From The Guardian

Mawalima Yamba, 62, shared her husband with another woman. As the second wife she didn’t stand to inherit much. When her husband became terminally ill and died, she inherited a small stretch of poor scrubland that borders an unfinished road in Iringa, western Tanzania; the fertile land went to his first wife.

There was a separate area of land that Yamba had farmed, but never expected she could own. Encouraged by her husband before he died, she applied for legal ownership. Yamba now holds title deeds to a six-acre plot of good land, where she grows pumpkins and maize.

Holding land deeds is rare in Tanzania. According to the NGO Concern, less than 10% of the population have formal certificates of ownership for the land they farm, making them vulnerable when investors begin sniffing around. Land titling means fair compensation must be paid if land belonging to individuals is appropriated. About 80% of Tanzanian land is classified as “village land” and cannot be sold to outsiders, but only 70% of communities on that land have official plans related to its use, says Concern.

Read more at guardian.co.uk