Malawi National Land Policy - Mokoro

Ministry of Lands Page 8
3. Other land sector policy reforms enacted since 1994 to encourage agriculture, forestry,
tourism, mining and natural resource management and habitat preservation are also
recognized and affirmed by this policy.
This land policy has been prepared carefully and in a balanced way to remove most of the pressing
problems that has created tenure insecurity and undermined speedy and transparent land transactions in
Malawi. In many cases, the inadequacies of existing laws, delays in land administration, arbitrary
applications of the public interest criteria, constraining inheritance laws and uncertainty regarding the
strategies for dealing with land pressure have all operated to discourage needed investments and the
nations ability to eliminate poverty and pursue social harmony.
Fundamental measures and processes contained in this National Land Policy will equip Malawi to
minimize, if not eliminate the most constraining land problems and bring progress and prosperity to all.
1.1 Background
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1.1 In Malawi, as elsewhere in the world, land policy reflect the imperative of changing
economic, political, social circumstances. The country has endured a history of continuously
reconstituted clusters of traditions, colonialism, rules, expectations and conflicts, which gave
rise to changing land regulations and practice. The principles and guidelines set out in this
National Land Policy together with legislation to be enacted in support, will give substance to
Malawi’s quest for a comprehensive land law with immense economic and social significance.
The policy also provides a sound institutional framework for democratizing the management of
land and introduces much needed procedures for protecting land tenure rights, land-based
investments and management of development at all levels.
1.1.2. Policy planning is a conscious effort on the part of policy-makers to achieve, via
appropriate policy instruments, both national goals and specific targets for resource allocation.
In that sense, this national land policy, presented in the form of a coherent socio-economic
policy framework, should legitimately be viewed as seeking a mechanism to promote optimum
utilization of Malawi’s land resources for development.
1.1.3. Malawi has operated without a comprehensive policy on land matters for a long time.
The present system is a product of colonial history and settlement patterns, policies of the one
party era and recent demographic trends. All these events to some extent contributed to the
problems that affect land tenure and land utilization today. The right to own land must be
respected, but land problems extend beyond individual tenure rights. They involve issues on
rural and urban land management, community development, and the advancement of
agriculture and protection of the environment.
1.1.4. In order to address these land-related social welfare problems, land reform should be
dealt with fundamentally and comprehensively. Nevertheless, this has to be done in a way that
will not compromise the expectation of the market or ignore the realities of resource
constraints. Another vital part of the development process in Malawi is empowering individual
citizens and communities to take active interest in their affairs. Land policy serves as a
powerful symbol and focus for that local development effort. It provides a mechanism for
reconciling widely differing attitudes towards Malawi’s development challenges.
http://www.malawi.gov.mw/lands/landpol.htm 29/03/2005 15:23:13