Research Findings on Rwanda's Land Rights Issue Shared at the International Conference in Uganda

At the conference, Takeuchi made a presentation titled “Land Tenure Security in Rwanda’s Post-Conflict State-building.” He spoke about a so-called “land-sharing” policy implemented in postwar Rwanda, which grants a half of the land owned by Hutu original inhabitants to Tutsi returnees, and stressed, "Stability of land rights and politics are closely interlinked."

The conference had a total of 49 research presentations. Most focused on Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, but reports on Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Madagascar were shared as well. This was the first of its kind to shed light on a broad range of land-related issues in East Africa.

According to Takeuchi, several other presenters also argued that issues surrounding land policies are not just technical but highly political; thus political power structures must be taken into consideration when examining land policies. Takeuchi, who was the sole participant from Asia, reflected on the conference and said, "I was able to confirm that my research is headed in the right direction."