14 ZAMBIA CUSTOMARY LAND DOCUMENTATION TENURE ASSESSMENT
subjects at will, most individuals interviewed expressed a feeling of security of tenure over their
agricultural fields, with many having received lands from their parents. At the same time, many noted
cases of annual conflict over boundaries, encroachment, and unpermitted clearing of forest/bush land.
Land management: The engagement of chiefs and headmen in active management of customary lands
is minimal. Once allocated, the headmen and chief appear to exercise little control over the use of the
land, though some chiefs note that if a subject leaves land “idle” then the chief may very well allocate it
to a new individual. The individual is largely free to decide what crops to plant on which lands, whether
to build a house or infrastructure, and whether to plant trees.
Among the few common restrictions are the spatial and temporal restriction on livestock grazing.
During the cropping season, livestock are herded in areas away from the cropped fields, and individual
livestock owners are obliged to ensure that their livestock do not damage crops in fields. After harvest,
livestock are left to roam free, with all lands in the village essentially reverting back to communal access.
This practice was observed in all communities under both customary and statutory land. This practice
varied, however, in “gardens” close to streams, where some communities noted that it was the
responsibility of the landowner to build fences and make efforts to keep grazing animals out of the area.
Individuals with perennial crops like trees are responsible for ensuring that these crops are not damaged
by the livestock during this time. Destruction of crops (including planted trees) by livestock during the
growing season is compensated by the owner of the responsible livestock, through a negotiated
settlement that is sometimes presided over by the headmen or chief. There do not appear to be any
redress mechanisms in place for destruction during the dry season. Similarly, destruction of planted
trees by fire during the dry season does not commonly attract any penalties; again, the responsibility for
the protection of the trees appears to lie with the owner of the trees during this season. Interventions
in the early 2000s led by the World Agroforestry Centre reportedly introduced rules around grazing
within some chiefdoms in the Katete District, though TGCC was unable to identify these villages to
observe whether the rules were still operational (Ajayi & Kwesiga, 2003).
It appears that all chiefs have a regulation stating that once allocated, land should be put under
productive use. Although there is no clarity on what is meant by “productive use,” once a determination
is made that the land is not being used productively, the chief can revoke the original allocation and re-
allocate the same piece of land to someone else deemed likely to make better use of the land. Chief
Chanje noted that typically a land occupier is monitored for five years and if during that time s/he
persistently displays traits of “laziness,” then after five years the land is taken back. This incentive to
place land into productive use is a deterrent to fallowing, as fallows can be seen as a form of laziness,
and make land susceptible to reallocation. It also encourages farmers to acquire and clear more land
than they need, in order to hedge against future takings. Indeed, some chiefs have encouraged “clearing
the bush” in order to reduce the likelihood that unused land will be targeted by outsiders. At the same
time, many communities have forest/bush land that is reserved by families for future expansion, so it is
possible in some areas to claim tenure over forests/bush and wetland areas.
Administration: As noted above, there are few standard administrative practices in the customary
systems of Zambia related to allocation and reallocation of land. Headmen are required to maintain a
village register issued by the state. It would appear that the purpose of the register is to list the
residents of each village for taxation and other administrative purposes. Indeed, village lists are often
used as the basis of government agricultural subsidy activities to distribute fertilizer, though it is rare
that village or chiefdom registers are considered up-to-date. The registers conform to the narrow
provisions of the Village Act and do not contain information regarding land holdings. As Headman
Kwaabe (Chief Mshawa) put it, “a chief has land, headmen have people.” Land administration in the
customary land tenure sector consists of allocation of land parcels (including providing written consent
for the conversion of land to statutory tenure for approved applicants), adjudication of disputes, and (it