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Food security is a condition related to the supply of food, and individuals' access to it. Africa is a region with the highest hunger prevalence in the world and the number of hungry people is increasing. One of the most important reasons is that the utilization benefit of cultivated land (UBCL) in Africa always lags behind other regions of the world. Based on the definition of UBCL and associated with land decentralization, land property rights and land marketization reforms, we develop a theoretical framework for this study, in which the total UBCL is divided into economic, social and ecological UBCL. An index system is then built to evaluate the different kinds of UBCL and examine the relationship between these and land institution reforms. We find that (1) failed land property rights reforms can lead to low ecological UBCL; (2) unsuccessful land marketization reforms can lead to low economic UBCL; (3) paternalistic land institutionalization has advantages but it is not sustainable for raising the UBCL in the long run; (4) an unstable political environment can hinder land institution reforms and lead to low social UBCL; and (5) successful land institution reforms have a great potential for raising the total UBCL. According to the analysis, we conclude that the farmers' enthusiasm can be motivated by land institution reforms, while further improving food production and enhancing the UBCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]