Land tenure, fixed investment, and farm productivity: Evidence from Zambia's southern province

Using original data from an area of Zambia with contrasting tenure regimes (state and customary), the hypotheses are tested whether farmers with leases or titles have superior fixed investment and productivity to those without documentation. Results indicate that documentation is indeed associated with greater fixed investment independently of an array of control variables. Productivity also improves with documentation, via cotton planting, cattle ownership, and fixed investment inter alia. Undocumented farms on state land performed similarly to those on customary land. These results provide somewhat stronger support than previous studies for the association of tenure security with farm performance in sub-Saharan Africa. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.