MULUNGUSHI UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES

STUDENT NUMBER: 202106916

PROGRAM: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE

COURSE: RURAL SOCIOLOGY

COURSE CODE: SSW 212

LECTURER: MR, FRANCIS LUNGO

ASSIGNMENT NUMBER: 1(ONE)

ASSIAGNMENT QUESTION: Explain land tenure in Zambia and how it affects rural
development using relevant examples, to illustrate your response as a rural sociologist or
Agriculture Extension officer.

The Republic of Zambia known as Northern Rhodesia earlier to 1964, is found within the center
of southern Africa. Zambia’s zone is 752,610 square kilometers, which is somewhat bigger than
the Charges. The nation has 9.5 million occupants, of which 2 million are living within the
capital Lusaka. Arrive enrollment and cadastral framework exist completely different assortment.

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In this task, we are getting to clarify the arrive residency framework in Zambia and how it
influences country improvement.

There is a dual land tenure system in Zambia: traditional tenure and formal registration of title
The division of the land is controlled by the chiefs in the customary system. They rule with the
assent of their kin. This framework is thought of as uncertain as indicated by the western norm
however works for the native individuals. The country prospered thanks to the copper industry
and formal land registration. The copper market imploded and thus the proper land residency
framework flopped because of intricate methodology and an absence of skilled faculty. The
imperfections should be fixed to profit from the conventional land residency framework.

This task will likewise mirror the rising acknowledgment that admittance to land is much of the
time basic assuming weak families are to appreciate feasible provincial job. Secure admittance to
land, whether through formal, casual, standard or different means, is vital for country families to
appreciate economical livelihoods and a significant part in reasonable turn of events. Problems
with land tenure frequently play a significant role in food insecurity, limited opportunities for
earning a living, and poverty as a result. Secure admittance to land ought to accordingly be
thought about while planning answers for explicit provincial turn of events or food instability
circumstances. This necessitates recognizing and addressing issues related to land tenure from
the very beginning of a rural project.

Land residency is about the connection among individuals and the land, and how regulations and
customs characterize that relationship. Not only is the issue of land tenure a matter of human
rights for all men, women, and indigenous people, but it also has an effect on biodiversity, food
security, and migration. All land in Zambia (aside from the Barotse save) was vested in the
president for and for the benefit of the Zambian public. State land remained subject to English
law, while reserve and trust land remained subject to customary law.

Until the 1960s, when freehold and leasehold tenure systems were introduced, land in Zambia
was held under customary tenure since the beginning of time. Of the complete body of land of
the nation adding up to 752,614, standard land is assessed to be 94% and state land is assessed at
6%.

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The indigenous form of land ownership known as customary tenure, which is also known as
traditional African customary tenure, is communal in nature. Land that is also known as state
land typically has leasehold tenure.

Nature, forest, and wildlife sanctuaries receive reserve land under these two (2) categories. It is
estimated that 9 percent of the country's landmass is covered in forest. There are approximately
8% of land for national parks and approximately 22% for management areas. However, the rise
in the population has resulted in issues of access and equality as well as localized pressure for
land. The absence of a framework for land policy makes it challenging to address these issues.
Since freedom there were divided strategy declarations by 2000 when government began drives
to counsel different partners to think of a land strategy for the country.

Land is a very important factor of production for the Zambian government because it serves as
the foundation for the country's development. Without a land administration system that is both
efficient and effective, there can be no meaningful development. Because of this, the government
has placed a high value on land, which is at the very center of all active economic development.
Land should be made available for various economic endeavors, including agriculture, industry,
commercial activities, human settlement, and other uses, in order to boost national development.

On trust land and state land reserves, the government intends to establish a uniform system of
interests in land tenure. However, the reforms must ensure that indigenous peoples' rights in
settled areas are recognized. The government plans to make land transfers in trust and reserves
easier than they are currently. This will be accomplished after uniform state land grant legislation
is introduced.

Most Zambians lead their exercises as per and dependent upon standard regulation ( Hansungule
and Mwansa 1993), yet the term is utilized to cover a large group of ancestral regulations
existing in various ethic gatherings. Since the provincial period, standard regulation has been
perceived solely after it was seen as not to struggle with the composed regulation. In customary
law, there are two opposing points of view regarding customary land tenure. According to one
point of view, the land and the rights to it belong to everyone, not just one person. The other,
expanding held view perceives independence in land relations and residency. Both viewpoints
are valid due to the dynamism of customary tenure, which has progressed from shared rights to
individual rights to croplands to shared rights to grazing land, forest, and fisheries. As of now,

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development privileges of individual families are perceived ashore where different families are
prohibited, yet shared use freedoms may likewise be perceived.

In customary law, the tenure of tress is defined in two ways: It is acknowledged that individual
ownership is possible, and trees and land can be owned separately. Trees, similar to land under
standard residency, are likely to bunch privileges of the native individuals. For the most part,
landowners have privileges to the trees and harvests they might develop on their territory.
Likewise, the proprietor of a natural product tree might put a worth on the leafy foods them. This
idea is in line with common law, which says that someone who works on trees gets to keep the
trees and their fruits.

The methods of acquiring land reflect the foundation of the customary land tenure system: initial
acquisition, through bush clearing, grants, or the purchase of land improvements; acquisition by
derivation, particularly by marriage; or a legacy.

Although customary land is essential to the majority of Zambians' ability to maintain a

sustainable standard of living, tenure insecurity can be exacerbated by the system's decentralized
administration and lack of codification. Chiefs, their indunas, and headpersons are currently in
charge of the decentralized management of customary land. It should be noticed that standard
land should not be sold, yet in examples where it very well may be offered, then the strategy to
switch it over completely to fixed land appropriately represented by regulation.

Legal regulation and confidential property; Two aspects stand out in the 1975 Conversion of
Titles Act: first, the distinction between land improvement and land improvement; and, secondly,
the entitlement to land inheritance. Trees are included in the concept of land because the land
does not differentiate between land and trees. The foundation of the reform process was the
introduction of a 100-year lease as the only form of ownership for state land. Freeholds and other
kind of domains were canceled. With the exception of improvements, the statute appropriated all
of the land's economic value.

The restrictions on tenants' interactions with their land are a significant obstacle to rights in
leaseholds: all dealings in land should follow president assent. The requirement for planning
permission prior to any attempt at development is another obstacle. The framework for
controlling and regulating all development on statutory leaseholds is the town and country

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planning act. Last but not least, if the president deems it to be in the best interest of Zambians,
the tenant's rights and interests in the statutory leasehold may be subject to the compulsory
acquisition of land and other property.

In Zambia, the land tenure system typically has a variety of effects on rural development.
During expansionism, holds and trust land turned into the significant wellspring of work for the
ventures on crown land. Young people fled, leaving behind mostly elderly, females, and high
school dropouts. The colonial administration did not establish any rural industries or
entrepreneurial skills in order to guarantee a constant supply of labor. Zambia has maintained
these patterns ever since it gained independence. Due to small farm sizes, low capital investment,
limited incentives, limited entrepreneurship, inadequate infrastructure, and limited-service
availability, wage employment opportunities remain limited on trust and reserves. However,
access to land is made possible for all rural residents by customary tenure, which means that they
can work. – in the sense of labor- through access to land.

On trust and reserves, operations are limited in scope. The quantity of family labor and the
availability of inputs both have an impact on farm sizes. In order to supplement the power of
oxen for specific tasks, semi-commercial farmers occasionally employ hired labor. In rural areas,
there is very little employment outside of farms, and many factors prevent wage employment
outside of the tenure system. Be that as it may, the accessibility of land is basically ensured.
Despite the fact that wage employment opportunities are significantly higher on state land than
on traditional land, unemployment is significantly higher on state land due to the extensive rural
population migration that has outpaced employment creation.

Low income is typically associated with traditional tenure, but the tenure system is not entirely to
blame. They are more likely the result of a number of socioeconomic, political, and historical
factors, such as the colonial bias against rural infrastructure, industries, and essential services
development, as well as the much slower rate of economic growth on reserves and trust land than
on crown land. The majority of rural households have historically experienced labor shortages
that limited their production because of the long history of labor migration from rural to urban
areas. Controlled prices, particularly for maize, as well as restricted access to markets and
technology further restricted income growth.

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By its very nature, leasehold tenure makes it easier to implement new farming business
strategies. Long-term investing is encouraged due to the lease's length. As a result, there is more
potential for earning money than with standard tenure. In rural areas, having easier access to
markets makes it easier to make money. A significant benefit of leasehold residency over
standard residency is that titles work with land deals which both create pay and move land assets
to proficient makers. In any case, in a few little immature towns like Mazabuka, 62% of the
ranchers showed that they reserve no privileges to sell their property since they don't have title
deeds. Entrepreneurial farmers' ability to accumulate land is hampered as a result. In order to
lessen the amount of uncertainty that is associated with land transactions, a legal system that is in
place and capable of being enforced are required. Without such plans to lessen the gamble of
difficulties to land freedoms, the motivators to contribute and to really buckle down are for the
most part debilitated in rustic regions.

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