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quite radically. In Malawi, the Chewa system of inheritance near Lilongwe seems to have evolved
slowly, with initial changes involving "probationary" uxorilocal marriage followed by relocation to
the husband's village. 12 In Zambia, the transformation has been more pronounced. One Chewa
village visited had completely overhauled the traditional system in favor of father-to-son transfers. As
shown below, other study villages have also significantly altered their systems of inheritance.
Among the Tonga, land is commonly passed through matrilineal descent rules, in general
order of preference to mother's brothers, maternal nephews, maternal grandchildren, and sons. Dorner
and Bruce (1982) point out that this is not strictly followed, however, and a great deal of importance
was attached to identifying a good farmer."
In both provinces, the matrilineal system of descent shows signs of having eroded. The
analysis shows a preponderance of father-to-son transfers of land. Many respondents stated that they
obtained land from their fathers and that they intended to pass it to their sons. Of all inherited parcels
in the formal survey, 52 percent were from the father, and 22 percent from uncles, brothers, or
fathers-in-law among the Chewa (the remainder were from grandparents or other relatives). Among
the Tonga, 56 percent of inherited/given parcels were acquired from fathers and 26 percent from
matrilineal relations. The data indicate that the conversion of inheritance practices is not a recent
phenomenon as the ratio of matrilineal to patrilineal acquisitions is roughly constant over age of
household head.
Women do not generally inherit or receive land as permanent gifts. However, there are
exceptions in the case of unmarried, divorced, or widowed women. Because land is abundant in
Zambia, it is not unheard of for an unmarried woman to be given a small area of land to farm by her
father. Divorced women may be able to retain some of the land they had been cultivating depending
on the particular circumstances. However, if she originates from another village, it is normally
expected that she return to find land in her home area. Upon the death of a husband, some societies
would expect the widow to marry one of the husband's brothers, entitling her continued access to land
in her former husband's village through matrimony (although not necessarily the land of her former
husband). Alternatively, she may be allowed to farm the land until the sons are old enough to take
over the farm. In other cases, women have been ejected from the land and forced to find land in their
home areas.
2. Allocation from traditional authorities
In Reserve Lands, land not under occupation can be requested from either the chief or the
headman. The chief retains paramount power over land allocations, although decisions concerning
village residents can often be made by the headman alone. There are two general processes through
which land is acquired. The first involves strangers seeking land in the village; the second involves
a local resident seeking land. In the first case, a stranger is usually expected to bring a letter
explaining his departure from his previous village. Land is normally allocated as long as the chief or
headman accepts this explanation, approves of the family, and/or accepts the stranger's reasons for
12
A companion study in Malawi (Nankumba 1994) found that in most uxorilocal marriages, the husband had some land
in his village as well.
13 According to Michelo Hansungule (personal conversation), old accounts of matrilineal descent rules are out of date
due to evolution of the Tonga customary system.