Africa Land Policy Note Series - Note 2 - Enhancing Women’s Land and Property Rights in Africa

Jul 19, 2026

Africa Land Policy Note Series Note 2 examines how stronger women’s land and property rights can reduce gender inequalities and improve incentives for long-term productive investment. It highlights large gender disparities in land and housing ownership across Sub-Saharan Africa and explains how legal, implementation, data, and land governance gaps prevent secure tenure. The note outlines evidence from research and climate-related frameworks and emphasizes practical reforms and accompanying measures to strengthen women’s rights in both rural and urban areas.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

Summary

1. Introduction

Economic and social impacts of stronger rights

Gender disparities in ownership and housing

Legal provisions vs. social norms

Urban and rural differences

Reform opportunities and four achievement gaps

Public Disc losure Authorized Africa Land Policy Note Series Note 2. Enhancing Women’s Land and Property Rights in Africa Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disc losure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized As Sub-Saharan Africa deals with multiple challenges, including land use conflicts, rapid and often unplanned urbanization, and climate change, there is a need to understand how improved tenure security and land administration can support governments to respond. This series of four Land Policy Notes covers key topics for the region—customary tenure, women’s land rights, and urban land governance. The fourth note provides an overview of lessons learned from the World Bank’s recent land administration operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Together, these notes provide an overview of existing constraints and challenges, as well as options and solutions based on operational evidence and good practice. These notes are meant to be distributed widely to World Bank staff, clients, and other partners and to inform country dialogue. Summary • Empowering women through stronger land and property rights can reduce gender inequalities and enhance incentives for long-term productive investments. But across Sub-Saharan Africa, the gender gap in land ownership is significant, with 38 percent of African women claiming any form of land ownership—sole or joint—compared to 51 percent of African men. • To secure women’s land rights, four gaps must be overcome: gaps in law; gaps in implementation; gaps in data; and gaps in land governance. • While gaps persist, actions have been taken across Sub-Saharan Africa to improve women’s rights to land and property. Good practices can be found in Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda, among others. • It is important that land projects and activities include accompanying measures to support women’s land rights in their implementation and continue building on the reforms already enacted. 1. Introduction Empowering women through stronger land and property rights can reduce gender inequalities and enhance incentives for longterm productive investments. Emerging evidence shows that strengthening women’s rights to land can have positive impacts across a range of outcomes, including greater bargaining and decision-making power of women; reduced domestic violence; increased consumption; and better child welfare (World Bank 2021) . Securing women’s rights to land also has a role in combatting climate change. Natural disasters are made more frequent and extreme by climate change. Existing gender inequalities in access to endowments, assets, voice, and agency result in gender-differentiated impacts of natural disasters. The 2022 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2022) underscores the importance of secure rights to land in urban and rural areas, including addressing key issues of women’s tenure rights. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) recognizes that the world “cannot achieve land degradation neutrality without gender equality and equity”(UNCCD Gender Overview) . A comprehensive analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data unveils the stark gender disparities in property ownership throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Merely 13 percent of African women aged 20–49 assert sole ownership of land, a stark contrast to the 36 percent reported by African men. The gender gap, though somewhat mitigated when joint ownership is considered, remains significant, with 38 percent of African women claiming any form of land ownership—sole or joint—compared to 51 percent of African men. This trend persists in housing ownership, where only 13 percent of women assert sole ownership in contrast to 39 percent of men. The inclusion of joint ownership narrows the gap slightly, revealing ownership rates of 43 percent for women and 55 percent for men (Gaddis, Lahorti, and Li, 2018) . All but ten Sub-Saharan African countries have lega

FAQs

Why are women’s land and property rights important in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Stronger rights can reduce gender inequalities and increase incentives for long-term productive investments. Evidence cited in the note links women’s land rights to outcomes such as bargaining power, lower domestic violence, and improved child welfare.

What four gaps must be overcome to secure women’s land rights?

The note identifies gaps in law, implementation, data, and land governance. These gaps collectively undermine secure tenure even where legal provisions exist.

How do gender disparities in land and housing ownership appear in the note?

The note reports that only 38% of African women claim any form of land ownership (sole or joint) versus 51% of men, and sole land ownership is reported as 13% for women versus 36% for men. It also describes lower female sole ownership in housing compared with men.

Jul 19, 2026

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