1. Access to Information and Land Tenure Security Highway Africa Conference 2015 By Kunda Jesinta Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA)

2. Outline  The Importance of Land  Land Administration in Zambia  Land Access and Rights to Land  Role of Access to Information in advancing Land Access and Rights  So what?  ZLA Efforts  Conclusion

3. The Importance of Land  “Land is Life”  It is a basis for all human endeavors  Source of livelihood through farming – feed, educate and support families  Small scale farmers provide for more than 60% of the food consumed in the country.  Source of identity  It is a factor of production - without it no investment / development can take place

4. Cont’d  Therefore, Life is dependent on land so much that without its availability there would be no investment, no development. Having access and ownership to land means food on the plate for the family, income for children’s education and provide necessary support to the family. It means reduced poverty levels at household and community levels

5. Land Administration in Zambia  All land in Zambia is vested in the president.  Delegated powers to the commissioner of Lands  Local government / council act as agents  Many laws and policies acting on land but the principle law is the Lands Act of 1995  Dual land administration system: Customary and state  Traditional leaders are custodians of customary land  Security is assured under state land as opposed to customary land  Old data: 94% of land is customary and 6% state 5

6. Access to Land and Rights to Land  Law does not discriminate but the procedure  Easy access and ownership by people with money  Women disadvantaged due to tradition and culture, low income, long and costly procedure  No deliberate mechanism to enforce 30%women empowerment in land allocation  Women mostly have access through male relations  Lack of readily available information on land hinders the poor especially women and the vulnerable from accessing land and enjoying or defending their rights to land

7. Importance of Access to Information  Help to educate citizens on their land rights and responsibilities with regards to land  Empowers people to make informed decisions  Ability to inform people of decisions, contracts and or plans concerning land  Without information, citizens and governance systems are likely to face negative consequences that will increase poverty levels and subsequently affect national development.  Uninformed citizens face land tenure insecurity, social instability, conflicts, and ultimately loss of their livelihoods.  Citizens participate in policy formulation that will lead to development of policies/laws that are pro-poor and comprehensive.  Important for policy and decision makers to know what is expected of them as they administer land

8. Without Information………  Poor people lose land due to displacement  Increased poverty levels  Houses demolished and people lose their livelihoods  Poor land administration  No participation by the general public in policy formulation – recipe for anarchy

9. ZLA Efforts Evidence based advocacy – Video documentary, research Simplification of land information documents such as the draft land policy, The Land Act of 1995 Translating land related information into vernacular for easy understanding Taking land related information to the grass root level through consultations, sensitizations Advocacy on access to information, change of law, adoption of land policy, decentralization of the land administration system to take access to the door step of the poor people

10. Conclusion  Access to information has a bearing on access to secured land and improved livelihoods and it is up to the stakeholders to ensure that the right information in the right format reach the right target at the right time in order to for the poor to have secured land tenure

11. Thank you for Listening