Land tenure reforms, tenure security and food security in poor agrarian economies: Causal linkages and research gaps

• Published in: Global food security Vol. 10; pp. 21 - 28
• Main Authors: Holden, Stein T., Ghebru, Hosaena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Food security; Investment incentives; Land scarcity; Tenure reforms; Tenure security; Youth migration; Youth migration; Land scarcity; Investment incentives; Tenure reforms; Tenure security; Food security
• ISSN: 2211-9124; 2211-9124
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gfs.2016.07.002

This paper reviews the literature to identify the relationship between tenure security and food security. The literatures on tenure issues and food security issues are not well connected and the scientific evidence on the causal links between tenure security and food security is very limited. The paper explores the conceptual linkages between land tenure reforms, tenure security and food security and illustrates how these vary across diverse contexts. The paper then reviews the limited number of high quality studies that contribute to a causal chain analysis between tenure security and food security and identifies important research gaps. •Growing land scarcity and landlessness threatens food security in poor countries.•Low-cost tenure reforms have the potential to improve tenure and food security.•Research gaps on links between tenure security and food security are many.•Mixed methods are needed to analyze the complex causal linkages.