In Malawi, population growth is one of the main factors putting pressure on land and has caused both landlessness and the disintegration of customary land practices. Land injustice also pervades the country. A small number of privileged actors control the most economically valuable lands, excluding the poorest people, including women, from secure land rights. As more people lose their lands -- either to foreign investors or to large-scale domestic land users -- more are also becoming tenure insecure.

The country is, however, making giant steps in land governance reform. Over the last decade, it has promulgated 10 laws aimed at strengthening land governance and culminated in a comprehensive reform process in 2017 with the introduction of new land legislation. The new land legislation established protection mechanisms for land rights. For example, it guarantees equal access, control, and ownership of land for both men and women and institutes local land management structures to resolve conflicts.

While a step in the right direction, the enactment of the new land laws does not comprehensively solve Malawi’s land problems. It has, for example, caused controversies, especially among local traditional leaders who see the new legislation as a challenge to their position and authority as the sole custodians and administrators of customary land under customary law. Patriarchal cultures, which have a hard time embracing women's land rights and representation in land governance structures, are particularly opposed to the legislation.