Women in Botswana celebrate changes to the country’s land ownership law that now gives them the right to own land independently of their spouses, unlike before when they were treated as part of their husband’s property.
Communities being able to participate on an equal basis in land governance is key to food security and inclusive development. How can securing land rights pave the way for responsible investments and what can we learn from experiences with the palm oil industry? To answer these questions we turn to West Africa where two activists are fighting for their communities’ right to land. ‘If we want to move forward, we need to share the wealth that the land brings.’
Sierra Leone, a small country of about 7 million people in West Africa, known for its mineral wealth in diamonds, gold, bauxite, iron ore and rutile, is also naturally endowed with fertile land for agriculture, which over the years has attracted multi-national companies who come in with fabulous promises of development to the people but leave them further impoverished and cheated out of their God-given resources.
When Manjari was 23, she was elected the first woman pradhan in her village as well as in all of Himachal Pradesh. She hasn't looked back since.
One of the fundamental resources that is essential for the development and sustenance of people in Africa is land.
Land is very important because it forms the basis of agricultural production in the sub-region.
However, it has been very difficult for women to access land in the country, and the continent in general due to multiple issues most of which are embedded on patriarchy as a system which breeds gender inequality.
GOKAI TOWN, BONG COUNTY – Gormah Mulbah and her five children were thrown out of their home last year after her husband died. Her late husband’s family was angry she refused to marry his younger brother. While she thought all hope was lost, a man—whose identify she would not reveal over reprisal—confronted her in-laws over the matter.
With no money and no place to go, the then 20-year-old borrowed money from a neighbour in Thanapada village of Nashik district in Maharashtra, to take a shared taxi to her parents’ home in Gawandh village, 18 km away. Kadale was a farmer who cultivated the six acres her husband owned.
As part of UNIDROIT’s work on private law and agricultural development, a UNIDROIT Working Group is currently developing a Legal Guide on Agricultural Land Investment Contracts, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Government needs to revisit customary law and use land reform to enable female farmers.
Globally women play a significant role in agriculture. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, women are the backbone of the agricultural sector and make up almost half of the agricultural labour force, according to a working paper about the role of women in agriculture by the Agricultural Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Land rights have direct bearing on the incomes of marginalized individuals and communities, and the potential to transform their living conditions by breaking the cycle of poverty.