Empirical attempts to measure the influence of land tenure in sub-Saharan Africa have up to now focused on attempts to correlate land tenure with productivity. Results from empirical work indicate that no one system of land tenure is best. For this study, three criteria, chosen on the basis of theoretical reasoning, are identified as being critical to any land tenure system if it is to exert a positive impact on agricultural productivity and sustainability. The three criteria are: transparency of property rights, process for internalization of costs and benefits, and functioning/nondistorting markets for inputs, including land.