Land is that part of the earth that is not covered by water (Fisher: 1987). It comprises of all naturally occurring resources whose supply is essentially fixed. Without land, man cannot survive: without access to it, man cannot labour. Land is important as all natural resources are fundamental to the production of all goods. Land as a factor of production is of immense importance because land is the original source of all material wealth. Moreover, the economic prosperity of a country is closely linked to the richness of her natural resources, (Hans, et al: 2009).Land is an economic resource as well asan important factor in the formation of individual and collective identity, and in the day-to-day organization of social, cultural and religious life. It is also an enormous political resource that defines power relations between and among individuals, families and communities under established systems of governance (FAO: 2006).
Land reforms involve the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reforms may consist of a government initiated or government- backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural land. In sight of the above, land reform can therefore refer to the transfer of ownership of land from a relatively small number of wealthy owners with extensive landholdings such as plantations, large ranches, or agribusiness plots, to individual ownership by those who work on the land. Such transfer of land may be with or without compensation; compensation may vary from token amounts to the full value of the land (Esirkepov, T: 1999).Land reforms may also entail the transfer of land from individual ownership even peasant ownership in smallholdings to government- owned collective farms; it has also, in other times and places, referred to the exact opposite: division of government- owned collective farms into smallholdings. The