This brief paper describes the varied means by which countries have granted legal recognition to customary property rights and institutions, which is part of a growing recognition that colonial land systems failed to remove customary practices. Specifically, it describes the governing legislation and experiences implementing relevant provisions of those laws for seven sub-Saharan African countries: Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, and Mauritania. The paper further illustrates the adoption of customary dispute resolution systems in the Kyrgyz Republic. Rather than conducting a review of the theoretical debates on the interface between customary and statutory tenure, this briefing note builds on new empirical evidence from recent experience.