pages 1044-1070, December.
    12. Clements, Hayley S. & De Vos, Alta & Bezerra, Joana Carlos & Coetzer, Kaera & Maciejewski, Kristine & Mograbi, Penelope J. & Shackleton, Charlie, 2021. "The relevance of ecosystem services to land reform policies: Insights from South Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    13. Goli, Imaneh & Bijani, Masoud & Koohi, Pourya Kabir & Skominas, Rytis & Värnik, Rando & Van Passel, Steven & Dogot, Thomas & Azadi, Hossein, 2025. "Toward tenure security: The relationship between women's land ownership, formal land title documents and their empowerment," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    14. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Lambrecht, Isabel & Place, Frank & Chigbu, Uchendu Eugene & Monterroso, Iliana & Suhardiman, Diana, 2025. "Expanding tenure horizons in food policy research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    15. Wolde, Akalu Assfaw & Bertacchini, Enrico, 2025. "Forest property rights within community forests and their role in enhancing economic well-being in rural Ethiopia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).

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