Customary Land Certification, Governance and Natural Resource Use in Zambia: A Social Learning Approach

This study reports on the outcomes of customary land certification, which comprised formalisation of customary land rights in three chiefdoms in Zambia. Social learning labs, encompassing sharing, learning and reflection phases were at the core of data collection from villagers, traditional leaders and government officials. Results indicate that customary land certification reduced customary land markets and land conflicts, enhanced land tenure security and transparency in customary land administration but reduced communal natural resources management in the study sites. Access to financial credit was indirectly increased, as certification provided customary landowners with proof of residence, a requirement for bank loans. Villagers became emboldened to assert their land rights post certification. The study argues that customary land tenure systems should not be assumed to encapsulate insecure land tenure a priori but customary land certification processes may induce tenure insecurity when they include conditions that present financial costs to land rights claimants and threaten loss of land rights.