SADC chiefs to enhance women’s access to land

CHIEF Bright Nalubamba of the Ila people in Namwala signs the declaration in which traditional leaders pledged to increase women’s access to customary land. Looking on is Chief Chikanta of Zambia, Chiefs Ndabeni and Khumalo of Zimbabwe. - Picture by SITEMBILE SIWAWA.



AS SHE spoke during a high level resolution meeting at chief Nalubamba’s palace in Mbeza chiefdom of Southern Zambia, it dawned on the traditional leaders that were present that there was need to empower women with customary land.

Senior headwoman Vennah Shabenge of Shabenge village boasted that every woman of Mbeza chiefdom has been empowered with customary land regardless of status.
She said “customary land is a necessity for every woman for the enhancement of food security of a nation.”
Ideally, women consist of a large population in many African countries and in Zambia majority of them stay in rural areas.
They also consist the majority small scale farmers who are the main producers of food and it is ideal they are empowered with customary land for sustainable rural development owning to the fact that agriculture remains the backbone of Africa’s economy.
However, narrowing it down to Zambia, 94 per cent of land is customary and only six per cent belongs to the state (statutory).
Realistically, Zambian state land now lies in the hands of political cadres and as such it has become difficult for women to access statutory land for fear of violence.
This has drastically curtailed the chances of most women especially those in rural areas from accessing and owning land.
Perhaps, this is why the onus has solely remained on traditional leaders to ensure that women access and own customary land.
In a quest to increase women’s land rights, ‘Women for Change’ in partnership with ‘We Effect’ of the Swedish International Organisation recently organised a high level Southern African Development Community (SADC) traditional leader’s conference on land rights for women.
The three day conference was dubbed ‘Women’s Land Rights are Human Rights-Secure Equitable Access, Control and Ownership of Land by All’ and participants included 20 traditional leaders from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The saying ‘land is wealth’ held true for these traditional leaders who resolved and made a declaration that women should own customary land.
Strategically, the 20 traditional leaders resolved and signed a declaration that women will be given priority to own and control land.
Host chief, senior chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo III of the Soli people of Lusaka said women make good use of land once they are empowered than men and this increase chance of rural development.
The traditional leader shared that if women are empowered with land they have the power to break the poverty cycle that exists in rural families.
However, she said it was not enough to empower women with land alone but they also needed to have it certificated.
Chieftainess Nkomeshya stressed that customary land should not be certificated under statutory land laws for fear of it being grabbed by the state.
“The power and authority of a chief lies in land and that is why all certification of customary land given to women should be registered under the community land certificate and not statutory law because we fear it can be taken away from the traditional leaders,” she resolved.
Additionally, Chief Charumbira of Zimbabwe resolved that Couples who are empowered with customary land will have a certificate which bears both names of the husband and wife.
He said such a development will protect women from being left without land in an event where the husband dies or divorces her.
The traditional leader shared that the new constitution of Zimbabwe allows 50 per cent of land allocation to women as opposed to the previous 30 per cent.
He said this has forced traditional rulers to further empower them with customary land.
Chief Charumbira said women are unable to generate sustainable household incomes from their farming activities due to lack of ownership of land.
“Having enough food is the fundamental human right and precondition for people to be able to participate in their own development. Access to land by women is a human right,” he said.
The traditional leader added that women in his chiefdom also have ownership rights to mines.
And chieftainess Tereza Ndovi of Malawi said customary land will be given to women in any area without any manner of discrimination.
She said there are no shortcuts to poverty eradication unless women are empowered with land.
She said land is not only for the purposes of agriculture but rather it can be used for activities such as house building.
“In Malawi, women cannot own customary land but can only access it because we believe they will eventually be married off. It is only those from the matrilineal setup who are fortunate to own land,” she said.
As they say, culture is dynamic and not static, it is imperative that the patriarch system which has existed since time immemorial is changed to allow for more women to own customary land.
Even married women who are either divorced or widowed have a right to have the land they once worked on with their husbands.
Perhaps, that is why chief Chikanta of Southern province shared that land in his chiefdom is not given to individuals but rather families.
He said communities need to sensitise women to ask land from their traditional leaders and they should be free to use the land for any activities.
Further, he said traditional leaders should endeavour to have participatory and dialogue meetings with both men and women.
And chief Bright Nalubamba said a woman is held in high esteem in his chiefdom and that was why they own land.
He said the declaration will ensure investors and communities establish a trust fund which will be ploughed back into building educational, health, sanitation and food security facilities.
He said women in his chiefdom do not ask for relief food from government due to the empowerment scheme of customary land ownership.
All this has been enabled through the Mbeza strategic action plan where both men and women are at the centre of the development of the chiefdom.
“When I say women, I mean all classes of women be it married, single or divorced, they all own land and are free to do anything with the land,” he narrated.
It is only hoped that traditional leaders will see to it that women’s access and ownership of land is enhanced and increased for the betterment of rural communities.