ABSTRACT
Population continues to grow rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa and has exerted strong pressure on limited cultivable land areas. Thus, how to allocate scarce land resources among farm households efficiently and equitably is a major policy issue in many parts of the continent (see Chapters 1 and 2). This issue is particularly relevant for poverty reduction, as the poor usually have limited access to land. Due to its increasing scarcity, new forms of accessing land have emerged in Africa, including market-based mechanisms. As is reported in various chapters in this book, in some countries, such as Ethiopia, land rental markets have developed; in others, such as Uganda, land sales markets have developed; and in still other countries, such as Kenya, both types of land markets have developed. In all these countries, such market transactions date back a few decades, but they are becoming increasingly common in response to the growing scarcity of land.
