Land Tenure Dynamics in Peri-Urban Zambia

Peri-urban growth in Zambia faces particular challenges due to the interface of state and customary land administration systems with different stakeholders using land under leasehold and customary tenure regimes. The lack of structures to document these landholdings, share information, or resolve disputes between state and customary institutions presents risks to realizing sustainable development in peri-urban areas. This brief presents recent illustrations based on news media accounts of customary and state institutional overlap, planning and service delivery gaps, conversion of customary to leasehold land tenure, risks to public lands, and an inadequate land information system each of which contributes to peri-urban tenure insecurity. It concludes by identifying opportunities for protecting the rights of peri-urban customary smallholders and new urban settlers, promoting economic growth, reducing conflict, and improving resource management through the following four areas of work and twelve actions/recommendations, many of which are already conceptualized by the Government of the Republic of Zambia, but require additional support to be realized.