For the past six months, Resource Equity has been working with our partner Associates Research Trust to implement our Starting With Women approach with subsistence mining associations in Karamoja, Uganda. 

I think the engagement with Illovo is a good start. … [the Project] has provided a platform for Illovo to engage with [us], which is not only a benefit to Illovo, but to the community. It opens up dialogue. In the future…, we’d love for Illovo to come to (us) and ask us to get involved.

Hundreds of land practitioners from around the globe gathered and came together at the 2019 LANDac Conference at the beginning of July with the purpose of looking at land governance from the lens of transformation and in particular, how to support transformation that works for people and nature.  The conference delved into questions such as the long-term dynamics around land, water and food production and promising concepts and tools for building learning and knowledge building about these dynamics.

The distribution of land in Malawi is highly unequal and frequently inefficient. Large areas of land are underutilised in a context where many Malawian farmers would be able to put such land to productive use. In this context, the Malawian government has been slow and ineffective in undertaking land reforms, despite large demand for change both from investors and the local population.

Sexual extortion is a pervasive but often hidden form of corruption. Instead of money as a bribe, sexual favors are extorted in exchange for the provision of services or goods. This degrading abuse of power also touches the land sector, but remains largely hidden and unaddressed.

UNLIKELY PARTNERS: BLOCKCHAIN & LAND SURVEYING INDUSTRY

OUTLINE

I. Introduction to Blockchain Technology

II. Overview of the Surveying Industry

III. Surveying and Blockchain

IV. Types of Blockchains  

V. The Case for Blockchain in the Real Estate Industry

VI. Blockchain, Surveying, Land Registry and Cadastre 

VII. Blockchain Registry Integration Levels

VIII. The Future of Blockchain for Real Estate

IX. Conclusion

Our sugar is made from sugarcane. And sugarcane is not planted in trees or in the air, it’s planted in the ground, in the soil, on land. It’s the bedrock of our investment.

—Illovo Land Champion

Indigenous and local community women play crucial roles as household and forest managers, food providers, and leaders of rural enterprises—and make invaluable contributions toward global sustainable development and climate goals. The evidence is clear that securing their rights to community lands offers a promising path toward prosperity and sustainability in the forested and rural areas of the world. Yet these rights remain constrained by unjust laws and practices, and the voices of these women are consistently underrepresented in decision-making processes at all levels.

In recent years, numerous companies have made commitments to better recognize and respect land rights throughout their supply chains. Although making such commitments is a critical first step towards achieving more responsible investments, many companies still struggle with how to practically implement those commitments.

On 27-30 May 2019 around 200 actors engaged in talks to initiate and reinforce guidelines and actions on sustainable soil management and land governance at the World Agroforestry headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Soil is a universal element for survival,” says Alice Kaudia, Founder and Executive Director, Eco-Entrepreneurs. Kaudia alongside Alexander Mueller, Managing Director, Think Tank for Sustainability (TMG) moderated plenary sessions during the 2019 Global Soil Week. 

In the climate and development arenas, the most current alarm being sounded is for rights –securing the land rights and freedoms of Indigenous peoples, local communities and the marginalized members therein. How can these custodians of a quarter of the world’s terrestrial surface be expected to care for their traditional lands if the lands don’t, in fact, belong to them? Or, worse, if they’re criminalized and endangered for doing so?