Land Tenure and Property Policies in East Africa

Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity Africa Program Environmental Change and Security Program "Insecure land tenure and property rights and the inequitable access to land and natural assets are two of the leading triggers of violent conflict, population displacement, the over-exploitation of natural resources, and political instability throughout eastern Africa," asserted Peter Hetz of ARD, Inc. at "Land Tenure and Property Policies in East Africa," an event co-sponsored by the Environmental Change and Security Program and the Africa Program on April 23, 2008. Hetz and USAID's Gregory Myers explored how imprecise or inequitable systems of land tenure and property rights have helped precipitate conflict in Northern Uganda, Kenya, and Southern Sudan, and warned that lack of attention to these crucial issues will foster further violence in those volatile countries. For example, Myers called the Kenyan government's push to quickly resettle people displaced by the recent violence without addressing the causes "a recipe for disaster." Event speakers: Peter Hetz, Gregory Myers