ABSTRACT
Because certification programs both transform and reallocate rights, it is important to understand the characteristics of the customary tenure systems they seek to modify or replace. Social embeddedness is among the most important principles of African customary tenure systems. Social embeddedness means that land access rights are determined by one’s membership and status in the descent group controlling a particular territory. The emphasis on inclusion distinguishes African customary systems from market-economy land tenure models. Women generally have weaker land rights in relation to men, though as members of the descent group they are assured some measure of rights recognition. The interventions under study were informed by assumptions about the inadequacies of customary arrangements and how they could be mitigated. The theories of change underlying the three PDR programs are drawn from neoclassical economic theories about the relationship between tenure security and investment in farming practices that improve land productivity. These theories overlook the socially inclusive foundations of customary arrangements and may wrongly assume they provide inadequate levels of tenure security needed to modernize agriculture. Zimbabwe’s Fast-Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) was based on principles of restorative justice. FTLRP succeeded in restructuring the agrarian economy, without settling questions of tenure security.
