103
B. Average values
Lack of data obscures the numbers for average value of land reported in table 3.12. There is
much disparity in average land prices across regions. It is clear from a comparison of average size
vis-a-vis average value that the far higher prices for Copperbelt, Lusaka, and North-Western generally
represent transactions in urban land with its higher value. The few transactions over the reporting
period in North-Western province, in all likelihood involving urban land, resulted in an average value
of K1,997,830 for assignments versus K251,280 for Lusaka and K6,570 for Central province. No
clear pattern is evident except that subdivisions and assignments have a higher average price than
transfers and deeds of gifts (see also annex 3.4). Even adjusting for inflation via the consumer price
index (CPI), the real price of assignment and subdivision appear to have increased in real terms from
1990 to 1993 and increased more dramatically than the other categories. Prices for transfers are
negligible for the most part with the exception of Lusaka where the average price was K5,040.
C. Lease issuances
The number, aggregate, and average areas of leases reported in annex 3.5 are much larger
than those for transfers but appear to also be relatively static, suggesting the presence of supply
constraints. Most lease activity seems to involve peri-urban properties, although there is some
heterogeneity across lease types. State leases tend to be issued to smaller, peri-urban properties.
Reserve and rights of occupancy, however, are most often going for agricultural land. According to
the data reported in annex 3.5 on lease issuances from 1990-93, state leases dominate with 1,397
(52,761 hectares) issued in 1993 (partial year) versus 65 (15,424 hectares) rights of occupancy and
only 17 (5,163 hectares) reserve leases. The average areas for state leases are much smaller than for
the other categories, with approximately 22 hectares in 1990 and 38 hectares in 1993, which again
suggests peri-urban activity. Significantly, 36 percent of state leases were issued in Lusaka and 21
percent in the Copperbelt. The largest amounts in terms of area were in the Central and Southern
regions, although these were still only 82.8 and 67.6 hectares in size respectively. Subleases are also
very small with the exception of those in the Southern region which are unusually large at 586.6
hectares. This region in fact has 99 percent of the area of subleases though only 7 percent of the total
number. As noted above, this region has a disproportionate number of the largest farms.
Reserve leases in contrast had average areas of roughly 300 hectares for three of the four years
in question. Rights of occupancy are also very large in general with an average area of 150 hectares
or more, mostly between 200-300 hectares. According to table 3.11, the main farming regions of
Central, Southern, and Copperbelt provinces lead, in area terms, in the issuance of reserve and right
of occupancy leases. While Luapula and North-Western provinces listed no reserve leases over the
period, Southern province had a reported average size of 919.9 hectares. Central, Copperbelt,
Northern, and Lusaka provinces had sizes between 250 and 400 hectares. The 390.2 hectares reported
for Lusaka is particularly surprising given the urbanized nature of the province and the small (6-8
percent) number of the leases occurring there. Without the data on distribution of Reserve, State, and
Trust Lands across provinces, it is difficult to say more about the reasons for dominance of one
province or another in lease types.
The reentries and surrenders reported in annex 3.6 are significantly larger than the state lease
sizes, indicating that most of these are occurring on Reserve and Trust Lands or are reentries of larger
state leaseholds issued in prior years. The ratio of reentries and surrenders to lease issuances is high.
In 1992, the ratio of lease issuances to reentries was 21:1 and the ratio of lease issuances to surrenders